The Italian Americans (Documentary Mini-Series)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: B- Episodes: B
For some reason, outside of Italian Cinema, the true
stories of Italians never seem to come through in any medium. They continue to dominate the Gangster
genre, much to the chagrin of pro-Italian groups, but I think the situation is
more complex. Even Norman Jewison’s
1987 hit Moonstruck has issues that become more apparent as time goes
on. New York’s WLIW, one of their
public television stations, produced a documentary series back in 1997 called The
Italian Americans and Acorn Media has issued a DVD set that offers all
three installments that occurred over the next three years.
The series is a series of interviews with those of the
ethic title affiliation in entertainment, religion, food and other areas of
culture that is one of the best attempts to date to begin to capture the
sometimes-complex nature of the subject.
The first installment, sharing the name of the title of the box itself,
talks about the early immigration years and how they ran into the craziness of
World War II, when Italy joined the Axis powers with Germany and Japan. Those who left Italy to have a new life more
often sided with the United States, making for a tricky situation that goes
beyond the realm of this series.
Nevertheless, this first chapter captures the basics of how up to three
generations settled in sometimes sad, awkward and painful ways into integrating
in the U.S. they helped to literally build.
Unlike most immigrant who may have assimilated more than they wanted to,
though not with the closure of Hasidic Jews in New York (see A Life Apart
elsewhere on this site), Italian Americans created a sort of paradoxical
existence in the U.S. that helped them to retain a majority of their authentic
identity without worry about assimilation except among the most diehard of the
immigrants. A Beautiful Song
covers the more personal side of the experience, i.e., what happens now that
they are settling down. The piece is
about much more than Italian singers, featuring food, religion, financial
successes and the role women played like no other immigrants.
The second DVD features the final installment, Passion
For Life. The section on bread is a
favorite, but what follows here is now that Italians have settled as Americans,
this is the part where they really excel in life and in what they enjoy. This is the segment to celebrate success and
brings the series to date. Music
resurfaces again as well, though this time, Opera is finally added. It is as good as the previous installments
and I feel this series’ only problem is that it stopped too short.
The 1.33 X 1 full frame image was shot on professional
NTSC analog tape and is in nice, clean, clear condition, though the usual limits
for the format in detail and some color limits still apply. There are also the occasional inserts of
stills and older film footage; the usual expected documentary mix. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is clear
enough, though no surrounds exist.
Extras include bonus footage for both programs, the first (at 27:40) of
which features a segment on pizza that may be the highlight of the entire
set. The bonus for the second bonus
segment runs 23:53 and covers more food and personal events. For the third and final installment, the
bonus segment is about up to the pizza section, with the majority of it
expanding on the music. Clothes briefly
surfaces, but other food follows and this segment has a 21:50 running time and is
a great wrap-up to an unexpectedly fun set.
These segments are likely used for pledge drives, which is a great
thing. Writer Sam Toperoff and director
Roman Brygider deserve credit for pulling it all together with the producers
and financers of the show. All in all,
this is yet another winner from Acorn and WLIW.
- Nicholas Sheffo
