Category: Movie Reviews

GREAT Films about the Immigrant Experience

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Avalon (1990)

This is a gorgeous film directed by Barry Levinson (Diner, Homicide, Liberty Heights, etc.)  It’s a talent-laden (Armin Mueller-Stahl, Aiden Quinn, and a very young Elijah Wood play the male leads) drama set in ’50s Baltimore.  The film explores 3 generations of a tightly-knit, middle-class, Jewish-American family.  My dad really liked this story; it’s suitable for all ages!   

Mississippi Masala (1999)

I tell all my desi friends (and anyone who likes good films) about this one!  I first saw it as an undergrad.  This small-budget/educational/realistic film was directed by Mira Nair; she also plays a small role as a catty auntie.  The screenwriter, Nair’s close friend/collaborator Sooni Taraporevela, said the basis for the love story between Meena (Sarita Choudhury) and Demetrius (Denzel Washington) was partly inspired by a fellow Indian gal pal at Harvard who fell in love with a black (Jamaican) man.  The dialogue is spot-on and the sweet romance between Meena and Demetrius is as hot as the setting (small towns of Mississippi).  There is another kind of love in this story- Jay (veteran Indian actor Roshan Seth), Meena’s father/lawyer-turned-motel manager, desperately trying to get back property/citizenship in his native Uganda (scenes were filmed in Nair’s own Kampala house).

Sidenote: I saw Sarita at a staged play reading in NYC (back in 2006).  Film does NOT do her justice; she’s stunning in real life! 

My Family/Mi Familia (1995)

Unfair deportation, police aggression, gangs/crime, Catholicism, and the ties that bind families are explored in one of my all-time favorite films.  I saw this first during my 12th grade American History class; later I saw it w/ my family (they all liked it a lot, too).  It was directed superbly by a Californian of Mexican heritage, Gregory Nava (Selena, Frida).  The music is an integral part of the story, as is the moral compass/strength of matriarch Maria Sanchez, who is played by Jennifer Lopez (younger) and Jenny Gago (older).  The male leads are played by Jacob Vargas (Jose), Esai Morales (Chucho), and  Jimmy Smits (Jimmy).  Edward James Olmos plays the aspiring writer, also the narrator.  Scott Bakula plays the husband of Toni (Constance Marie).  The setting is primarily East L.A. (a long-established Latino neighborhood). 

Nuovomundo/Golden Door (1996)

Don’t let the language (primarily Italian) deter you from this unique/educational film; it contains some magical realism.  It was produced by the famed Martin Scorcese, himself a proud Italian-American.  The (nearly unspoken) love story in the film is between kind-hearted Italian peasant Salvatore (Vincenzo Amato) and mysterious/redheaded Englishwoman Lucy (Charlotte Gainsbourg).  Salvatore decides to sail to the U.S. so his family, which includes two teen sons and mother, can survive.  Crops won’t grow on his land, and his brother is already settled in NYC.  However, after their ship lands on Ellis Island, there are more tests/tribulations ahead! 

Liberty Heights (1999)

Another of Levinson’s fine films- this time focusing on brothers who live in a Jewish-American enclave of ’50s Baltimore.  The narrator, 17 y.o. Van (Ben Foster), and his college-going brother, Ben (Adrien Brody) are good kids trying to figure themselves out. You will relate to this film, especially if you are a 1st generation American, as the Kurtzman brothers navigate around heritage, parents, and wider racial issues of the ’50s.  Van befriends Sylvia (Rebekah Johnson), the only black girl in his class.  Ben makes new friends at a party and eventually falls for Dubbie (Carolyn Murphy), a gorgeous/troubled WASP.  Yussel (David Krumholtz), Ben’s best pal/smart-aleck, provides a lot of the comedy.  The parents in the film are portrayed by Joe Mantegna and Bebe Neuwirth.       

The Namesake (2006)

This is the first film exploring two generations of an Indian-American family (Bengali in heritage); it is based on Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel and directed by Mira Nair.  I saw it in 3 different theaters w/ different groups of family/friends (who all loved it).  Gogol/Nikhil (Kal Penn) and his little sister, Sonia, grow up on Long Island, the children of successful/overprotective immigrant parents, professor Ashok (Irrfan Khan) and homemaker Ashima Ganguli (Tabu).  Though the novel’s main focus was Gogol, Nair takes a deeper focus into the slow-burn love story between Ashok and Ashima (I enjoyed their scenes most).  Irrfan Khan is amazing; too bad he decided not to come to Hollywood!     

