America America

I saw America America way back when I was a teen and had not seen it since till today. I was surprised at how much I remembered of it. It was like reliving tales told by my grandparents and some of their siblings of their immigration stories.

In this case this was fashioned tales of Elia Kazan's parents and their siblings woven together to create an immigrant story. It's not pretty at times and the black and white cinematography accents the harshness of the experience.

Kazan's protagonist is young Stathis Giallelis and a few familiar character actors are in the cast. No box office names though to accent the reality of the story. Giallelis is a Greek in Turkish Anatolia, a place where during the Ottoman Empire persecuting Greeks and Armenians was a national pasttime. Not that persecution led to any kind of solidarity, the two minorities had it in for each other as much as the Turks.

Giallelis hears of America, a fabled land where this sort of organized persecution and permanent status at the bottom of society doesn't happen. He resolves to go, but his family only sends him as far as Istanbul (as Greeks they still call it Constantinople)to help out one of the relatives.

He hears the fare is 110 English pounds and one way or another he's going.

The last 15 minutes or so is when Giallelis arrives and there's a compelling montage of immigrants including our protagonist doing all kinds of menial jobs that we who are here won't do. It's no different today with the current folks who want to come here, the ones our current administration is bent on scapegoating for its own purposes. Look folks, that montage tells more than the Kazan family story. it's your story or mine unless you were born an American Indian.

And speaking for the Kogans, Lucyshyns, Scrobacks, and Fleischmans, I'm glad Elia Kazan made America America and told the tale.

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.

"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.

While I am not sure I'd consider this to be Elia Kazan's best film, it certainly ranks up there with his best--which is saying a lot considering he's the same guy who brought us "On The Waterfront", "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Rebel Without a Cause". As for Kazan himself, this was his favorite film as it's the story of his uncle--a man who busted his butt to get himself to America around the turn of the century.

When the movie begins, Kazan himself narrates and explains that the story is about the man who is responsible for him and his family immigrating to the US. His story begins in Turkey. It's around the time in history when the Turks were about to wipe out most of the Armenians--and things for other minorities in their land (in this case, the Greeks) weren't very good either. So, a family decides to send their oldest son, Stavros (Stathis Giallelis), to Constantiople to earn his fortune--and to be able to afford to eventually bring them all to America...and freedom. Stavros is a very, very determined man...but also quite naive. Again and again, he's used by people and left with nothing. But, he's an amazingly resilient guy and soon he's willing to do just about anything to make the money he needs to take the ship to America.

While the story is rather simple, it's handled exquisitely. You can really tell that it's a labor of love, as the story unfolds very slowly and patiently. This is NOT a complaint-just a statement about the writer/director's style in the movie. It's really great what he was able to achieve with mostly inexperienced actors and non-actors. Perhaps Giallelis' performance is a bit too quiet and even stilted...but it is hard to imagine that he wasn't even an actor! Overall, it's a beautiful tale--and one of the most American of movies because it tells a story of immigration that most of us in the US can relate to. Even though my family was not Greek, so much of the rest of the film is pretty typical of what other poor families like my own probably went through on their way to a new land. Well worth seeing and a nice history lesson.

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