Elia Kazan produced, wrote, and directed this obviously deeply personal epic about a young Greek man in late 19th century Europe who dreams of escaping Turkish oppression for the promised freedoms of America. I wrongly assumed coming into the film that it was primarily set here in the States and would be about the immigrant experience at the turn of the last century. But our hero only reaches America in the last few minutes of the film; the rest is about his dogged determination to scrape together the cost of a ticket to cross the ocean, including a chapter that shows him coming into material comfort through a strategic marriage and that threatens his resolve with the complacency that comes with a Greek middle class existence.
I suppose the film could be accused of sugar coating the immigrant experience. It ends before we see the slums and difficult lives many immigrants were relegated to once they arrived. On the other hand, it also shows what the immigrants were fleeing in the first place and makes the case that the hardships to be found in America are better than those to be found elsewhere.
"America America" has taken on a renewed relevance in our current cultural climate that throws suspicion on immigrants and argues that America should return to a form of isolationism. Also, I have to believe this film inspired later filmmakers, notably Francis Ford Coppola, as the fingerprints of this film are all over Coppola's "The Godfather Part II."
Though little known now, "America America" was a Best Picture nominee in 1963, and Kazan was also nominated for Best Director and Best Original Story and Screenplay. Gene Callahan won that year's award for Best B&W Art Direction.
Grade: A
I suppose the film could be accused of sugar coating the immigrant experience. It ends before we see the slums and difficult lives many immigrants were relegated to once they arrived. On the other hand, it also shows what the immigrants were fleeing in the first place and makes the case that the hardships to be found in America are better than those to be found elsewhere.
"America America" has taken on a renewed relevance in our current cultural climate that throws suspicion on immigrants and argues that America should return to a form of isolationism. Also, I have to believe this film inspired later filmmakers, notably Francis Ford Coppola, as the fingerprints of this film are all over Coppola's "The Godfather Part II."
Though little known now, "America America" was a Best Picture nominee in 1963, and Kazan was also nominated for Best Director and Best Original Story and Screenplay. Gene Callahan won that year's award for Best B&W Art Direction.
Grade: A