| The Broken Tower | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | James Franco |
| Produced by | James Franco Caroline Aragon Vince Jolivette Miles Levy Christina Voros |
| Written by | James Franco (screenplay) Paul Mariani (novel) Paul L. Mariani (biography) |
| Starring | James Franco Michael Shannon |
| Music by | Neil Benezra |
| Cinematography | Christina Voros |
| Distributed by | RabbitBandini Productions |
| Release date(s) | June 20, 2011 (LAFF) |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Broken Tower is a 2011 American black-and-white docudrama directed by James Franco. The film is about American poet Hart Crane, who committed suicide in April 1932 at the age of 32 by jumping off the steamship SS Orizaba. Franco appears in the starring role and edited, co-produced, and wrote the screenplay. Michael Shannon also stars in the 90-minute film. The Broken Tower made its world premiere in April 2011 at Boston College. It will be shown at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival (LAFF) in June and theatrically released sometime in 2012.
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Franco thought of the idea for the film while reading Paul Mariani’s biography of Crane, also entitled The Broken Tower after the name of one of Crane's poems, on the set of his 2002 movie Sonny. The poet's tortured life as an artist attracted him to the material:[1]
"He was trying to write in a way that was atypical for his time; he was not understood by most of his peers; he was struggling both with his financial circumstances and within himself to produce his work. He drank, he had lots of sex, he had one great, if short-lived, love", Franco told The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. "And so I thought, ‘That’s a story that lends itself to a film, easier than a story about someone like James Joyce, [who] wasn’t as readily dramatic or tragic. Although it could be done, it’s not quite the same kind of tortured life.'"[1]
Franco used the story as his masters thesis for New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Eventually, he decided to star in it himself.[1][2][3] Later on, he also chose to direct the movie as well as produce it and write its screenplay. By October 2010, Franco was reported to have been in deep pre-production with The Broken Tower, and principal photography began in November.[4] By December, filming had finished.[2] Franco chose to shoot The Broken Tower in black-and-white.[5] The film also features graphic sex scenes.[1]
Its world premiere was held at Boston College on April 15, 2011. Franco chose to debut it at that venue since Mariani is a professor of English there.[6] The Broken Tower was screened at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival on June 20.[1] It was among more than 200 feature films, short projects, and music videos from more than 30 countries to be selected.[7]