I have never watched a silent film before and I must say, I find "The Italian" quite amusing. The music in the background lends to the dramatic effect as well as the gestures the characters make so it is easy to follow (of course the brief captions that come every so often help to understand what is going on as well). As far as the story line, it shows the sacrifices Italian immigrants had to make in order to reach their goals. Beppo couldn't marry his love until he made enough money to buy a home for them to live in in America. We also see the pain and suffering they went through as their baby got sick. It shows how strong their familial bond is and the closeness and love of family.
"The Italian" was an interesting take on the plight of early immigration to America. When I have thought of immigrants in the past, I've always assumed they came as a family. "The Italian" showed that the man would take the chance and come over first. And although he would struggle, the man would make certain that he could get work and be able to support a family before bringing someone he was courting from Italy. The part of the film where Beppo has to fight to get milk for his sick baby was disturbing. If that was what conditions were like back in the arly 1900's it is a wonder how people survived. The film underscores the suffering these early Italians went through.
"The Italian" is not the first silent film I have seen. Silent films in general relied heavily on music and very theatrical movements to convey moods. The mood of "The Italian" was mostly whimsical, which got to be a disturbing contradiction when their baby gets sick. The film outlined some of the specific trials that early Italian immigrants faced that we have discussed so far. Beppo had to immigrate to America to earn a living so he could marry his love, he worked a low paying job as a shoeshine man, and they had to struggle to stay alive.
I had mixed feelings when it came to the Italian. As far as the content goes, it was interesting to see such a dark depiction of immigrant life in such an early film. Usually when conditions are that bad they're usually not acknowledged by media until later on. Not to mention, due to economic times back then the trend was for films to have a more uplifting plot to aid in the escapism factor. So it was interesting to see a different style of silent film.
We watched The Italian over a period of two days. The first day I didn't fully understand what was going on because, like some of my other classmates, I had never seen a silent film before. By the second day, I began to understand the film better. Towards the end of the film, when he was searching for milk for his sick child, I felt like he was in a situation similar to Pascal D'Angelo in Son of Italy. Both characters went through a series of obstacles that prevented them from doing what they set out to do. I enjoyed watching this film and it helped me to better understand the struggle and pain that comes along with immigration.
Unlike the majority of my fellow classmates, I have seen silent films before. As others have stated, the film relies mostly on the music to place the mood and feel of the story. I agree with Jessica in that this movie is similar to D'Angelo's “Son of Italy.” The entire story of "The Italian" is a constant struggle. So far we've witnessed his struggle to get the girl, find work, buy a house, please his love, and to save his baby. It was upsetting to see how hard Beppo fought to try to save his baby and the outcome of it all. It's as though he gets no break. Later on when he begs the man to help him and we see that man with his own family who is happy and healthy, it's like a slap in the face that Beppo's own baby dies. Both "Son of Italy" and "The Italian" have opened my eyes to the suffering and hardship these people went through in their fight to find a better life.
Watching The Italian was a cinematic representation of the Italian immigrant’s experience in America at the turn of the century that I have read many times over the years in various accounts of the immigrant experience. However, this representation made me feel very sympathetic because I could actually see the grief and hardship Italian immigrants endured. While there was little dialogue the music in the background was just as effective. The viewer could sense exactly how Beppo was feeling in each scene by the music that was played in the background.
This film was similar to the Son of Italy in that the two men dealt with misfortune after misfortune, the next worse than the last. It did not seem like they would ever surpass the difficult things they experienced, but they both continued, which speaks to their strength and character.
The representation of Italian immigrants in The Italian contrasted greatly with the representations we saw previously in the various cartoons. The cartoons showed Italian immigrants as stupid, lazy, crooks. In The Italian, on the other hand, Beppo is depicted as a hard working, honest man with a sense of strong familial responsibility. He moves to an unknown country to make enough money to marry his love and works tirelessly to support his wife and child, which was not seen in any of the cartoons. The Italian was a very interesting and inspiring film.
