TWO FISTS ONE HEART
Running Time: 105 minutes
Rating: M
A PALM BEACH PICTURE
Filmed on location in Perth, Western Australia
Do not be afraid son, he is justa like you, with two fists and one heart. - JOE FAZIO
Short synopsis
Anthony Argo (Daniel Amalm) is a champion boxer and nightclub doorman. His pursuit of the Australian ‘dolce vita’ increasingly puts him in conflict with his father and trainer, Joe, (Ennio Fantastichini) who has brought his Sicilian values of family, loyalty and iron-fisted respect with him to Australia.
Anthony meets Kate (Jessica Marais) who opens his eyes to a world beyond his boxing-obsessed upbringing and fuels further rebellion against his father’s values. His mother (Rosemarie Lenzo) and his best mate (Paul Pantano) support him, however it is Tom (Tim Minchin), Kate’s musician brother, who helps Anthony see the world and his life from a different perspective.
When Joe is betrayed by another boxer Nico Manchini (Rai Fazio) and finally reveals to his son the pain and violence in his own past, Anthony decides to return to the ring to defend the honour of his father.
Director Shawn Seet
Producer David Elfick
Writer and Executive Producer Rai Fazio
Long synopsis
TWO FISTS ONE HEART is a contemporary story set in Perth, Western Australia. Australia, as a multicultural country, is at the heart of this story, portraying the struggles of a young Italian/Australian and giving an insight into the world of boxing.
Anthony Argo (Daniel Amalm) is a champion boxer and nightclub doorman. He is trained by his father Joe (Ennio Fantastichini) who has brought his Sicilian values with him to Australia. Joe’s proud traditional view of the world increasingly comes into conflict with his son’s pursuit of ‘la dolce vita’.
When Anthony meets the beautiful Kate (Jessica Marais) - a university psychology student, he begins to see his life and the role of violence within it in a different light. He loses focus on boxing and has an emotional confrontation with his father who orders him out of the family home forever. His mother (Rosemarie Lenzo) tries to hold the family together, but Joe has turned his back on his son.
Anthony leaves the ring to spend more time on his blossoming romance with Kate, but when Anthony becomes involved in a street fight at a public event, Kate dumps him. Without Kate, Anthony has time to reflect on who he is and all that he has recently lost. He is supported by his best mate (Paul Pantano), however it is Tom (Tim Minchin), Kate’s musician brother, who helps Anthony see the world and his life from a different perspective.
While Anthony is revaluating his life, Joe continues training boxers. Then Joe is betrayed by Nico (Rai Fazio), another boxer of Sicilian descent. Anthony, now mature enough to make his own decisions, chooses the traditional way to honour his father and his family and re-enters the ring to fight his nemesis, Nico. Joe agrees to train Anthony for the big fight and finally confesses to his son about incidents from his own past in Italy that have influenced his behaviour to the family he loves.
TWO FISTS ONE HEART is an intensely emotional and personal story of a complex father-son relationship. The Sicilian traditions of family, loyalty and obedience clash head-on with the Australian philosophy of freedom and a fair go.
Director Shawn Seet
Producer David Elfick
Writer and Executive Producer Rai Fazio.
The story
Former champion boxer Rai Fazio drew inspiration from many of his real-life experiences in creating the screenplay TWO FISTS ONE HEART, a contemporary drama set in Perth, Western Australia.
Multicultural Australia is at the heart of this story, portraying the struggles of Anthony Argo, a young Italian/Australian. Essentially the film revolves around the complex emotional relationship between a father and his son.
Talented boxer, Anthony Argo (Daniel Amalm) is pushed to the limit by his passionate Sicilian father and trainer Joe (Ennio Fantastichini). Coming from a working–class background, Joe wants Anthony to achieve the success in the ring that he was denied as a young man.
When Anthony meets the beautiful Kate (Jessica Marais) - a university psychology student, he begins to see his life and the role of violence in a different light. He loses focus on boxing and has a painful confrontation with his father. His mother Concetta (Rosemarie Lenzo) tries to hold the family together but Joe turns his back on his son. Anthony leaves the ring to spend more time on his blossoming romance with Kate. When Anthony becomes involved in a street fight at a public event, Kate dumps him.
