Abel Ferrara makes a comedy, Go Go Tales (2007), which is set in a go-go joint strip club, a project he’d always wanted to make, describing it as “Cheers meets The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie.” Much like Cassavettes’ film, Go Go Tales sees the strip club as a metaphor for filmmaking, for creative expression and independence, understanding your collaborators as a make-shift family, and appeasing (and running from) the money-men at every turn. Ray (Willem Dafoe, great and having fun) is the manager of Ray’s Paradise Club and he lives and sleeps in the back-room, occasionally MCing in a pristine white suit (and singing a song), and working through an addiction to gambling on the lottery. We never really leave the club with only a few scenes outside; it’s a nocturnal comedy of observation with the dancers complaining about not getting paid, bouncers putting the customers in their place, and the chef (played by Pras) offering everyone his trademark “organic hot-dogs”. In comparison to Ferrara’s other films, this one doesn’t get too heavy or brutally violent. There’s lots of incident, not a strong story; it’s more interested in the humour of people arguing and bullshitting with each other (as well as the dancing). Great to see Bob Hoskins as a grouchy bouncer, Sylvia Miles is hilarious as the angry investor threatening to replace the strip club with a Bed Bath and Beyond, Asia Argento’s dance with a doberman is very memorable, Matthew Modine as Dafoe’s hairdresser brother, and even Burt Young rasping at the bar as a customer. It feels both authentic to gritty New York energy and low-rent glamour (even though it was shot in Rome) but also a fantasy of Ferrara’s mind. Go Go Tales is a neon-lit, cavernous hang-out movie with great thumping club music (lots of Grace Jones in rotation). I had a ball. Available to rent on GooglePlay. Recommended.
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