I really enjoyed watching 'The Italian'. Unlike some of my other classmates I have seen silent films before. They were comedies by Charlie Chaplin. I was happy to see that this film was more than just a comedy. It had elements from all different kinds of films. I also feel that I was able to get a stronger sense of what Beppo was feeling because it was a silent film. Instead of focusing on the words I was focusing on body language and facial expressions which I found to be more powerful than language. This film told the story of a man in love who immigrates to America to make money to marry her. The film takes a turn from a romantic love story to the struggle and hardships of an Italian immigrant in America. Similar to Francesca I have also read many accounts of Italian immigrants lives in America. And you always hear about the struggle and the discrimination that they face. But now we were able to watch a representation of a family who are new immigrants to America and all of the hardships they faced while just trying to live a good life together. While watching this movie I saw many similarities to "Son of Italy". In both I found myself asking "can anything else go wrong?" I could not believe that Beppo's baby died. Both the book and the movie really made me had a greater depth of understanding of what immigrants faced when they moved to America.
I found the “The Italian” to be an interesting silent movie about an Italian immigrant’s struggle to support themselves and their families. I have never seen a silent film before, so was at first confused as to what was going on, but the expressions the actors took as well as the few subtitles that were given after a few frames were helpful for my understanding. It seems that there is a similar linking theme for any type of explanation of an Italian immigrant’s story, as many of the same concepts that were portrayed in the novel “The Son of Italy” are seen in “The Italian” as well. For example, in both stories, the Italian came to New York City to find a job and was faced with prejudice and poor conditions to both live and work in. Despite the fact there was no dialogue in the movie, which I was not used to, I felt that the movie was eventually easy to follow and the story was told in an enjoyable way.
I am a huge fan of old films however silent films are not what i usually prefer. However i thoroughly enjoyed the "Italian". The film seemed whimsical and airy, despite the graveness of the subject matter. The music added a flavor to the movie, giving it a certain tone and helping us understand when something funny, serious, or dramatic is happening. I found the film to be incredibly appropriate in relation to the novel that we were reading. Both the film and the book depicted the difficult transition that immigrants face both socially, financially, as well as in many other respects
"The Italian" was an interesting movie to follow. The only silent movies I have watched were comedies so trying to follow a drama was a bit out of the norm. Like Elisa said, the emphatic expressions of the actors and the subtitles in between scenes made it a lot easier for me to understand what was happening in the film. "The Italian" and the autobiography "Son of Italy" are very alike in the sense that they both depict struggling Italian immigrants. It was really sad to see the struggles Beppo went through to try to provide a better life for himself and his family. No matter what Beppo did, he couldn't get ahead, which was the problem with Pascal D'Angelo in "Son of Italy". The scene when Beppo was going to the store to buy more milk for his baby was evidence of that. The poor guy gets mugged on his way to the store and then has no money to buy milk. Even after begging people for money after telling them his situation, they laugh at him and beat him up, which leads to him getting arrested and causing his baby to die because of no milk. This movie is one of many examples of what Italian immigrants had to go through when coming to America.
When taking into consideration the excessive degree of hardships immigrants, particularly Italian immigrants, faced upon their arrival to the United States, “The Italian” accurately depicts the toil and distress they experienced. This film, although silent, is especially tangible, given that it relates to Pascal D’Angelo’s “Son of Italy” in several ways. The main character’s desire to win his lover’s hand resulted in the indispensable decision to seek prospective wealth in the United States. His lover later followed him and soon after gave birth to their son. Given that his initial experiences in the United States were difficult, he and his wife at once were faced with the responsibility of having to adequately comply with their son’s dire condition and later with his death. This obstacle added to the already intolerable experiences associated with immigration made the film especially captivating given that it provides the possibilities of such drastic measures occurring vis-à-vis increasing immigrants anguish.
Youssef Lehnin I enjoy silent film, and watching The Italian, indeed was a pleasant experience. Italian’s and all Mediterranean people are very expressive in their body language, which made things uncomplicated to understand the plot. I really like Beppo’s character, as he at time would be all over the place and this gave the film a certain charisma. I do agree with the fact that settling in America was a difficult and rather horrific experience. This was a notion that was implied in both of the stories (The Italian and The Son of Italy), as the setbacks in this new country where they arrived had devastating consequences. I cannot even imagine the heartfelt hinders that the immigrants got to experience when arriving in America, and how they maintained and continued living a life.