Without Kate, Anthony has time to reflect on who he is and all that he has recently lost. Supported by his best mate (Paul Pantano), it is ultimately Tom (Tim Minchin), Kate’s musician brother, who helps Anthony see the world and his life from a different perspective
While Anthony is re-evaluating his life, Joe continues training boxers but is betrayed by Nico (Rai Fazio), another boxer of Sicilian decent. Anthony, now mature enough to make his own decisions, chooses to honour his father and his family in the traditional way and re-enters the ring to fight his nemesis, Nico.
TWO FISTS ONE HEART is an intensely personal story of a complex relationship as the Sicilian traditions of family, loyalty and obedience clash head-on with the Australian philosophy of freedom and a fair go.
Director Shawn Seet
Producer David Elfick
Writer and Executive Producer Rai Fazio.
The production
With the focus on boxing, it would be wrong to categorise TWO FISTS ONE HEART as another action film. Boxing is only one element of this rich story, which explores tradition, multiculturalism and loyalty, alongside the trials of a young man coming to terms with life and his role within his family. In the father-son battle for understanding, both are determined and both believe they are right.
The project was born when Rai Fazio was nine and read a book about Sylvester Stallone and how the film ROCKY was made. Being an Italian and the only kid in school who boxed, this sparked a desire in Rai to one day write a movie drawing from his own boxing and family experiences.
Some years later Rai had a chance meeting in a New York café with Harvey Keitel, an actor he had always admired. Keitel was interested in boxing and encouraged Rai. Keitel said that ‘everybody has an idea for a film, but if you’re passionate, don’t talk about it, do something about it’.
Inspired, Rai returned to Perth, Western Australia, locked himself in a room and began writing a screenplay. After months of hard work he had a very long first draft. Rai began showing it to people in the film and television industry who encouraged him to keep working on the screenplay. They saw a story full of vitality with a great heart. With this encouragement Rai continued his work on the screenplay.
Rai was introduced to David Elfick (RABBIT PROOF FENCE, BLACKROCK, NEWSFRONT) who decided the screenplay was the type of project he was looking for and they became a formidable team.
Nine years after Rai began writing that first page, principal photography of TWO FISTS ONE HEART commenced in Perth, Western Australia.
Shawn Seet directs TWO FISTS ONE HEART in his feature film debut. Shawn has an impressive career as a thought-provoking television drama director and feature film editor. With an ethos of ‘keep it real’, Shawn has brought an unpredictable excitement and energy to this Australian family drama, set in the boxing world and with a multicultural mix of Italian, Australian and Greek characters.
The film was shot entirely in Perth using the sensational backdrop of Cottesloe Beach, the port city of Fremantle, the colour of inner-city Northbridge, the Perth city skyline and the Swan River at sunset.
The casting
Twenty-one actors were in final consideration for the lead role of Anthony Argo. Daniel Amalm secured the role.
Casting Director, Ann Robinson: “He’s a superb actor, had the right physicality and it was a bonus that he had the boxing experience. The role of Anthony required someone who is believably southern Italian, possessed strength and resilience, whilst also being able to access the vulnerability and the emotional aspects of the character, all of which Daniel clearly demonstrated in his auditions.” Daniel had some boxing experience so he could spar properly and wasn’t put off if he had to wear a few punches, all part of a boxer’s training.
The casting of Joe, the father figure, proved more difficult. An extensive search by Mullinar's Casting failed to uncover an actor in Australia in the right age group, who could slip into Italian dialogue easily and portray a seasoned boxing trainer. The role also demanded a performance that would evoke compassion from the audience even if they disagreed with the character’s philosophy and actions. The search extended to America and the UK without an obvious candidate emerging.