Criss Cross (1949)

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Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster) watches his ex-wife
Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster) watches his ex-wife

Tagline: The savage drama of an amazing double double-cross! 

This meaty film noir is a follow-up to The Killers (1946).  It reteams German director Robert Siodmak with star Burt Lancaster (age 35 here), who once again finds himself in a deadly love triangle.  Lancaster, cast against type as a loser, Steve Thompson, a man who returns to his native LA after a year of wandering about the country.  He doesn’t call up his ex-wife, Anna (Yvonne De Carlo), but they bump into each other. Steve still “has her in his blood,” much to the dismay of his mother.  Maybe it was bad luck?  Or fate?   

Anna (Yvonne de Carlo) & Slim (Dan Duryea) in the club
Anna (Yvonne de Carlo) & Slim (Dan Duryea) in the club

She’s all right, she’s just young.  -Steve

Hah! Some ways, she knows more than Einstein.  -Mrs. Thompson

Anna and Steve rekindle their relationship for a time, but then she sneaks off to marry gangster Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea), who operates out of a local bar/nightclub.  Steve almost can’t believe his ears when the sympathetic bartender breaks the news.  Does Anna only care about money? 

That's young Tony Curtis!
That’s young Tony Curtis!

This is also the film debut (not credited) of Tony Curtis, who dances in the rhumba scene.  Later, Curtis and Lancaster would costar in Trapeze and Sweet Smell of Success. 

Steve is warned to stay away from Anna by old pal/cop Pete (Stephen McNally)
Steve is warned to stay away from Anna by old pal/cop Pete (Stephen McNally)

I should have been a better friend.  I shoulda stopped you.  I shoulda grabbed you by the neck, I shoulda kicked your teeth in.  I’m sorry Steve.  -Pete

This film is unusual for the genre, because Steve is not a loner, with no one to look out for his well-being.  He has a loving family- mother, jovial little brother, and future sister-in-law. He has a good friend in Lt. Pete Ramirez, a cop he’s known since childhood.  The many minor characters lend flavor to this film. 

Steve's fellow armored car guards at work
Steve’s fellow armored car guards at work

In time, he draws himself into Slim’s sphere, proposing an armored car heist.  This heist involves a elderly co-worker who’s seeing his widowed mother.  The main action scene was very well-done, as it looked quite modern. 

Love…  love!  You’ve got to watch out for yourself!  -Anna

The last scene of the film
The last scene of the film

He [Siodmark] fragments the narrative through flashbacks, counterposing the hopes of Lancaster’s return home with the desperation into which he has fallen.  He also slows down for virtuosic sequences that only a great director could bring off: a long scene when the heist is being plotted, with the bored DeCarlo smoking cigarettes (“It passes the time”) while the railway criss-crosses the window behind her; and an equally long one in the hospital, involving a cranked-up bed, a tilted mirror on the bureau, and a visitor in the corridor- a good Samaritan who turns out to be his worst nightmare.  -IMDB review excerpt

Anna is not like a typical femme fatale, as she’s not the planner.  Steve takes agency in the robbery, though he never wanted anyone to be killed, if possible.  He thinks naively, as he “wasn’t born into this” (Pete comments).  He cared about love, not the money.  The last quarter of the film is atmospheric, intense, and very well done.  Anyone can become a fool for love, even Lancaster.  Look at how young/sad/lost Steve looks when he sees Anna in the club (dancing carelessly) after so long.  This is a fine performance, layered yet accessible.

Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

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Promo poster
Promo poster

Matthew McConaughey (transformed physically) disappears into his role of real-life ’80s AIDS crusader, Ron Woodruff.  This film was made with a very small budget, and directed by a French-Canadian, Jean-Marc Vallee (The Young Victoria).  I never heard of this story until my friends and I went to see it (just before the holidays)! 

Ron (McConaughy) can't believe his diagnosis
Ron (McConaughy) can’t believe his diagnosis

Ain’t nuthin’ out there can kill Ron Woodruff in 30 days! 

Ron is an electrician by trade, but (part-time) bull riding is his real love.  Drinking and hooking up with random women (many of whom follow the rodeo) is also part of his dangerous lifestyle.  When Ron gets injured at a jobsite, he’s taken to the local hospital.  The attending doctor (matter-of-factly) tells him that he has HIV and only 30 days to live.  Yes, it’s a very serious/heavy film!   