The Italian was a very intresting movie to watch. I have never seen a slient movie before and i thought the Italian was not a bad movie to watch. In the movie we watch as Beppo try to make a living to bring his soon to be wife to america. then we watch as beppo tries to make money to support his family. when beppo first came to america i thought that he might be come a labor like Pascal in the son of Italy. instead he was a shoe shiner. between this movie and the book that we read in class, shows me that there was limits on what Italians were able to do when they first came to america.
The Italian was the first silent movie I have seen. i find this kind of movie interesting because it can demonstrate a theme without the actual voice saying it. In the movie THE ITALIAN, Beppo tries to better his life by comming to America, in mind to win his wifes hand. He was told by the father of the girl that in order to marry his daugter he was to buy her a house. He arrived to america with a goal to make money and eventually buy a house for his future wife. finally he becomes wealthy enough to send for his wife. This film shows how Italians struggled comming to the US in search for a better life for their loved ones.
The silent movie The Italian was very theatrical.It gave the message of the characters feelings without saying a word. Beppo goes to find a better life in America so that he can win over his sweethearts father so that he may marry her. After making enough money to support a family he eventually sent for his wife. The film showed the struggles of immigrating into a new country and having to assimilate inorder to survive. There seemed to be a lot of limitations on the certain type of work Italians had to do to provide for their families.
I have never seen a silent film before. It clearly stated the main idea through the actor’s facial expressions, the subtitles and even the mood of the music. I understood completely what the situation was and what Beppo was going through. He came to America to have a better life, so he can marry the women he loves. He saves enough money to bring her to America and afterwards they get married and have a baby. Later on in the film the baby becomes very ill. This was very disturbing to see because he went through all of this to be with his wife and have a happy family with her and at the end it turns into a disaster because the baby dies for insufficient money to buy the milk the baby needs to get better. It gets even worst when he is robbed for the money he has left to buy the milk. Both, in the film and the book Son of Italy, Beppo and Pascal come to America to find a better life, but instead they face harsh situations. It made me understand the concept of what Italian immigrants went through to have a better life, from suffering to hard work and poverty. It’s very sad to see what these Italian immigrants experienced.
The fact that The Italian is a silent film did not greatly affect my opinion of the work. Regardless of the lack of dialogue this film has a strong narrative structure and a discernible aim. Our protagonist, Beppo, comes to America, like so many other Italian immigrants, for financial opportunity. He is honest, hardworking, and even charismatic, traits which would have defied the stereotypes of this time. Once in America, however, there comes the inevitable disillusionment. Beppo struggles to save his child from death during a heatwave but ultimately fails, as he is imprisoned, both literally and perhaps metaphorically, by members of the dominant society. In the end Beppo is a sympathetic figure and his story an example of the suffering that early Italian-American's endured.
I am not a fan of silent movies and unlike my fellow classmates I found it difficult to become invested in the film. Perhaps I am of the ADD generation and I just don't get it. However, it was interesting to see the contrast of the storytelling medium between the book, 'Son of Italy' and the filmaking of this time period. While they were both stories of immigrants coming to America in an attempt to make better lives for themselves, one important difference that set their stories apart was that Pascal D'Angelo had only himself to care for, while Beppo had the obligation of a wife and child. I felt that Beppo's story is surely the more common of his time period.
I hav seen silent films before and like some others have mentioned im not really a fan. I found the scene where Beppo was thrown in jail to be really intresting though. The cop sided with the natives and threw the Italian in jail without really a thurough investigation about who was to Blame. This is similar to the case in Son of Italy where one of Pascal's crew has his wallet stolen and what transpired from that. Pascals friend only got his wallet back because his name was in it. Both instances show the bias that went on at that time.
I have seen maybe one silent film before. I also am not a very big fan of them. My interest was thrown off quite a few times while watching "The Italian". You can tell Beppo was a struggling immigrant who was working hard for his family. I felt bad for him when he got thrown into jail. I felt that was an unfair stereotypical analogy toward Italians. Honestly that's what that really stood out for me through out the film. Stereotypes!. I feel it was a story about a very poor sad family who had had many struggles in life. Although on the other hand, that was reality for most Italian immigrants back then. Beppo did Labor work like Pascal in "son of Italy".
