Dan Perri, if you are a film fan, you’ve seen his work time
and again, but odds are you unaware of his body of work over the past 40-plus
years and his name likely doesn’t ring any bells. He’s a specialist — his company specializes
in “title design;” the opening credits of films.
Have you seen The Exorcist, The Day of the Locust, Taxi
Driver, All the President’s Men, The Warriors, Raging Bull and Star
Wars? Of course you have … they
are all his; his creations — nearly 200 in all!
So now you know something of Dan Perri, he knows about film,
he has an eye for detail and lives in a world of composition and
creativity. His opening title designs have
captured the attention of audiences for over four decades.
Word arrived this past week from FilmWorks Entertainment
that Dan Perri’s labor of love, his first full-length feature film as both a writer
and a director, Sharkskin, will be making its DVD debut on Jan. 19.
Beautifully mounted, Skarkskin spins the story of the
Italian Mafia in the New York City area during the immediate post-war period
(very reminiscent of The Godfather in terms of timeframe
and texture) through the eyes of a very unlikely individual, Mike Esposito (veteran
character actor John Aprea — who played the younger version of Tessio in The Godfather,
Part II, plus in such films as Crazy Mama, The Idolmaker, New Jack City,
The Game, etc.), a tailor.
If you’ve seen The Godfather, then you likely
remember Enzo the Baker (Gabriele Torrei), who was recruited by Michael in a
moment of desperation to act as armed bodyguard on the hospital steps when
Sollozzo came to finish off his father.
Enzo was rewarded for his performance, but he was nothing more than
“wallpaper” — a civilian.
Esposito the Tailor is a tailor, who is to provide a service
for the local Mafia head, Don Piano (John Capodice), who has discovered the new
Sharkskin cloth and wants a specific suit made from this “exotic” material.
Mike’s son, Sammy (Christopher Amitrano — Jam,
The Grind, Brooklyn Bound), is back from the war and his father wants
him to learn the craft and take over the business, but his encounters with his
father’s clients starts him to thinking about the “dark side.”
The Esposito’s are “wallpaper” — they are safe. They provide a service, in their case, the
craft of being a tailor, but when the allure of the big money beckons, that thin
veil between company business and “civilians” can vanish in blink of an
eye. When Sammy starts down that path, suddenly
his entire family is in danger and even Mike and all his experience might not
be enough to stop the blood from flowing.
Bonus features include deleted scenes, a photo gallery and a
behind-the-scenes production featurette.
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