Ron is initially very angry and in denial that he would have a disease that only gay men have.  Upon quick reflection, he comes to the realization that the diagnosis is probably true. (He’s no dummy!)  Ron starts reading up on HIV/AIDS, which (at that time) seems to be most effectively treated by AZT,  which was only in clinical trials. 

Rayon (Jared Leto) becomes Ron's (unlikely) friend
Rayon (Jared Leto) becomes Ron’s (unlikely) friend

Ron can’t get into the clinical trials, he learns from a sympathetic doctor, Eve (Jennifer Garner), a woman he mistakes for a nurse.  So, he goes searching for meds on his own.  Ron goes to a doctor in Mexico.  He even flies to Japan to meet with a bigwig in the drug industry.  In time, Ron forms an alliance with Rayon (Jared Leto), a transvestite who is on and off the wagon (struggling with heroine addiction).  Rayon is in the clinical trial, and also shares a childhood connection with Eve.  In one of the film’s most revealing scenes, Rayon puts on a suit to settle monetary concerns with a banker (also his father).   

Eve (Garner) also becomes an ally to Ron
Eve (Garner) also becomes an ally to Ron

This film is educational, not merely entertainment.  It was a big labor of love for all involved, including Brad Pittt and Ryan Gosling.  Check it out before the Oscars! 

The Killers (1946) starring Burt Lancaster & Ava Gardner

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The Swede (Burt Lancaster) falls head over heels for Kitty (Ava Gardner)
The Swede (Burt Lancaster) falls head over heels for Kitty (Ava Gardner)

This film noir is based on a short story by Ernest Hemingway.  It was Burt Lancaster’s first film role (at age 32).  I thought he looked/acted much younger.  There is that openness and vulnerability in his eyes that fans will recognize.  Even battered and bruised, he has potential.  Lancaster plays Ole Andresen (known to most as “The Swede”), a quiet gas station attendant in Brentwood, New Jersey.  

Jim Riordan (Edmond O'Brien) investigates the why of the murder
Jim Riordan (Edmond O’Brien) investigates the why of the murder

We learn that there’s much more to The Swede than meets the eye, thanks to an insurance investigator, Jim Riordan (played by noted character actor Edmond O’Brien).  He later went on to play Big Daddy in The Long Hot Summer (starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward).  The movie gains momentum after a murder by two strangers to the small town.  Riordan comes to deal with the $2,500 insurance policy left behind by the deceased.   He eventually teams up with one of Ole’s oldest friends from Philly, Lt. Sam Lubinsky, to get to the crux of the matter.  The femme fatale of the story is Kitty Collins (Ava Gardner), the girlfriend of a well-known hood in Atlantic City.   

Kitty (Gardner) is the catayst in this tale.
Kitty (Gardner) is the catayst in this tale.

Most people seem to think I’m the kind of guy who shaves with a blowtorch. Actually I’m bookish and worrisome.  –Burt Lancaster

If you liked this movie, you’ll love Out of the Past (1947), starring Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas, and Jane Greer.  BOTH Mitchum and Lancaster were able to show the masculine man’s sensitive side.  But maybe Mitchum had a BIT more danger and unpredictability?  They’re both fabulous actors who used their presence and physicality to enhance their roles (think Denzel Washington).  After all, it takes more than height and looks to make a leading man! 

Burt Lancaster Film Series (AFI Silver Spring)

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Young Burt Lancaster in a publicity photo (1947)
Young Burt Lancaster in a publicity photo (1947)

As my dad once said (in Bengali): “Ki ekta beta!”  (This translates to “What a man!”  This is an exclamation of admiration for a guy who other men want to emulate.)  He “popped” (as the kids say) onscreen.  Burt Lancaster was one of Hollywood’s (unusual) leading men- stunning on the outside and able to create compelling characters from the inside. Why unusual?  He didn’t primarily rely on his looks or strong screen presence to get by;  he took on challenging anti-hero and villainous roles, too.  I believe today’s audiences will be able to connect with his work, as his method is quite modern.  The born and bred New Yorker showed a vulnerability and passion in his acting (which more stoic leading men of his generation lacked). 

Lancaster in Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Lancaster in Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center (just a few blocks from me) will be showing some of Lancaster’s films from February 7-April 17.  Below are the films that I’m most interested in. 

The Killers (with Ava Gardner) – UPDATED 2/8: Read my review! 

Criss Cross – UPDATED 2/17: Read my review!

Here is the full list of films, show times, & descriptions. 

My reviews of Lancaster’s films:

Elmer Gantry

From Here to Eternity

Trapeze & Sweet Smell of Success