DVD
REVIEW:
GOLDEN
DOOR

01/12/08

"Nuovomondo" or translated
in English "Golden Door' is a film with a different twist.
This immigrant experience written and directed by Emanuele
Crialese tells the story of Salvatore Mancuso (Vincezo
Amato), a Sicilian peasant, who embarks on a trip to reach a
land where money grows on trees, an onion is the size of a
big beach ball and a chicken grows the size of a horse. A
naive Mancuso brings with him his two sons, one of them mute
and his delusional mother, Fortunata Mancuso (Aurora
Quattrocchi). The film takes us to the Southern part of
Italy, where a good part of the film concentrates on the
idiosyncrasy of Salvatore and his family. Simple minded and
with hilarious superstitions Mancuso and his family embark
in this trip where a young English woman catches all the
men's eyes but hers are placed on Mancuso. Set at the end of
the 20th century where arranged marriages where done to
cover up personal needs, Lucy Reed (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is
no exception. Taking advantage that Mancuso is attracted to
her, she proposes marriage to him in order to make the INS
process smooth. While most of the movie concentrates on the
voyage, it is the last part which spices things up. Once
they arrive at Ellis Island the entire process with INS is
ridiculous and hard to believe yet funny.
This adventurous and romantic epic story is told with
visionary and funny scenes that add a special touch to the
story. While the scenes are entertaining, they are full of
symbolism, which brings realism, portraying the American
Dream from the perspective of this family. In addition, the
music by Nina Simone adds flavor to the scenes and is very
appropriate in lyrics. The performance by Aurora Quattrocchi
as Salvatore's mother is outstanding. After watching this
film it is no surprise that the awards given to it based on
costume design, production design, and even best film in
2006 are well deserving.
Now in its DVD release Martin Scorsese does an introduction
and explains his vision with this film and tells his own
personal connection to the story. As another extra bonus
feature the making of Golden Door is exposed with some
interviews with the actors. It is in Italian language with
English subtitles which is a delight to listen to the
Sicilian accent. This is movie worth watching!!
VIDEO:
Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) Enhance for 16x9 TVs
AUDIO:
Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround - Italian Spanish
Subtitles - English
French Spanish - Optional
BONUS FEATURES:
Introduction by Martin Scorsese
The making of Golden Door
RATING BREAK DOWN:
FILM REVIEW |
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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BONUS
FEATURES |
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