America is a land constituted of many ethnicities due to the history of colonisation. Film and literature has represented these experiences and they have provided a rich seam for stories and narratives.
We could look at the representation of Native Americans in film starting with early cinema and the establishment of the Cowboy/Indian binary opposition. The Western genre became very popular in the Golden Age of Hollywood and reinforced hegemonic stereotypes and the myth of the American West that has been revised in the more progressive media of the 21st Century.
The Searchers starring John Wayne is perhaps the most famous Western. There is some questioning of stereotypes and John Wayne is an 'anti-hero' as he is so psychologically damaged by his experineces of the harsh existence on the frontier that he is unable to settle for a civilised life. He regards Native Americans as savages and is merciless toward them to the point where he is ready to kill his niece who has been kidnapped and lived with a tribe. The Native Americans are played by white actors and use stereotypes promulgated by Hollywood over decades as 'noble savages' or two dimensional enemies.
Their function in the narrative is as an opposition to the civilising influence of the European descendants who are moving into their territory.
Make a list of binary oppositions that can be found in the Western genre
Many Europeans set sail for America to escape their own countries. Sometimes this was due to persecution such as Jews fleeing Nazi occupied countries. The original Pilgrim fathers set off from Plymouth in the 'Mayflower' as they were Puritans hoping to establish a religous colony in the New World. Some set sail to start a new life in the land of opportunity hoping to start again and live off the fat of the land.
We are going to focus on the Italian American experience as it has provided a rich source of stories for Film and Television to develop.
Many Italians left their country due to poverty particularly from Southern regions where the agricultural economy and a hot climate meant that most existed as peasants at the mercy of feudal landowners. The promise of the American Dream sold to Italians struggling to survive was a potent one. There was also corruption in Italy which is a common theme. A 'mafia' controlled a lot of the economy particularly in places like Sicily so this cretaed a sense of fear. Mussolini was a dictator who allied with Hitler and many fled the country to escape this dictatorship. Often there was discrimination between the North of Italy and the South. the North is richer and people from Milan and Turin often looked down on their southerly compatriots. Italy is made up of several states so has always been division between Naples and Milan for example. It is also a strongly Catholic country so maybe some wanted to flee religous oppression. All of these influence the themes in American film.
Italy has a rich film tradition and many great directors. Mussolini supported the creation of a large film studio and complex called Cinecitta and many technicians moved to Hollywood to work.
Rocco and His Brothers - Visconti
Cinema Paradiso - Tornatore
This is a wonderful film evoking life in an Italian town where a young boy is infatuated with the local cinema. You can see the importance of family and religion and the agricultural landsape that could be harsh to make a living from.
Salvatore Giuliano was a Sicilian bandit /freedom fighter that has been immortalised in myth and legend. Was he good or bad ? That is often a theme in Italian/ American films. It was sometimes a dangerous existence for anyone opposed to the stricture of society or holding particular political views.
We will start by looking at a clip from the definitive Italian American film trilogy 'The Godfather'. In this scene a young Vito Corleone arrives in America from Sicily. He has had to flee as his family was killed by the local mafia Don. Ellis Island in Manhattan near the Statue of Liberty was the first place that many European migrants saw in America. They were often processed here and given new names. Notice that English is the dominant language as the UK colonised the East coast of America and estanblished English as the first language. Using language to unite people also has the effect of wiping out aspects of culture and identity. Vito never really feels that America accepts the Italian American community and persecutes these poeple and forces them into ghettoes. THis is a common immigrant experience across the world. Vito decides to become the 'Godfather' to his community and live outside its rules which he feels do not serve his people. He does this through violence and intimidation but the community prefer his rule to the American state which does not seem to protect them. It is a powerful story and goes to the heart of the American experience.Many Americns identify with this figure of the outcast protecting their embattled community. At the same time as Little Italy developed in New York you would have different communities defined by their ethnicity or links to their homeland joined by common languages or culture. This is still the same today in many Americn cities.
Here is some footage of people arriving at Ellis Island in 1903 which would have inspired a director like Francis Ford Coppola. Many of the directors who came through the New Hollywood era in the 1970's derew on their family history and experiences of migrating from Italy.
Even those who try to avoid the violence and the family history find they cannot escape. Micheal Corleone eventually becomes the figure he always avoided as he has to protect his family. The narrative follows his trajectory from war hero to Godfather and head of the New York mafia. The first two films are classics but dont touch the third one, it is truly awful.
Many would argue that these are negative representations of Italian Americans or even Sicilian Americans. The stereotype suggests criminality is a key trait. However, these films have connected with audiences.
Martin Scorses is a very articulate director and this documentary is invaluable in explaining how American film develops. Here he talks about the gangster genre which influences the genre that he helped to develop with films like Mean Streets and later Goodfellas and more recently The Irishman.
Goodfellas is perhaps the best known of this genre of film and although it follows an Irish American character it follows the mafia/gangster template detailing a lifetime chronology of life in Italian American neighbouthoods wher 'goodfellas' ruled the streets. These are films about masculinity and the American Dream gone bad but are informed by the experience of migration and the culture informs the mise en scene. In this famous scene Scorsese uses one long take with incredible choreography as we follow the protagonist through a restaurant.It identifies his status and the lifeestyle he lives. It is an iconic scene.
In this scene the young protagonist is facsinated with the 'goodfella' culture and is quickly absorbed into the lifestyle of the gangster.
We will analyse this scene in terms of mise-en-scene and the effect of using of a voice over. Write a textual analysis of this scene and reference other films in the genre.
Scorsese made his name with a film about New York in the community that he knew. It is about friendship, masculinity and the influence of criminal gangs and petty crime. It set his style and milieu and contains many of the themes he came back to in his career.
Masculinity is a theme that Scorsese revels in and films such as Raging Bull have very difficult scenes to watch which deal with toxic masculinity. In Gangs of New York he creates the character of Bill the Butcher in a city ruled by tribal gangs where brutality and violence is the order of the day in the new world. Again the binary opposition between 'native' and 'immigrant' is being posited which has been used by leaders for centuries but which is a myth.
Scorses's latest film is like a homage to his earlier work and a historical epic focusing on the character of Jimmy Hoffa and the mafia. He uses his go to actors like Pacino and De Niro and focuses on characters who have come from New York but are products of the culture of the city.
This focus on the Italian American experience led to television becoming the ideal platform for further development of character and narrative arcs. TV drama can be novelistic and many creative people have moved into this medium because it allows them creative space to develop ideas. At the forefront of quality TV drama was 'The Sopranos' even before streaming led to a boom in TV drama. This series is set in New Jersey across the bridge from New York. It follows Tony Soprano aplayed by James Gandolfini who is the usual psychopathic boss but the series focuses on his normal domestic life and his family. This offers a different representation of the mundanity of evil and almost humanises the gangsters to a point where we almost like them. In a further twist he goes for the modern solution of psychotherapy which is not something a gangster should be seen doing. Once again these are 'goodfellas' and there is a lot of intertextuality as they reference famous mafia films self referentially.
Here the goodfellas are hanging out at their base 'Satriales' pork store. Representations of this small cross section of the American population have connected with audiences and the stories have been mined relentlessly over the past century. With the dominance of American film in the global marketplace it is incredible how high the profile of this social group has become. Audiences seem fascinated with these now familiar narratives in what is now a well worn genre.
