Golden Door Review

In its basic outline the story told in the Golden Door, Emanuele Crialeses beautiful dream of a film, is hardly unfamiliar. Some version of this immigrants tale  setting out from the old country, crossing the Atlantic in steerage, arriving at Ellis Island  is part of the family history of millions of Americans. But what makes Mr. Crialeses telling unusual, apart from the gorgeousness of his wide-screen compositions, is that his emphasis is on departure and transition, rather than arrival.

His film takes its English title from the Emma Lazarus poem about the Statue of Liberty, but the lady in the harbor, like the rest of America (apart from Ellis Island), remains unseen as the director takes us up to the door but not through it. The Italian title, Nuovomondo, means new world, but this too is a bit misleading. It is the Old World that dominates this chronicle of Italian peasants striking out for a future they can barely imagine, and the achievement of the movie is to immerse the modern viewer in a way of perceiving the world that has nearly been forgotten. You may have looked at stiff, yellowing pictures of ancestors from a century ago and wondered what they thought and felt, and it is this kind of curiosity that Golden Door comes remarkably close to satisfying.

In the days before aviation the physical distance between rural Italy and New York City was vaster than it is now, but Golden Door is as much about time travel as it is about the geographical kind. Salvatore Mancuso (Vincenzo Amato) and his family effectively live in the Middle Ages, cut off from nearly every manifestation of modernity. When Salvatore strikes up conversations below decks, he is startled to learn that people from other villages speak a common language. This movie is packed with drama and life altering situations. It is very well put together and to me seems quite historically acurate. I loved this film!

Bread and Chocolate Review

This film was interesting in many ways. It will touch all immigrants of any nationality. Those who have made the transition to a new country, tried to find a job and build a new life outside their home will be profoundly moved by this beautifully crafted movie, which is funny and tragic at the same time.

The story is, anyhow, hard to misunderstand: it is the tragic story of a poor Italian immigrant in wealthy, picture-perfect Switzerland. Nino is a man who needs a permanent visa in order to be able to bring his wife and son to his new adopted country. He has worked for three year as a “guest worker” (Gastarbeiter) and now needs his big break. The initial scene of the movie is a pearl and sets the tone for the whole film. Nino walks in a city park on his day off; the park, like the whole country, is pure perfection…A sunny day (rare in Switzerland, to be honest), sailboats floating on the peaceful lake, beautiful children playing quietly, picnics and picnic baskets from which picture-perfect food is extracted, birds chirping, even a string quartet playing live music for the picnickers. Here comes Nino, transfixed by the harmonious spectacle of this wonderful society. Happy to be part of this beauty, dressed out of respect in his best suit and a tie, he sits under a tree to enjoy the peace, pulls out a sandwich from his pocket, and bites….this makes a rather heavy crunch…and, suddenly, the music stops, the musicians are looking at him puzzled, a lady holding a cake turns to him with a rather stern expression; bottom line, the whole park stops and lets him know politely that he does not belong.

Poor Nino does his best as a temporary waiter: he is set to compete with a Turkish man for the only permanent job available. What follows are the comical adventures of the two in the restaurant, trying to look good in front of the owner and make their adversary look bad. To be perverse, the employer has arranged a joint apartment (or rather a single dilapidated room) for the two men to share.

The movie has many funny aspects to it as well as a lot of truth. The ending where he died his hair blonde to fit in in Germany was quite comical.

Gomorrah (Camorra) Review

This factual yet drama based film was a huge advancement in Mafia film history. The average U.S citizen is somewhat enformed about the Mafia and organized crime. But what people usually dont know is that the Mafia was originated in Sicily and is actually quite different from the Camorra who is a mafia like organized crime ring that is native to Campania or modern day Naples, Italy.

The main things seperating the Camorra and the Mafia is their strutcture. The Mafia having a more ladder like structure where every group of soilders has a captain or capo to answer to. In the Camorra there is a head don and then below that everyother man is equal of power.

This film was ground breaking in it's ability to capture a very documentary, realism styled film, viewing very real, very serious issues this world has with organized crime. This gave viewers a not so stereotypical view into the life of 5 Camorra members and how the crime ring has for the most part negitivley effected their lives. The choice to use two teens as some of the main characters to show just how young of an age and how directly this evil crime syndacite is affecting. This was a very crucially realistic and brute way to captivate the imagination of the audience.