Directed by Salvatore Stabile
Written by Salvatore Stabile
Starring Tony Tucci, Tom Malloy
Release Date January 1st, 1997
Published June 15th, 2003
There is a pretty terrific story behind the making of Gravesend, this is how it was told to me. It was written and Directed by then 19-year old Salvatore Stabile in 1997. Starring a few of his buddies from his old neighborhood, the film cost about $5,000 to make. Somehow it got into the hands of Oliver Stone who helped the film find a studio and get the film a more polished look without having to do reshoots.
The film made it to a small number of festivals and theaters and was reviewed by major critics across the country, though it went mostly unnoticed by mainstream moviegoers. The really odd thing though is that despite some good notice, Salvatore Stabile hasn't worked since according to IMDB.
Gravesend is a small community in Brooklyn, New York, a dead end where drugs and violence are the only distraction from poverty and depression. Our story begins with four friends sitting around in the basement, Zane (Tony Tucci), Mikey (Thomas Brandise), Chicken (Tom Malloy) and Ray (Michael Parducci). The house belongs to Ray's brother who wants the kids to leave because they are being to loud. Zane, being a belligerent prick, mouths off to Ray's brother who doesn't back down. Unfortunately, Zane has a gun that he didn't think was loaded until it went off and killed Ray's brother.
Now would be the time to sober up, call the police and tell the truth. Of course if they did that there wouldn't be a movie. So these four morons load the body in the trunk of Mikey's car and drive it over to a local junky that Zane says can help them dispose of the body quietly. But again it can't be that simple. The junky won't do it unless they give him five hundred dollars and the dead guy’s thumb.
From there, the guys have a number of close calls with cops and a tow truck driver, a couple fistfights, a robbery attempt and two more dead bodies. Along the way they trade some Tarentino inspired dialogue, and trade on a number of influences from Scorsese to Stone. Unfortunately the young director and cast are in way over their heads.
Rather than the strident confidence of the directors that provide the film’s inspiration, Gravesend is simply angry, childish and belligerent. The characters are so depressingly stupid they make the characters in Dumb and Dumberer look brilliant in comparison. It's not the situation that makes them stupid, it's the grunting caveman style of their actions. These characters disprove evolution with their stupidity, they preen and pose and fight like baboons.
That said, the young director who also narrates the film does have a nice visual approach to the film. His handheld camera is a little tiresome but it does lend itself to the out of control characters and narratives. By some miracle the film does develop a sort of narrative inertia that carries you to the end of the film, sort of like being stuck to something as it rolls down a hill that you can't stop.
That however doesn't excuse these horribly stupid and unlikable characters and a story that grows more and more ridiculous as it goes along. Still, this young director shows he has some talent. He shows that he could do some fine work in the future if circumstances come together right.
So what ever happened to Salvatore Stabile? He made Gravesend and hasn't done anything since. A Google search turns up a number of reviews of Gravesend but nothing about what he has done since the film was released some 6 years ago. It's anyone’s guess but I hope he gives directing another chance, just maybe leave the writing to someone else.
