''Italianamerican'' is a 1974 American

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

film directed by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

and featuring his parents

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

and

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

, who reflect on their experiences as the children of Italian immigrants to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Synopsis

Over dinner at their New York apartment on Elizabeth Street, Martin engages his parents in a lively and candid discussion about their lives, discussing such topics as their upbringing, family, religion, marriage, their Italian ancestors, post-war life in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and the hardships of poor Sicilian immigrants striving to succeed in America. Catherine also demonstrates her technique for cooking meatballs, a recipe later printed in the end credits of the film.

Production

came up with the idea for ''Italianamerican'' after returning from his presentation of '' Mean Streets'' at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. A script was written by

Larry Cohen Lawrence George Cohen (July 15, 1936 – March 23, 2019) was an American filmmaker. He originally emerged as the writer of blaxploitation films such as ''Black Caesar (film), Black Caesar'' and ''Hell Up in Harlem'' (both 1973), before becomin ...

in order to receive funding from the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, but it was not used for the actual film. Six hours of footage was shot, three hours on two days. Scorsese edited ''Italianamerican'' alongside '' Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore''.

Reception

''Italianamerican'' was received positively after its screening at the 1974

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF i ...

, with the ''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

'' reporting the film "completely charmed" the "usually blase festival audience."

Home video

On May 26, 2020,

the Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of art film, arth ...

released ''Scorsese Shorts'', a compilation of five early short films directed by Scorsese: ''Italianamerican'', '' American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince'', ', '' What's a Nice Girl like You Doing in a Place like This?'' and '' It's Not Just You, Murray!''

References

Works cited

External links

* {{Martin Scorsese 1974 films American documentary films 1974 documentary films Documentary films about Italian-American culture Documentary films about Sicily Short films directed by Martin Scorsese Films about New York City Films about immigration to the United States 1970s English-language films 1970s American films Autobiographical documentary films English-language documentary films