Producer David Elfick felt that the part would be best played by an Italian actor who spoke English because that would give the role a reality that cannot be easily created. He secured the services of Beatrice Kruger, one of Europe’s leading casting agents. Elfick’s actor friend Tony Poli, who is fluent in Italian, happened to be in Italy at the time, so he went to Rome to work with Beatrice. The search continued. Director Shawn Seet joined Poli in Rome to test the potential Joes that had been uncovered. When Ennio Fantastichini auditioned, Shawn knew immediately they had found their Joe.
Ennio Fantastichini had never been to Australia but was passionate about playing the part. Tony Poli agreed to play a supporting role in the film and to work with Ennio as dialogue coach. Thus began one of the many friendships that developed during the making of TWO FISTS ONE HEART.
Jessica Marias has had an extraordinary year since graduating from NIDA. She was cast in a lead role for the television pilot, then the series of PACKED TO THE RAFTERS, played Kate in the feature film TWO FISTS ONE HEART and was on stage in the MTC’s production of Patrick White’s SEASON OF SASPERILLA. Jessica has that most elusive of actors attributes - being able to emotionally connect a character with the audience, whether it is through a lens or live on stage. Her talent coupled with her natural good looks makes Jessica one of the brightest new stars to emerge from NIDA, a school which has produced such stellar talents as Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush and Mel Gibson. Jessica, like Tim Minchin who plays her brother Tom in the film, hails from Perth.
Tim Minchin’s involvement began after David Elfick saw him perform at an inner-city club. The material was topical, modern, and socially aware. David approached Tim to create a character who could open up Anthony’s world from the tough ethnic suburban life he knew. Making this character Tom the brother of Anthony’s love interest Kate gave the story a clear and economic narrative.
For the film to succeed, the final showdown in the ring has to be the climax of the film. Director Seet’s mantra was ‘keep it real’ and the casting had reflected this. How do you shoot an extended boxing finale without throwing real leather? The character of Nico Manchini is older, tougher than Anthony, a fighter rather than a boxer, a brutal unforgiving opponent, a knockout specialist. Rai Fazio was ready to play this role. In preparation Rai had been taking acting classes for several years and appeared in three short films. As both director and producer looked at these films they realised that Rai has on-screen chemistry. After an intensive one–on-one rehearsal period, director Seet was confident that Rai could deliver a performance that would have the brute power this role demanded but, just as importantly, an inner complexity to ensure Nico was not a one-dimensional ‘bad’ character.
An added bonus for the production was the ability for Rai and Daniel to train, rehearse and choreograph the fight scenes together.
When it came to shooting the end fight sequence Daniel joked that this was the only fight movie where, for the early rounds, they were putting make-up on to cover facial bruising, then taking the make-up off for the later rounds rather than faking it.
Theo, Anthony’s amusing mate, was always going to be played by Paul Pantano. Of Sicilian extraction and one of the director’s favourite actors, Pantano revelled in the chance to play a role with a light touch, while also getting into some of the fight action.
Another NIDA graduate Rosemarie Lenzo plays the role of Anthony’s mother, Concetta. A Perth resident for the past 15 years, Rosemarie has worked extensively on stage with the Black Swan Theatre Company. She relished this film opportunity to play opposite Ennio Fantastichini as his wife. Her Italian upbringing allowed Rosemarie and Ennio to create an improvised scene entirely in Italian language during the shooting of the film, a scene which adds an intimacy to their on-screen relationship
An important theme in TWO FISTS ONE HEART is the role boxing training has played in giving young Aboriginal men focus and discipline in their lives.
Rai created the character of Athol, a thirteen-year-old Aboriginal boxer who is trained by Joe. It’s a rich character laced with pathos and humour drawn from the many experiences Rai has had with fellow Aboriginal boxers. The role is played by Karl Bin Rashid, who in front of the camera has a natural bright confidence, and then is able to give an extraordinary vulnerability. Karl, with his million-dollar smile, quickly became the on-set favourite. Ennio became deeply attached to this talented young fellow, Ennio having a son back in Italy who is just a few years younger than ‘Young Athol’ as he was affectionately known.