Paul Sorvino - "the main mafia" of Hollywood cinema. Of course, after Al Pacino. The actor is mainly given the roles of gangsters and cunning criminals in class B films. How did Sorvino's career begin and what films with his participation must be watched?
Paul Sorvino: biography. early years
Paul was born in 1939 in the glorious city of New York. His parents were from Sicily. Mother worked as an ordinary music teacher, and father worked as a builder.
Nevertheless, the parents tried to give the child a good upbringing. What can I say: Sorvino studied at the same school with the future famous artist Peter Max. Paul Sorvino received his higher education at the Music and Drama Academy.
Sorvino began acting in films in 1970. But his appearance was specific, so he did not offer serious roles. He began his career with a cameo role in the film Panic in Needle Park, where, incidentally, the young Al Pacino starred.
Then there were long 20 years of base films. Only the project of the beginning of the 90s “Dick Tracy” stood out against their background, where a fairly well-known company was assembled: Al Pacino, Madonna, Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman. But Paul received only an episodic role and is famous not for this work in the movie.
Paul Sorvino: movies. "Good guys"
Sorvino's mad popularity was brought by Martin Scorsese's project entitled “Goodfellas”. This picture was filled with cruel scenes and swearing, but it managed to become as popular as The Godfather.
The film is about a young guy (Ray Liotta) who is a fan of gangsters and their lifestyle. He begs to be accomplices to one bandit, and then with his quickness attracts the attention of more venerable mafiosi, including the hero Paul Sorvino. Gradually, Henry becomes a venerable gangster, works in a renowned team. But the higher the stakes, the more criminals want. In the process of dividing territories, recognition and other gangster values, the main characters enter into an unspoken war with each other, and in the final, Henry hands them all to the police.
Paul Sorvino in the project played one of the main roles - the boss Henry named Paul. Together with Sorvino and Liotta, Robert de Niro, Joe Pesci and Samuel L. Jackson also appeared in the frame. The picture has won many international awards, including an Oscar.
Nixon
In 1995, Paul Sorvino got a major role in Oliver Stone's Nixon. The actor got a real-life character - Henry Kissinger. He was a prominent statesman in the 70s. He has taken real diplomatic steps toward establishing contacts between the United States and the Soviet Union, between America and the PRC. He also concluded the Paris Peace Agreement on behalf of the States.
Oliver Stone's film was devoted mainly to the formation of the 37th US president as an individual and president. But since it was difficult to imagine the politics of the time without Kissinger, Paul Sorvino flashed on the screen no less than the lead actor Anthony Hopkins.
Stone, as always, was on top: the picture won the Golden Globe and 4 Oscars. The role of Brezhnev was invited by the Soviet immigrant actor Boris Sichkin, whom the audience can know from such films as “Barbara Beauty, a Long Braid” and “Elusive Avengers”.
"Romeo + Juliet"
Sorvino knows how to surprise the audience. Diversity - this is the difference between films with the actor. Paul Sorvino is used to playing various mafiosi, so no one expected to see him in the image of a Shakespearean hero. However, Paul got this role: it happened in 1994, when the shooting of Baz Lurmann’s melodrama Romeo + Juliet was in full swing.
The director used an unusual move: he transferred the action of the famous play to modern realities. Verona was presented as a huge city, and Montecchi and Capulet turned into warring mafia clans. The main roles in this project went to Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. Sorvino appeared in the image of a comic character - Fulgenzio Capulet.
The tape made excellent box office: at the box office managed to earn $ 147 million. For critics, the reaction to the picture was less predictable. Approximately 74% of the reviews were positive. But the remaining 26% were simply devastating: authoritative critics from well-known publications smashed Lurmann's work to pieces.
"Italian lovers"
Simultaneously with the movie hit “Romeo + Juliet”, the film “Italian Lovers” was released on large screens, where again the plot referred to the famous creation of Shakespeare. Only this time, the interpretation was completely free, only the plot of the play was used: the girl and the guy from the warring Italian families fell in love and tried to defend their happiness throughout the entire screen time.
The starring starred 21-year-old Angelina Jolie, and the father of her heroine was played by Paul Sorvino. The film is well known to fans of the Hollywood actress, but he did not receive wide recognition as “Romeo + Juliet”.
After all these pictures, Sorvino starred in hundreds of films. However, the 90s are still the golden time in the career of the actor.