Mohamad Awad made a particularly interesting point in his response. The silent film “The Italian” definitely relates to Pascal D’Angelo’s novel “Son of Italy.” In fact, it evokes the same feelings that the novel does. The viewer is presented with the main character Beban, who risks everything to come to America in search of a better life. He marries and has a child, but his experiences in America are very harsh and difficult. The film manages to get the viewer to engage in the situation and feel empathy for the main characters. The only reason the film may not be as effective as the book at engaging the audience, may be that it is a silent film and today’s audiences are not used to viewing such films. It is clear that the way Italian immigrants were treated at the beginning of the century, was completely inhumane. This is successfully portrayed in the scene when Beban gets his money stolen and gets beat up by two thugs. Then he is taken to the police station and put in prison for it, when all he wants to do is buy milk for his dying baby. Not even the police has the courtesy to inform his wife of his imprisonment. The result of these events is that their newborn baby dies. It is crazy to think that people have the capacity to be so cruel and it is a horrible thing to think about. The pain the Beban experiences in these particular scenes, reminded me of all the distresses D’Angelo went through in his novel. The film portrays the tragedy that happened to this couple very well, and that makes it even sadder, because this actually happened to the millions of immigrants who came to this country in search of the American dream.
It was a very interesting movie that also shows that how Italian immegrants come to the USA and to deal with living in the USA. Just as many Italian immigrants left their country, family and career also went through hardships in the USA, the main character goes through a similar process of immigrants' life in the US. When he arrives the US, he confronts many barriers but he starts working as shoe shiner(This part reminded me of the cartoon with Italian shoe shiner and Jentle man who was sitting). This gave him a chance to bring his lover and get married. As I was watching the movie, I found it little similar image of some chinese parents who come to the US and take their children to the US later when they are settled down in the US. Also, the part that his money was stolen but could not even get a help from the police, indicates one of hardships that immigrants has to go thorough. It seemed like rights that immigrants have are totally ignored by the country.
I have never watched a silent film before and I must say, I find "The Italian" quite amusing. The music in the background lends to the dramatic effect as well as the gestures the characters make so it is easy to follow (of course the brief captions that come every so often help to understand what is going on as well). As far as the story line, it shows the sacrifices Italian immigrants had to make in order to reach their goals. Beppo couldn't marry his love until he made enough money to buy a home for them to live in in America. We also see the pain and suffering they went through as their baby got sick. It shows how strong their familial bond is and the closeness and love of family.
ReplyDelete"The Italian" was an interesting take on the plight of early immigration to America. When I have thought of immigrants in the past, I've always assumed they came as a family. "The Italian" showed that the man would take the chance and come over first. And although he would struggle, the man would make certain that he could get work and be able to support a family before bringing someone he was courting from Italy. The part of the film where Beppo has to fight to get milk for his sick baby was disturbing. If that was what conditions were like back in the arly 1900's it is a wonder how people survived. The film underscores the suffering these early Italians went through.
ReplyDelete"The Italian" is not the first silent film I have seen. Silent films in general relied heavily on music and very theatrical movements to convey moods. The mood of "The Italian" was mostly whimsical, which got to be a disturbing contradiction when their baby gets sick. The film outlined some of the specific trials that early Italian immigrants faced that we have discussed so far. Beppo had to immigrate to America to earn a living so he could marry his love, he worked a low paying job as a shoeshine man, and they had to struggle to stay alive.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI had mixed feelings when it came to the Italian. As far as the content goes, it was interesting to see such a dark depiction of immigrant life in such an early film. Usually when conditions are that bad they're usually not acknowledged by media until later on. Not to mention, due to economic times back then the trend was for films to have a more uplifting plot to aid in the escapism factor. So it was interesting to see a different style of silent film.
ReplyDeleteWe watched The Italian over a period of two days. The first day I didn't fully understand what was going on because, like some of my other classmates, I had never seen a silent film before. By the second day, I began to understand the film better. Towards the end of the film, when he was searching for milk for his sick child, I felt like he was in a situation similar to Pascal D'Angelo in Son of Italy. Both characters went through a series of obstacles that prevented them from doing what they set out to do. I enjoyed watching this film and it helped me to better understand the struggle and pain that comes along with immigration.
