Die Unbezwingbaren

"America, America" deserves a modern audience but is almost impossible to find. I just viewed a VHS version obtained through the inter-library loan program. I live in Virginia and it was sent down from Alaska!

This film should be required viewing for anyone interested in understanding why the huddled masses flocked to America but it is highly personalized and focused on a young man from a middle class Greek family with a big dream that seems impossible to fulfill. Another reviewer correctly likened Stathis Giallelis to a young Brando for his overpowering individuality, determination, and (for Turkish society in 1900) swagger. But when his character Stavros grows a mustache, he becomes a young Omar Sharif. AA is brilliantly written and directed by Elia Kazan.

I first saw America, America when it was originally released and I saw it with my father. When the lights came up, I looked at my father and there were tears in his eyes and he said "this is my story too". His journey to America was the same as the character in the movie, only he came from Armenia.

Elia Kazan, with this movie has told the story of many immigrants, just like my father, with truth and depth of character. This isn't a fairy tale, the story is real and reflects the perils and experiences many immigrants took to come to

America. I am amazed that more people don't know about this movie. Whenever I rewatch it, I am reminded of the sacrifices my father made to come to this country and why I'm am blessed to be an American.

Kazan's reputation seems to have been diminishing for some time, a process, ironically, that his 'Lifetime Achievement' Oscar seems to have accelerated. Yeah, he did betray his fellows and himself in the 1950s. Again, ironically, it's the films he made later in his career, which show the scars of his loss of self-esteem, which are the most fascinating - WILD RIVER, SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS, THE ARRANGEMENT - and most powerful of them all, AMERICA AMERICA.

I too am surprised that this monument to Americanism and monument of American cinema, seems not very widely known in America itself. It has all the values of classic American cinema - a strong, simple narrative, a limpid visual style which eschews any directorial histrionics to concentrate purely on the characters. It is the story of young men driven from their homeland and making the long voyage to America - the huddled masses yearning to be free. The journey is long and terribly hard, and even as the shore of American comes into view, sacrifices still have to be made. The end of the film is enormously powerful, one of the most moving I have ever seen - the effect is still with me now, 30 years after seeing it.

It is the story of Kazan's father and uncle - the character who makes an appearance, played by Richard Boone, in Kazan's more heavily fictionalised subsequent film THE ARRANGEMENT. It is a personal story, and the simplicity of the telling seems like the end of a process of endless re-telling around smokey fireplaces, and before children go to sleep, a family saga which has almost attained the status of myth. The savagery of the film's first hour, and the dream-like quality of the last act make AMERICA AMERICA a genuine and powerful part of American mythology.

So don't torture yourself about whether Kazan was morally and politically wrong in betraying his colleagues - see AMERICA AMERICA, and you'll see why he could never have acted any differently. Yes, he was a radical, and a leftist, and a deeply intelligent and passionate man; but he was also an immigrant - and his horror of disenfranchisement and ejection overcame his moral and political views. Kazan may criticise aspects of its culture and politics, but he loves and respects and is grateful to America above all. So he made his choice. He could have made no other.

Absolutely loved the idea for the story, and love it when films take on a very personal approach. Something that 'America America' did and one can tell from as early on as the opening voice over. Elia Kazan made so many great films and seldom made a bad one (even his worst, for me between 'The Sea of Grass' and 'The Visitors', is not that bad), he was a fine director and an influential one. Especially in his distinctive directing of actors, and one of the best at it, and it is a shame that his politics and testimony harmed somewhat his reputation.

For me, 'America America' is not one of Kazan's best films and others have a bigger influence in film and on me. There is plenty though of what made Kazan so great a director and why his high regard was richly deserved. 'America America' to me was still a great film, perhaps his most personal out of all his films (almost auto-biographical, with it being based on the experiences of his own uncle) and it was very difficult to not admire it.

Inexperience at times shows in the acting of Stathis Giallelis, with there being times where he seemed unsure. When it comes to nit-picks regarding 'America America' that is pretty much it.

Giallelis mostly does very well in his role, not easy handling a big and difficult role so young but he does understated wonders in his best moments. Where Kazan also shows his great skill in how he managed to get the best out of his actors (much of the best of his performances from his films, in a list that includes Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, James Dean, are iconic), even those that were not always great or inexperienced. The rest of the acting is every bit as good, especially from Linda Marsh, Paul Mann and best of all Lou Antonio.

Kazan's direction is exemplary, keeping one riveted throughout the long running time. 'America America' is a very well made film, beautifully lit and framed and was really intrigued by its documentary-like style in how it was shot without being heavy-handed. The Oscar win for the art direction was richly deserved. The music score is great in its authenticity and makes one feel that you are there where the film is set.

The script also garnered award attention and understandably so, as it is very thought-provoking, can be quite gritty and doesn't sugar coat. The opening voice over is a very good indication of what to expect, making it very clear that it was a personal effort for Kazan without being egotistical. The story is long in length while not being long-winded, and is both touching and suitably uncompromising.

Summarising, truly great. 9/10

"America, America" is a movie made with the soul. It is a hair-raising movie about the immigrant experience, made by artists temporarily outside the Hollywood cage. It is about the struggle to be human in a world that bites at you, and it is about naked desire. "America, America" is a film about a young man with ichor in his arteries, made by people with ichor in their arteries.

Stavros is a young Greek from Anatolia, a youth with burning eyes, full of ethos as well. He yearns to live a life away from degradation (Greeks in Anatolia were a despised minority). This movie shows his peregrination to America, in three of the shortest hours I've ever lived. It shows a cycle of being broken and rebuilt over and again, the death of illusions, the obduracy of hope, and the rack of desire.

Haskell Wexler deserves special mention as he quite frequently produced jaw-dropping shots in this movie. There is a scene in this movie where Stavros is sat next to an older woman, Sophia (sat together like panthers watching an ape play with jackals), and the electricity between them, established entirely visually, is a devastation.

The editing from Dede Allen, is similarly special, and you can see that Kazan acknowledged all this creative talent as he reads out all the names of the major creative staff at the end over the credits. One particularly beautiful effect was a dissolve the last time we see Stavros' mother, where her face persist on the screen for a moment, almost as if she has become a ghost.

You absolutely must see this movie.