The Frank Capra movie that inspired Steve Buscemi’s approach to filmmaking
It’s easy to overlook just how many iconic film and TV roles Steve Buscemi has had over his long career. While most people may know him as Mr. Pink from Reservoir Dogs or the voice of Randall Boggs in Monsters Inc, he can count the likes of Armageddon, Boardwalk Empire, and several Coen brothers movies among his best work. It’s crazy that Buscemi has never even been nominated for an Oscar, but even without a major award, his back catalogue speaks for itself.
Alongside an accomplished life in front of the camera, Buscemi has also turned his hand to filmmaking over the years. He’s directed several features, beginning with the 1996 comedy-drama Trees Lounge, in which he also starred. The movie became a big influence on David Chase, creator of The Sopranos, and resulted in Buscemi getting hired to play a guest role in the show and direct four episodes. He’s also been given the keys to the likes of 30 Rock, Portlandia, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Considering his affinity for weird characters and dark comedy, you’d expect someone of his ilk to have a fairly unwholesome set of influences. However, as he revealed to The Guardian, he was actually inspired by one of the sweetest films ever made – Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. “I tried to keep that in mind as I wrote Trees Lounge,” he told the newspaper. “I thought I was being careful not to romanticise the life of someone who hangs out in a bar all the time, and yet I do find these characters romantic, and I still find bars really alluring.” Buscemi also referenced the response of a bar owner who refused to close down his establishment for a week to let him film there. The proprietor said that he didn’t want to leave his regulars without a place to go, something Buscemi found very touching.
Trees Lounge’s main character, Tommy Basilio (Buscemi), is an unemployed alcoholic who has let booze destroy his life. His only friends are other people who work and drink in his local bar, and he ends up romantically involved with Debbie (Chloë Sevigny), the much younger cousin of his ex-girlfriend. It’s not without its levity, but it’s an extremely dark movie about how easily life can slip through a person’s fingers.
In that sense, it is the antithesis of It’s a Wonderful Life. Tommy Basilio is the anti-George Bailey; one is an eternal optimist who, after briefly faltering, regains his grip on life and discovers a new appreciation for it, while the other never learns his lesson and spirals deeper into a pit of self-destruction. A crucial turning point in Bailey’s story comes when he visits a bar and gets drunk, leading to his first encounter with his guardian angel. It’s almost as if this is the divergence point between the two characters, where one chose one path, and one chose another.
The rest of Buscemi’s directorial work is extremely varied, though with a consistent thread of darkness running through it. 2000’s Animal Factory is a tough drama set inside the notorious San Quentin prison, while 2022’s The Listener stars Tessa Thompson as a woman who mans a phone line for those in need. The other closest thing he has made to Trees Lounge is Lonesome Jim, which features Casey Affleck as a troubled writer who starts a new relationship after moving back to his hometown.
Buscemi’s ability to translate something like Capra’s masterpiece into so many different ideas proves that he has a mind made for cinema. His beautifully wild collection of creations don’t get nearly as much love as they should.
