Robert Towne’s last film has one scene everybody remembers, and it happens in the dark, in the sea.
What happens in the Ask the Dust scene
Ask the Dust is Towne’s adaptation of John Fante’s 1939 novel. Colin Farrell is Arturo Bandini, a broke writer in Depression-era Bunker Hill, and Salma Hayek is Camilla Lopez, a fiery Mexican waitress who wants a better life and an American name. They spend most of the film insulting each other because it’s cheaper than admitting anything.
The night swim is where they stop. Under the moon, the two of them wade out into the surf and Camilla goes into the water with nothing on. The dark water and the moonlight do most of the undressing, and Hayek plays it as a woman deciding, for once, not to perform for anyone. It’s the most honest the two characters ever are with each other.
The production built it far from Los Angeles: the film was shot almost entirely in South Africa, and this scene used the man-made beach at the Valley of Waves water park at Sun City.
It’s number one on the Salma Hayek hub, where every scene of hers we cover is ranked.
Film: Ask the Dust (Paramount Classics, 2006) · written and directed by Robert Towne, from John Fante’s novel · Salma Hayek as Camilla Lopez, Colin Farrell as Arturo Bandini, with Donald Sutherland and Idina Menzel · released March 17, 2006 · night swim shot at Sun City’s Valley of Waves, South Africa · Hayek was 39 at release (born September 2, 1966) · no body double noted
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