ReplyDeleteUnlike the majority of my fellow classmates, I have seen silent films before. As others have stated, the film relies mostly on the music to place the mood and feel of the story. I agree with Jessica in that this movie is similar to D'Angelo's “Son of Italy.” The entire story of "The Italian" is a constant struggle. So far we've witnessed his struggle to get the girl, find work, buy a house, please his love, and to save his baby. It was upsetting to see how hard Beppo fought to try to save his baby and the outcome of it all. It's as though he gets no break. Later on when he begs the man to help him and we see that man with his own family who is happy and healthy, it's like a slap in the face that Beppo's own baby dies. Both "Son of Italy" and "The Italian" have opened my eyes to the suffering and hardship these people went through in their fight to find a better life.
ReplyDeleteWatching The Italian was a cinematic representation of the Italian immigrant’s experience in America at the turn of the century that I have read many times over the years in various accounts of the immigrant experience. However, this representation made me feel very sympathetic because I could actually see the grief and hardship Italian immigrants endured. While there was little dialogue the music in the background was just as effective. The viewer could sense exactly how Beppo was feeling in each scene by the music that was played in the background.
ReplyDeleteThis film was similar to the Son of Italy in that the two men dealt with misfortune after misfortune, the next worse than the last. It did not seem like they would ever surpass the difficult things they experienced, but they both continued, which speaks to their strength and character.
The representation of Italian immigrants in The Italian contrasted greatly with the representations we saw previously in the various cartoons. The cartoons showed Italian immigrants as stupid, lazy, crooks. In The Italian, on the other hand, Beppo is depicted as a hard working, honest man with a sense of strong familial responsibility. He moves to an unknown country to make enough money to marry his love and works tirelessly to support his wife and child, which was not seen in any of the cartoons. The Italian was a very interesting and inspiring film.
I really enjoyed watching 'The Italian'. Unlike some of my other classmates I have seen silent films before. They were comedies by Charlie Chaplin. I was happy to see that this film was more than just a comedy. It had elements from all different kinds of films. I also feel that I was able to get a stronger sense of what Beppo was feeling because it was a silent film. Instead of focusing on the words I was focusing on body language and facial expressions which I found to be more powerful than language.
ReplyDeleteThis film told the story of a man in love who immigrates to America to make money to marry her. The film takes a turn from a romantic love story to the struggle and hardships of an Italian immigrant in America. Similar to Francesca I have also read many accounts of Italian immigrants lives in America. And you always hear about the struggle and the discrimination that they face. But now we were able to watch a representation of a family who are new immigrants to America and all of the hardships they faced while just trying to live a good life together.
While watching this movie I saw many similarities to "Son of Italy". In both I found myself asking "can anything else go wrong?" I could not believe that Beppo's baby died. Both the book and the movie really made me had a greater depth of understanding of what immigrants faced when they moved to America.
I found the “The Italian” to be an interesting silent movie about an Italian immigrant’s struggle to support themselves and their families. I have never seen a silent film before, so was at first confused as to what was going on, but the expressions the actors took as well as the few subtitles that were given after a few frames were helpful for my understanding. It seems that there is a similar linking theme for any type of explanation of an Italian immigrant’s story, as many of the same concepts that were portrayed in the novel “The Son of Italy” are seen in “The Italian” as well. For example, in both stories, the Italian came to New York City to find a job and was faced with prejudice and poor conditions to both live and work in. Despite the fact there was no dialogue in the movie, which I was not used to, I felt that the movie was eventually easy to follow and the story was told in an enjoyable way.
