Bruno, directed by Shirley MacLaine

"Who knew at 45", winked the charmingly irrepressible Shirley MacLaine at the World Premiere of her feature directorial film debut, Bruno, Sunday night at the Los Angeles International Film Festival, "that I'd be doing indie films! Life is so unpredictable, just like the Indies themselves."

The beautifully told story of nine-year-old Bruno, a smart-as-a-whip kid tortured by his classmates, the nuns at his Catholic school, and his estranged relationship with his father, MacLaine's film resonates with an honesty borne of life experience rarely seen from the slew of twentysomething directors so often found among the American indie film scene.

Crafted as only an actor-turned-director could, Bruno plucks the emotional chords of the shared human condition with a loving strength. "To me, the experience of going to the movie, as well as being in the movies, should be like life: a bittersweet comedy and drama combined," admitted Ms. MacLaine as she spoke about what drew her to the story from first-time writer David Ciminello.

"Intrinsically," MacLaine continued, "Bruno is about the human condition and the influx of school, church and family on identity. As we try to find our centers, we are pulled in so many directions as is Bruno. This story is really about a triumph of individuality. Particularly of artistic individuality, as Bruno's experience informs the adults around him which ultimately leads to a deeper meaning and understanding for everyone."

Surrounding Bruno in his slightly off-kilter world are an odd yet loving (or destined to be loving) assortment of supporting characters: his 350 pound mother (Stacey Halprin), a distant grandmother (Shirley MacLaine), a reluctant father (Gary Sinese) and a stunning fellow misfit, ten-year-old Shaniqua (Kiami Davael).

His classmates for a variety of reasons but mostly because of his mothers' enormous weight and his own occasionally odd behavior ridicule Bruno at school. When Bruno, a whiz at spelling bees, decides that wearing dresses gives him a spiritual power, he begins to adapt his mother's dress designs as his own. The support for his dreams and desires comes from a surprising number of sources, not the least of which is the reluctant grandmother.

"I adored making this movie and it had real ramifications for me personally. It's incredible, though, to see it with an audience and to hear your reactions," gushed MacLaine to the sold out crowd. "You know, you let time go by after the editing process and you wonder golly was I too fast with the editing, did some of it drag, did I sacrifice the characters at the expense of going to slow, did I respect the tonality of the characters... Since I come from an acting background, that was the most important thing for me. Whatever it took, I wanted to flesh out the characters."

"We had no rehearsal period because everyone except Alex (Bruno) was shooting other things around the world, but I had about five days with Alex." With this, MacLaine brought up on stage the young actor who so committed to the role of the young spelling bee champ. Only eleven, Alex tried to speak even though he was lost from sight behind the large podium.

"I really liked the fact that Bruno himself always had the courage to do what he wanted." said the remarkable young actor. "I could relate to that. Shirley just said, put your own self into it and I think I had the opportunity to make him a really great person on the inside," Alex finished as he re-emerged into full view of the audience amid thunderous applause.

"I also had a wonderful experience with David Ciminello, and I would highly recommend for those who want to direct and have respect for the screenplay writer that they do what I did," suggested MacLaine. "Along with the script, I insisted David stay with me on location. In the old days, they would ban the writer after the film was financed and ready to start shooting because the writer was smarter than everyone else was. But David stayed with me, and as a result of watching the characters grow he and I had an incredible experience.

"I remember I had lots of lessons with Billy Wilder: when we started The Apartment, for example, we only had 29 pages of script. Instead, Billy watched Jack (Lemmon) and my relationship develop, then watched some of the things I was going through like hanging out with Dean (Martin) and Frank (Sinatra) and some of these guys," continued MacLaine as she put a finger alongside her nose and ear in the time-honored symbol indicating Mafioso. "They were teaching me to play gin rummy, and that's how the gin scene ended up in The Apartment.

"I remembered that as I started Bruno, and knew it would be invaluable to have a really creative writer with me on set as things happened. Thankfully, David likes to work with pressure, so I could turn to him and say "something needs to happen here, I can just feel we need something to put an accent on that scene"....and he'd be right there for me."

"Bruno for me really was a picture, a script and an investigation of misfits and how people feel when they don't fit," concluded MacLaine. "I felt the Kathy Bates character (as Mother Superior at Bruno's Catholic school), was so strong in her opinions, but it was precisely because she was so strong and her objections had with them such eccentricities, that she was sort of teaching Bruno how to be an acceptable eccentric. What nun would run a school that wild?! I loved the idea the sense of this whole environment behind all these people was essentially eccentric. She actually encouraged Bruno to develop and have the courage of his own eccentricities."

"I do deal with issue of media exploitation, particularly as Bruno gains more and more notoriety. As for how this relates to Elian and the issues at hand about returning him or not to Cuba? I must say, I think he's a mystical child, of that I have no doubt. There is more as yet unsaid of what his destiny will be...but that's true of all of us. As it is also true about Bruno."

FilmFestivals.com reporter
Kathleen McInnis