The Golden Door

Magical realist film about Italian migration to states. Is very much into underlining how stupid and one-sided are peasants, but also some valid criticism of eugenics and migration regime (which anyway was way more humane back then besides all of the brutality).

While The Golden Door shares a lot of the sentimentality of Crialese's other films, it has nice bits of whimsy and anachrony thrown in at key moments, so he let's us know it's a modern story about the stereotypical immigrant experience. And of course it's beautifully shot, with beautiful actors. Now what I'd really like to see is a film about clueless Americani going to Petralia Sottana!

A quietly engrossing historical drama, focusing on one family as they make the tumultuous journey from rural Italy to a new life in America. Mostly it feels very documentary-like - showing the entire journey, from the preparations to leave, the cramped conditions on the ship, the exhaustive entry exams on Ellis Island and so on - but there are odd moments of surrealism that don't feel out of place.

"Hung up on the nature of procedure, the film transpires in very distinct, hellish parts, as if moving slowly along the links of a great and heavy metal chain." - Ed Gonzalez