One Of The Batman's Best Falcone Details Was Added In By John Turturro
It's been more than a year since Robert Pattinson's emo Caped Crusader arrived in "The Batman." Director Matt Reeves' noirish take on the Dark Knight might not have had quite the cultural impact of, say, "The Dark Knight," but it did manage to become a box office hit during a troubling time for the industry. Furthermore, there were certainly memorable moments, such as Pattinson's anti-hero mercilessly beating a helpless thug into oblivion before delivering uttering, "I'm vengeance." We also have Colin Farrell's Penguin telling Batman, "Take it easy, sweetheart!" and being fluent in Spanish.
John Turturro's Carmine Falcone, however, was not quite so meme-worthy. However, some here at /Film have argued that Turturro's crime lord is the secret weapon of "The Batman," and he certainly has an integral part in the narrative. As the movie plays out, we learn the shocking truth: that the crime boss who clearly has the whole city in his back pocket, has... the whole city in his back pocket. It's supposed to be a twist that the "rat" is actually Falcone, but it falls a little flat just because Reeves' definition of a rat is, apparently, someone who maintains control of Gotham by orchestrating complex give-and-take relationships with influential people — which is what we all expected Falcone was doing.
Anyway, Turturro did a decent enough job with the role, even if there wasn't all that much to work with. Falcone isn't in "The Batman" enough to rise to the level of a classic Turturro role, but the actor did manage to put his spin on the character in various ways, delivering an understated performance that gave his crime boss a bearing of quiet power. As it turns out, he also had some input on Falcone's fashion sense.
'He's sort of subterranean'
The Carmine Falcone of "The Batman" was actually inspired by real New York history. Production designer James Chinlund explained in "The Art of the Batman" book that he based the crime boss's hideout on Robert Moses, who "was responsible for masterminding all these road projects throughout the city" and who supposedly had an office "beneath a toll plaza in the bridge, and so as the money flowed in from the tolls it went right through a tube into his office."
But there was lot more that went into crafting Falcone as a character than historically-inspired hideaways. In an interview with The Nerds of Color, John Turturro spoke about his process for developing a performance, explaining that he "starts with the script" and even conferred with his son Amedeo, who works for DC. The actor also put some thought into how Falcone should present himself, even sourcing one costume element himself. As Turturro explained:
"I thought maybe he should have these, like, dark glasses because he's like someone who doesn't – he's sort of subterranean. Almost like Batman, he comes out at night, doesn't really come out that much. And I thought if I could find the right pair of glasses, that would maybe, I don't know, just sort of, I'd have my own mask. And Matt liked that idea, and I found these great glasses, these period glasses, and that was, like, the first little key."
The glasses work well in conveying Falcone's desire to remain somewhat hidden, even when out in public, and certainly fit with Turturro's subtle performance. But therein lies the issue...
Understated or underwhelming?
Carmine Falcone wears shades throughout "The Batman." He wears them when making his rounds at the Iceberg Lounge, when he's in his office, and when he attends the mayor's funeral. He's even sporting his sunglasses when he perishes on the steps outside the Penguin's nightclub. While all of that certainly helps establish the sense that the gangster is very much a "subterranean" behind-the-scenes kind of guy, it also means that he's not exactly the most striking or intimidating antagonist — his reserved manner often coming across not as quiet power but as just quiet.
In a film that features the Penguin, Riddler, and Catwoman, this shouldn't be all that big a deal. Colin Farrell gave us enough charisma for multiple movies with his Oswald Cobblepot performance alone. But while Tom Wilkinson's portrayal of Carmine Falcone in "Batman Begins" may have verged on cliché mob boss character territory at times, when he looked Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne in the eyes and told him that his father "begged, like a dog" the night he was shot, it made for a moment more affecting and upsetting than anything Turturro's gangster manages in "The Batman."
Would removing the shades have made any difference? Probably not. But they're interesting, insofar as they represent Turturro's idea of Falcone being this hidden figure, lurking in the shadows of Gotham. The concept of Falcone being like Batman in that sense is an intriguing element that shows the actor's insightful approach to developing his character. Ultimately, though, it made for a slightly underwhelming character. Still, it's a shame an actor as talented as Turturro won't be part of "The Batman: Part II." Meanwhile, let's hope Cristin Milioti's Sofia Falcone is a more memorable adversary for Colin Farrell's Penguin in the upcoming HBO series.