ReplyDeleteI am a huge fan of old films however silent films are not what i usually prefer. However i thoroughly enjoyed the "Italian". The film seemed whimsical and airy, despite the graveness of the subject matter. The music added a flavor to the movie, giving it a certain tone and helping us understand when something funny, serious, or dramatic is happening. I found the film to be incredibly appropriate in relation to the novel that we were reading. Both the film and the book depicted the difficult transition that immigrants face both socially, financially, as well as in many other respects
ReplyDelete"The Italian" was an interesting movie to follow. The only silent movies I have watched were comedies so trying to follow a drama was a bit out of the norm. Like Elisa said, the emphatic expressions of the actors and the subtitles in between scenes made it a lot easier for me to understand what was happening in the film. "The Italian" and the autobiography "Son of Italy" are very alike in the sense that they both depict struggling Italian immigrants. It was really sad to see the struggles Beppo went through to try to provide a better life for himself and his family. No matter what Beppo did, he couldn't get ahead, which was the problem with Pascal D'Angelo in "Son of Italy". The scene when Beppo was going to the store to buy more milk for his baby was evidence of that. The poor guy gets mugged on his way to the store and then has no money to buy milk. Even after begging people for money after telling them his situation, they laugh at him and beat him up, which leads to him getting arrested and causing his baby to die because of no milk. This movie is one of many examples of what Italian immigrants had to go through when coming to America.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhen taking into consideration the excessive degree of hardships immigrants, particularly Italian immigrants, faced upon their arrival to the United States, “The Italian” accurately depicts the toil and distress they experienced. This film, although silent, is especially tangible, given that it relates to Pascal D’Angelo’s “Son of Italy” in several ways. The main character’s desire to win his lover’s hand resulted in the indispensable decision to seek prospective wealth in the United States. His lover later followed him and soon after gave birth to their son. Given that his initial experiences in the United States were difficult, he and his wife at once were faced with the responsibility of having to adequately comply with their son’s dire condition and later with his death. This obstacle added to the already intolerable experiences associated with immigration made the film especially captivating given that it provides the possibilities of such drastic measures occurring vis-à-vis increasing immigrants anguish.
ReplyDeleteYoussef Lehnin
ReplyDeleteI enjoy silent film, and watching The Italian, indeed was a pleasant experience. Italian’s and all Mediterranean people are very expressive in their body language, which made things uncomplicated to understand the plot. I really like Beppo’s character, as he at time would be all over the place and this gave the film a certain charisma. I do agree with the fact that settling in America was a difficult and rather horrific experience. This was a notion that was implied in both of the stories (The Italian and The Son of Italy), as the setbacks in this new country where they arrived had devastating consequences. I cannot even imagine the heartfelt hinders that the immigrants got to experience when arriving in America, and how they maintained and continued living a life.
The Italian was a very intresting movie to watch. I have never seen a slient movie before and i thought the Italian was not a bad movie to watch. In the movie we watch as Beppo try to make a living to bring his soon to be wife to america. then we watch as beppo tries to make money to support his family. when beppo first came to america i thought that he might be come a labor like Pascal in the son of Italy. instead he was a shoe shiner. between this movie and the book that we read in class, shows me that there was limits on what Italians were able to do when they first came to america.
ReplyDeleteThe Italian was the first silent movie I have seen. i find this kind of movie interesting because it can demonstrate a theme without the actual voice saying it. In the movie THE ITALIAN, Beppo tries to better his life by comming to America, in mind to win his wifes hand. He was told by the father of the girl that in order to marry his daugter he was to buy her a house. He arrived to america with a goal to make money and eventually buy a house for his future wife. finally he becomes wealthy enough to send for his wife. This film shows how Italians struggled comming to the US in search for a better life for their loved ones.
ReplyDeleteThe silent movie The Italian was very theatrical.It gave the message of the characters feelings without saying a word. Beppo goes to find a better life in America so that he can win over his sweethearts father so that he may marry her. After making enough money to support a family he eventually sent for his wife. The film showed the struggles of immigrating into a new country and having to assimilate inorder to survive. There seemed to be a lot of limitations on the certain type of work Italians had to do to provide for their families.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen a silent film before. It clearly stated the main idea through the actor’s facial expressions, the subtitles and even the mood of the music. I understood completely what the situation was and what Beppo was going through. He came to America to have a better life, so he can marry the women he loves. He saves enough money to bring her to America and afterwards they get married and have a baby. Later on in the film the baby becomes very ill. This was very disturbing to see because he went through all of this to be with his wife and have a happy family with her and at the end it turns into a disaster because the baby dies for insufficient money to buy the milk the baby needs to get better. It gets even worst when he is robbed for the money he has left to buy the milk. Both, in the film and the book Son of Italy, Beppo and Pascal come to America to find a better life, but instead they face harsh situations. It made me understand the concept of what Italian immigrants went through to have a better life, from suffering to hard work and poverty. It’s very sad to see what these Italian immigrants experienced.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that The Italian is a silent film did not greatly affect my opinion of the work. Regardless of the lack of dialogue this film has a strong narrative structure and a discernible aim. Our protagonist, Beppo, comes to America, like so many other Italian immigrants, for financial opportunity. He is honest, hardworking, and even charismatic, traits which would have defied the stereotypes of this time. Once in America, however, there comes the inevitable disillusionment. Beppo struggles to save his child from death during a heatwave but ultimately fails, as he is imprisoned, both literally and perhaps metaphorically, by members of the dominant society. In the end Beppo is a sympathetic figure and his story an example of the suffering that early Italian-American's endured.
