Bread & Chocolate
I enjoyed the small portion we saw of this movie. It's very silly, but also had some social commentary about Italians emigrants. In the park, the main character wasn't even accepted by a child who was playing ball. And then he gets mixed up with a rape scandal and was only let go because the priest had already confessed to the crime. It was pretty clear that if the priest hadn't confessed, the main character would've been accused of the crime. At the restaurant, he has many fumbles trying to learn the ropes of professional waiting. He's not as graceful as the Turk, but he keeps trying to overcome. He keeps finding stashed away food in strange places around the restaurant, thinking he's trying to be framed, when really his bus boy (I think) is the one stealing the food. He makes a comment about how Italians are known for stealing, so he's being framed by the Turk. I thought that was interesting. Why are Italians treated in these ways? Why are they thought to be thieves and crazy chicken-coop people? This movie made jokes that some of them are like that, but that shouldn't define a whole culture.
Golden Door
This movie was interesting. The parts I saw were okay, but they weren't a dramatic re-telling that I thought it was going to be. It just didn't seem to be very powerful. But the subject matter was important. I already knew emigrants had to go through physical and psychological testing, but I never knew exactly what kinds of tests they were. I found it very interesting, and I feel sympathy for all emigrants (not just Italians) who had to go through the process. They believe the USA to be a great new world, but to get in you need to be tested and kept somewhere against your will. Besides the old woman, everyone seemed to be okay with the process. I found that to be a little strange. Most likely their excitement out-weighed their fear of the screening. I would like ot learn more about this, but not necessarily through this film.
One thing that I would like to point out in regards to the psychological testing is the difference between the Italians and the Englishwoman. She states that she "loves puzzle games" and the whole thing is very familiar to her. She knew exactly what she was doing and had no problem completing the puzzle. That is because she is an educated woman who grew up among such things.
ReplyDeleteThe Italians on the other hand, rarely had time for such games, and they weren't really given instructions as to how to complete the puzzle. The Italian father built a farmhouse, because that is the one thing that he has known. I believe that these tests weren't fair, because everyone is capable of having the same level of intelligence, they need only be given the opportunity.
On Bread and Chocolate-I agree with you that if the priest didn't admit to the scandal that he would've been committed for the crime. Isn't great in Italian films how the priest is also such a noble man? And I really can't comment too much about the race issues because to be perfectly honest I'm not sure about the cultural norms or stereotypes as far as foreign culture on foreign culture goes. Maybe I should more...
ReplyDeleteOn The Golden Door-The movie itself was kind of a boring way to go about watching the emigrants, maybe there should have been some bits of excitement. It always amazes me that the same people that have come up with the cool Spaghetti Western genre also came up with neorealism, talk about your extremes...