Isabella Rossellini’s Latest Trick…Green Porno

By Marla E. Schwartz

Isabella Rossellini is now a porn star!

What?

One would think that this is something even too far out for a woman of such noble film pedigree.  She was born in 1952 as one of the twin daughters of Swedish born actress and Italian born director .  Her twin sister is an adjunct of .

Before we even get into the porno thing – just in case you’ve been living under massive amounts of boulders for the last few decades – Isabella’s early career flourished as a model when photographed for and Bill King for American .  During her career she has worked with many other renowned photographers such as , , and . Her image has appeared on the covers of many magazines, including as , , , and ELLE.  An exhibition of many of these portraits called, Portrait of a Woman, was held at the Musee d’Art Moderne in .
    
As an actress she has worked on numerous films in both Europe and the U.S.A., most notably, David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, the fascinating love-story Immortal Beloved, White Nights, Death Becomes Her, Wyatt Earp, Big Night and Fearless.  She has voiced a character on The Simpsons and has appeared in numerous television programs including Chicago Hope, The Tracey Ullman Show, Alias, Napoleon, Merlin, and 30 Rock.

She first stepped behind the camera to work on a film called, “My Dad is 100 Years Old.”  She wrote the screenplay and Guy Maddin directed the film.  It was important to Isabella to produce this retrospective of her father in order to pay homage to Roberto Rossellini’s incomparable body of work.   She made her directorial debut in 2008 with Green Porno.

Isabella recently made an appearance at the Miami Book Fair International (MBFI) in the popular “Evenings With” program, where she spoke about her new book, “GREEN PORNO”{$24.99} based on the popular success of her films that she wrote, directed and starred in for Robert Redford and the Sundance Channel.

The first season was focused on bug sex, the second season was about the mating habits of marine animals and the third season introduces new elements as it takes a comedic peak at the lives of sea animals that human devour in mass quantities.  This includes certain types of ocean creatures such as the squid, shrimp and anchovy.  The fourth film is entitled, “”Harem on the Beach: Elephant Seal,” and makes a passionate plea toward conservation.

She does this all while

wearing anatomically correct costumes   If you’re curious, you should be. If you haven’t seen it – what in the world are you waiting for – seriously?  She screened segments of these films at the MBFI and the audience just roared.  It’s a way to learn about inhabitants of the natural world that most of us never give the time of day.  It’s done in a hilarious and educational manner without being pedantic.

These films give you an opportunity to explore the deep without getting wet. You’ll have an opportunity to observe acts of love taking place deep in the ocean.  For example, thanks to Isabella, we now know that anchovies mate in large orgies; shrimp strip down to get in the mood; starfish can do it two different ways and whales fight to make love. Oh yes – there’s even more porno involved than you think – but you need to read the book to discover these other hidden treasures.

Additionally, conservationist Dr. Claudio Campagna (listening to Isabella repeat this name over and over again is also great fun), a marine animals specialist, makes an appearance in the fourth feature, offering his expert opinion on his thirty-years of studying elephant seals, thus adding an important scientific element to her exceptional work.

Hopefully everyone now gets the idea behind Green Porno!

“Everybody gets a little nervous when they hear Green Porno,” Isabella said. “People say, ‘Whoa! What did you do?’  But there is nothing in it that you haven’t seen on National Geographic, only that I’m trying to say it with great humor.”

“Green Porno is a series of short scientific stories, made with a great sense of humor and fantasy,” Robert Redford said. “This is what we artists do. We tell serious things in the most accessible, entertaining way, and Isabella is a very progressive and talented artist.”

The series features Isabella speaking directly to the camera about the life form at hand.  Then she uses animation, paper cut outs and puppets to lie bare these sometimes seemingly odd reproductive habits of such living beings that share our planet with us.  And she has cast herself in all the roles.

“I wouldn’t know how to hire an actor and say, ‘Now you’re playing a worm having sex.’ Then if they ask me, ‘Well, what is my motivation,’ I wouldn’t know what to say.  So I play all the animals to make it simpler,” she explained.

If you haven’t had a chance to see this Webby Award-winning series, it’s available for free online at:  .  You can also get your own here.  I did it and mine is, Cicada Lacewing.  Very cool!

***

A native of Toledo, OH and a graduate of Kent State, Marla E. Schwartz has been a professional journalist since her teenage years and is a Senior Writer for Miami Living Magazine, and a freelance writer for CRAVINGS South Florida in Aventura, as well as Around Wellington Magazine and Lighthouse Point Magazine.  An avid photographer, her images have appeared in numerous Ohio publications, as well as in Miami Living, The Miami Herald, The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and The Palm Beach Post.  She has had numerous plays published and produced around the country.  Her short play, America’s Working? was originally read at First Stage in Los Angeles and in the same city produced at the Lone Star Ensemble.  It was then produced at Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL and then taken to an Off-Broadway playhouse by its producers Adam and Carrie Simpson.  Her piece, The Lunch Time Café, was a finalist for the Heideman Award, Actors Theatre of Louisville.  Feel free to contact her at: .