Inside 'High Tide' — A Talk with Director Marco Calvani and Star Marco Pigossi
One queer-themed film likely to turn on 2024's Best Lists is "High Tide," Marco Calvani's drama about an undocumented Brazilian immigrant dumped by his boyfriend on a vacation in Ptown. EDGE spoke with Calvani and star Marco Pigossi.
"It took a village to make this film," director Marco Calvani says. He's talking about the way local artists, merchants, and residents joined in to help make the production of the film a possibility — a communal effort that reflects a sense of community in the famous gay destination that Calvani and Marco Pigossi, the star of the film, talk about at length during our interview.
The movie is titled after the way the dunes behind "Boy Beach" — the nickname for a stretch near Herring Cove beach that's popular with gay men — fill up so that a hike back across the dunes can mean wading through chest-high water. High tide also creates a kind of swimming pool environment, and in summer the sun warms the water to a pleasant temperature. The dunes being the frolicsome place they are, high tide can make them even more magical.
But the reference can also be taken to mean a place that's slightly offset from the town's communal sense of belonging, a sense that Calvani experienced first hand when the filmmaker found himself stranded in Provincetown at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. "I couldn't go back to Italy," the director, who also wrote the movie, recalls. "My life was here, and yet I had nothing to do anymore. My career suddenly vanished. The past was a blur. The future didn't exist anymore. In that sense, I was very close to Lourenço," the film's protagonist.
In the movie, Lourenço (Pigossi) is an immigrant from Brazil who has come to the United States to be with his American boyfriend, Joe... only for Joe to suddenly, and unceremoniously, dump him in the middle of their P-Town vacation, leaving Lourenço to fend for himself. Sad, puzzled, and hurt — but desperate not to have to go back to Brazil — Lourenço scrambles to scare up work, cleaning and doing odd jobs for Bob (Sean Mahon) until he can secure long-term employment that will provide him a green card. One of Bob's odd jobs is a painting gig at the home of his ex-wife, Miriam (Marisa Tomei); the two can hardly stand to be anywhere near each other, but Miriam, like so many Cape Cod locals, takes a shine to Lourenço.
Another new friend is Scott (Bill Irwin), a lonely, widowered retiree who has a guest house available for long-term occupancy. Two lonely souls, Bill and Lourenço bond over the occasional shared meal.
But Lourenço is still hoping against hope that he and Joe can reconcile, so he's caught unawares when Maurice (James Bland) happens into his life. Maurice is everything Lourenço wants in a boyfriend, but — this being Provincetown — Maurice is only there for a week. Any chance for the two of them to embark on a longer relationship would depend on Lourenço finally let go of the past and embracing his new life, together with all its uncertain and surprising prospects.
The film isn't political, but politics inevitable informs it. "I arrived in Provincetown right after George Floyd was murdered," Calvani recalls, "and so the conversation around racial injustices and systemic racism was really at the center of all of our conversations, including when you were going out on a date. That infiltrated the script, which was already a story about an interracial couple." Another serendipitous factor, Calvani points out, is that "Provincetown is cinematically beautiful."
Read on to find out more about the movie, what went into its creation, and how themes of home and community relevant to immigrants and queer folk alike pervade the story.
EDGE: How thrilling was it for you to not just set a movie in Provincetown, but to film it there?
Marco Calvani: It was incredibly exciting and special. I don't think Provincetown has ever seen such a big crew. It was exciting, but also problematic [to film on location there]. The only possible way was to have the town on our side. It sounds hilarious now that we're saying it, but the biggest chunk of the pre-production was to make friends in Provincetown and bring them in and explain what the movie was about and try to understand how they could collaborate. So many people gave us their stores, their homes, their cars. Making a film is a miracle, but in this case a whole town showed up.
We were the first film crew ever to be allowed to shoot in the marshes of Provincetown, which are [part of the Cape Cod] National Seashore. Boy Beach is basically [part of the] National Seashore. In theory, we couldn't even go there and camp and do whatever. We crossed the marshes with all the equipment, with the high tide up to here [chest level] coming back, and it was a whole adventure.
Marco Pigossi: For me, it was such an amazing experience to be there for the first time and understand the sense of community. It's extremely powerful, this feeling of being a majority instead of minority for a little bit, and I think Provincetown brings this. It makes total sense that Lourenço is trying to find himself, and he ends up in Provincetown. You're embraced by nature [in Provincetown] in a way that makes you feel small in a good way, like you're just a small speck of dust in that gigantic, beautiful world. I think that's what Lourenço feels in many moments.
EDGE:: When you were getting into Lourenço's mindset, did you go on beach walks and go swimming in the sea to figure out how he feels connected to the place?
Marco Pigossi: I immigrated in a very privileged way: With a career, with papers and documents, and everything correct. But there's always this feeling of, "I don't want to go back, I want to make it happen here, but I don't even know what is here or what is waiting for me." This feeling was very known to me.
EDGE: You're right when you say it's a movie about the immigration experience, but it's also a movie that meditates on what it means to have a home and be at home somewhere.
Marco Calvani: I feel that by the end of the film every single character ends up redefining their idea of home — even, in a way, the character Marisa Tomei [plays], Miriam. She's still kind of stuck in trying to take care of her former husband. I think by the end, through her connection with Lourenço, she will learn something different. Same for Scott, the character played by Bill Irving, whose husband died a long time ago and he's still living in that relationship — I feel through his connection with Lorenzo he will learn a different way.
It's true what you're saying, that it is a film that questions the idea of home. What does it mean to really belong to a place, but also to a person, and to yourself?
EDGE: Talking about home and Provincetown, would you want to go back?
Marco Calvani: Yes, but the beauty of it is, I was lucky. I was invited during the pandemic to stay as much as I wanted. Friends of mine had a guest house, and everybody canceled [because of the pandemic]. But in general, it's a place where you go for a week, so the clock is always ticking — which is part of the fun, too, so of course, you want to go back.
If you've been there, you know how hard it is to get to Provincetown, as much as it's hard to leave once you find your way there. But that's also what we tell in the film: It's a faraway piece of land, and its charm comes exactly from that. I hope we were able to bring that kind of vibe to the screen.
Marco Pigossi: But that goes back to the sense of belonging. I think the sense of community that the city brings, and this feeling of being majority and being a part of that community, that's what makes you really want to go back to Provincetown. That's how we, as queer men, feel in a place like that, and I think that's what the film is about. You will belong here with all your beauty and your flaws and your problems. It's a very welcoming place in that sense.
EDGE: You show so many iconic places in Provincetown. We see Spiritus Pizza, we see the dunes, we see The A House. There was a certain dock I was waiting for, but it didn't show up. [Laughter]
Marco Calvani: You're not allowed to name it?
[Laughter]
EDGE: I don't know! You tell me.
Marco Calvani: You know, I've seen a few films where Provincetown was represented, and I didn't want this film to be an ad for the town. I wanted to place it there and let the characters and the story take you to certain places. You mentioned the dock, but there's so many other places that define Provincetown that, in the end, are not shown in the film. The story didn't need to happen there, so you don't see [the characters] there.
"High Tide" is in theaters. It is available on VOD on December 10.