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of silent movies and unlike my fellow classmates I found it difficult to become invested in the film. Perhaps I am of the ADD generation and I just don't get it. However, it was interesting to see the contrast of the storytelling medium between the book, 'Son of Italy' and the filmaking of this time period. While they were both stories of immigrants coming to America in an attempt to make better lives for themselves, one important difference that set their stories apart was that Pascal D'Angelo had only himself to care for, while Beppo had the obligation of a wife and child. I felt that Beppo's story is surely the more common of his time period.
ReplyDeleteI hav seen silent films before and like some others have mentioned im not really a fan. I found the scene where Beppo was thrown in jail to be really intresting though. The cop sided with the natives and threw the Italian in jail without really a thurough investigation about who was to Blame. This is similar to the case in Son of Italy where one of Pascal's crew has his wallet stolen and what transpired from that. Pascals friend only got his wallet back because his name was in it. Both instances show the bias that went on at that time.
ReplyDeleteI have seen maybe one silent film before. I also am not a very big fan of them. My interest was thrown off quite a few times while watching "The Italian". You can tell Beppo was a struggling immigrant who was working hard for his family. I felt bad for him when he got thrown into jail. I felt that was an unfair stereotypical analogy toward Italians. Honestly that's what that really stood out for me through out the film. Stereotypes!. I feel it was a story about a very poor sad family who had had many struggles in life. Although on the other hand, that was reality for most Italian immigrants back then. Beppo did Labor work like Pascal in "son of Italy".
ReplyDeleteMohamad Awad made a particularly interesting point in his response. The silent film “The Italian” definitely relates to Pascal D’Angelo’s novel “Son of Italy.” In fact, it evokes the same feelings that the novel does. The viewer is presented with the main character Beban, who risks everything to come to America in search of a better life. He marries and has a child, but his experiences in America are very harsh and difficult. The film manages to get the viewer to engage in the situation and feel empathy for the main characters. The only reason the film may not be as effective as the book at engaging the audience, may be that it is a silent film and today’s audiences are not used to viewing such films.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear that the way Italian immigrants were treated at the beginning of the century, was completely inhumane. This is successfully portrayed in the scene when Beban gets his money stolen and gets beat up by two thugs. Then he is taken to the police station and put in prison for it, when all he wants to do is buy milk for his dying baby. Not even the police has the courtesy to inform his wife of his imprisonment. The result of these events is that their newborn baby dies. It is crazy to think that people have the capacity to be so cruel and it is a horrible thing to think about. The pain the Beban experiences in these particular scenes, reminded me of all the distresses D’Angelo went through in his novel. The film portrays the tragedy that happened to this couple very well, and that makes it even sadder, because this actually happened to the millions of immigrants who came to this country in search of the American dream.
It was a very interesting movie that also shows that how Italian immegrants come to the USA and to deal with living in the USA. Just as many Italian immigrants left their country, family and career also went through hardships in the USA, the main character goes through a similar process of immigrants' life in the US. When he arrives the US, he confronts many barriers but he starts working as shoe shiner(This part reminded me of the cartoon with Italian shoe shiner and Jentle man who was sitting). This gave him a chance to bring his lover and get married. As I was watching the movie, I found it little similar image of some chinese parents who come to the US and take their children to the US later when they are settled down in the US.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the part that his money was stolen but could not even get a help from the police, indicates one of hardships that immigrants has to go thorough. It seemed like rights that immigrants have are totally ignored by the country.