Italianamerican

Martin's grandfather arrived in America in 1901. My grandfather arrived in 1888, during the Great Blizzard. Martin's father recalls how Italians were treated by the Irish. During the Columbus Day parades, the Irish would make fun of the Italians, ending in a huge fist fight.

Like his father's family, my parents grew up in poverty. There were large families living in small living places. My ancestors came to America to work for a $1 a day. As a hod carrier, my grandfather carried bricks and mortar up and down ladders all day, 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. Even when he was dying from prostate cancer, he had to work, pissing blood, to support the family.

Life was not a bowl of cherries, yet my parents believed in the American Dream and worked hard, saving their pennies, to provide their children with a decent life.

If you are an Italian American baby boomer, you will relate to this film.

Sweet little documentary where Catherine and Charles Scorsese casually talk old stories of their immigration, childhood, cooking..etc Random stuff. It is one of those rare pieces of work that can put it's audience in good mood and can make us appreciate little things.

Martin Scorsese's "Italianamerican" is a documentary, really a home movie in which the legendary director sits down with his parents and listens to them reminisce about their experiences of growing up and coming to America.

This is a beautiful, effortless film by the greatest director of all-time. It's charming, and light-hearted, and so familiar you will be able to relate to his parents whatever your ethnic background.

As an Italian-American myself I have to admit it was like watching one of my own home movies. My grandparents were just like Charles & Catherine Scorsese... my grandmother taught me how to make sauce just like Marty's mother does in the movie. Everything about them- the look of their apartment, the way they speak and argue- made me nostalgic for my childhood days.

At one point Catherine is in the middle of relating one of her stories and you can spot Marty in the foreground picking at the leftovers in the salad bowl... film can be this low-key, this unassuming, and be just as moving as scripted studio fare.

Oh, for days gone by...

I got to see a clip of this documentary when Martin Scorsese came to Providence, Rhode Island to accept an award on behalf of Brown University. We got to see a small clip from every directed film that Scorsese had made in his 40 plus year career. Out of all the films, Italianamerican got the biggest laughs and the longest applause. Having been the only Italian and the only person who did not attend Brown University that got into Brown's auditorium (the security was terrible) to see Scorsese, I enjoyed the realism that Scorsese captured by watching his parents be themselves in front of the camera. All the other Irish people who attended the event enjoyed the film as well, but not as much as me.

I absolutely love this DOCUMENTARY!! They spoke just like Italian people talk if you were brought up like this you will totally understand why you are the way you are They were just like my grandparents. Listening to them tell stories brought me back to the days I miss so much I could watch them for hours. I would listen to my aunts and uncles talk for hours (drinking wine and espresso)telling these stories never ending stories .. The stories were intriguing. I really felt like I belonged in this family. There's something about Marty's Mom and Dad that relaxing they can be your own parents what a gift I stumbled across.