Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that even though this subtitled period drama is rated PG-13, it's actually quite tame in terms of language and nudity (a communal shower scene at Ellis Island shows everything except genitalia, but it's not at all sexual), so there's little to worry about there if older tweens and young teens are interested. That said, the story is an unvarnished look at immigration, and some scenes can be disturbing (passengers get crushed during very rough seas). Also, some of the immigrants' experiences -- from why they married strangers to the strange questions they had to answer at Ellis Island -- may need explanations.
Families can talk about how movies and other media usually depict the immigrant experience. Why is the actual journey from the old world to the new so often glossed over? If immigrants had to sacrifice so much, why did they decide to leave their country to start over somewhere else? What did America represent for them? And how did these preconceived notions about the country form? What did you know about the immigrant experience before watching the movie? What did you learn during the film?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: S. Jhoanna Robledo
Movies about the immigrant experience almost always ground the narrative in the new world, often with much success. The reinventions, the triumphs -- what's not to like? But director Emanuel Crialese doesn't trifle with any of that. For him, the old world -- and the journey from it -- holds much more drama. And he's right.
In GOLDEN DOOR, an Italian film with English subtitles, Crialese follows Salvatore Mancuso (Vincenzo Amato), a widowed Sicilian who dreams of joining his twin in America. In pictures, the United States is depicted as the land of plenty indeed, with rivers of milk coursing through exotic places like California. After scaling a craggy Sicilian mountain with his son, Angelo (Francesco Casisa), Salvatore decides that God has given him the green light to make a new life in that strange country across the wide Atlantic.
With Angelo; his other, silent son, Pietro (Filippo Pucillo); and his superstitious mother, Fortunata (Aurora Quattrocchi), by his side (along with two young women from his village who are betrothed to Italians who've already made the passage), Salvatore abandons all he knows and embraces the great unknown. In one memorable scene, the passengers and the loved ones left behind look like one big mass, until the ship pulls away from the harbor, revealing both a literal and metaphorical schism.
Joining Salvatore onboard is Lucy (Charlotte Gainsbourg, luminous as always), an Englishwoman whose presence in a hard-scrabble Italian town isn't explained. Never mind: Spotting each other on the dock and again in steerage, Salvatore and Lucy instantly connect, which leads to an odd courtship conducted mostly with their eyes. She needs a man to gain entry into America (she doesn't say why) and in Salvatore finds one who's irresistibly warm, bold, and unflappable.
But their quiet romance takes a back seat to the movie's decidedly unromantic depiction of the actual immigration process. Subjected to an endless list of indignities -- cramped and dank quarters, turbulent waters, intrusive interrogations and mindless tests administered by Ellis Island officials (as if being able to open a door first before bringing a chair near it determines your ability to be a good citizen) -- the souls who decide to make their way in America are brave, indeed. As one bureaucrat puts it, "We're trying to prevent below-average people from mixing with our citizens." The promise of the good life and better opportunities beckons, and most are willing to take a chance (even when it means marrying strangers -- which made it more likely that newcomers could stay).
At first, Salvatore's flights of fancy -- he has visions of giant carrots floating by and money falling from trees like overripe fruit, for example -- seem misplaced in a movie that's so straightforward about history. But these moments add levity to the mercilessness and the savagery of the voyage itself. If only the movie could have offered even a glimpse of America. When the men climb a window to peer at the "bell towers" rising high with wooden boxes that transport people to their homes in the sky, can't viewers see what all the fuss is about, too? After all that pain and suffering and heartache, we want the payoff.
Fans might like other takes on the immigrant experience, including Avalon and In America, both of which do focus on the "new world" side of the trip, or Yentl. Younger kids will enjoy An American Tail.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentSalvatore and Lucy flirt, but only through looks. A young man sneaks into the women's area in steerage and surreptitiously smells a sleeping woman's underwear -- while she's still wearing it. A few scenes at Ellis Island show both men and women naked (everything is visible except for genitalia) in communal showers. |
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ViolenceWhen the ship hits rough seas, third-class passengers are viciously thrown about in their crowded spaces; some are crushed to death, and the resulting aftermath is dismaying/upsetting. Occasionally, two brothers swat at and shove each other. |
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LanguageNothing more colorful than "idiot" and "blockhead." |
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Social BehaviorSalvatore is a protective father who remains respectful of others while trying to safely usher his family to the new world. Some passengers speculate that the mysterious Lucy is a prostitute. Passengers loot belongings left by those who died during the journey, and men size up women like cattle and lay claim to them in a dubious matchmaking process. A young boy is treated as though he's useless simply because he refuses to talk. |
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CommercialismNone, except perhaps a nostalgic pitch for that land of plenty, America. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoSome immigrants smoke cigarettes. Bottles of wine are brought on the ship as possessions. |
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