America America (1963)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 174 minuten
Alternative title: America, America
Country:
United States
Directed by: Elia Kazan
Stars: Stathis Giallelis, Frank Wolff and Elena Karam
IMDb score:
7,7 (6.436)
Releasedate: 15 December 1963
America America plot
"One man's struggle to the golden shore"
Around 1900 Stavros decides to leave his motherland Greece and to visit the promised land for him. He collects money and leaves for America. The beautiful dreams he had about the country turned out to be a bit exaggerated to say the least. A reality where betrayal and setbacks are the order of the day awaits him. He makes some friends and because of them he can survive the hard hardships.
Actors and actresses
Stavros Topouzoglou
Vartan Damadian
Vasso Topouzoglou
Garabet
Topouzoglou's Grand Mother
Isaac Topouzoglou
Abdul
Aleko Sinnikoglou
Reviews & comments
Spetie
-
- 38871 messages
- 8283 votes
An interesting film by Kazan on paper, which is less good in practice than hoped.
What is particularly striking is the fairly mediocre acting, and then that of protagonist Stathis Giallelis in particular. He plays the role of Stavros, a man who would like to go to America, because according to him it is the land of unlimited possibilities. He comes across as very busy and the sentences are often delivered in a screaming way. As a result, the dialogues do not always come out very well. It may be part of the culture of the Greeks/Armenians/Turks, but I found it quite disturbing at times.
The cinematography is decent, but otherwise not very special. There are sometimes some nice pictures in between, but for a film of almost three hours that is not very much. The first hour of the film is rather messy and disjointed. Fortunately, as the film progresses, it gets better. The film also lacks humour. I understand that it is a serious film, but there is really not a moment in the film where I thought that is fun. And with all those negative facets, a movie of almost three hours becomes a long sit. I sat through the movie, but had trouble concentrating at the end.
First fail for Kazan after five films.
1.5*
Translated from Dutch · View original
BBarbie
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- 12893 messages
- 7675 votes
Elia Kazan's most personal film about his family's arrival in America. It is certainly not his best film. In any case, I think that Kazan's later films (after Splendor in the Grass, 1961) are all a lot less than the wonderful films he made in the 1950s.
Especially the first part of this movie is just so-so; there is almost no way through. The story picks up a bit in the last hour, but it never becomes remarkable. Add to that the mediocre acting, especially by newcomer Stathis Giallelis, and what remains is an extremely mediocre film. A huge disappointment, considering Kazan's abilities.
Translated from Dutch · View original
mrklm
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- 11752 messages
- 10118 votes
Unfortunately, Elia Kazan's most personal film is not one of his best. He edited his own book based on his father's life story and, when his family orders him, begins to find a way to travel to the US and build a new life there, so that the rest of the family can join him at a later time. We follow the young Stavros Topouzoglu [Stathis Giallelis] on his mission.
SGiallelis may have been chosen as the protagonist simply because he looks a lot like Kazan's father, because there is hardly any acting talent and that has already largely destroyed this epic drama. With a more experienced and more capable actor, the running time of 168 minutes might not have been a problem. The Oscar-winning sets and colourful, strong supporting roles by Lou Antonio and Paul Mann manage to save this long-winded emigration drama somewhat.
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