After watching The Golden Door (Nuovomondo) I really found a new appreciation for Italian films. This film really opened my eyes to the history of Italian immigrants into America. The story is set at the beginning of the 20th century in Sicily. Salvatore, a very poor farmer, and his family immigrate to the US. Though, before the family boards the boat to America they meet an Englishwomen named Lucy. Lucy asks Salvatore to marry her in order for her to enter America.
The trip to the boat, aboard the boat and at Ellis Island is one of wonder and hope and has very little dialogue. The director, Emanuele Crialese, does a fantastic job illustrating the tough passage to the new world. The middle section of the film is devoted to the long voyage to the U.S. Most immigration films I have seen show ten minutes of people in the third-class section becoming seasick, and then show us the Statue of Liberty, but not this movie. I got a sense for life below decks and ironically you never actually see the statue of liberty in this film. The risks associated with leaving everything behind is also clearly depicted throughout the movie. I never really understood the strict rules and harsh treatment that the immigrants had to face on Ellis Island until I saw this movie.
While watching the movie it made me think of my grandpa who made this exact journey from Sicily to America through Ellis Island. I pictured my grandfather in the place of the actors and had a much clearer idea of the primitive living conditions in Sicily that motivated him to leave home. Furthermore, I became aware of the cramped weeks he spent aboard a boat and the hardships he had to face. The director is so precise in his depictions and told such an engaging story that I was in turn greatly moved. All in all, I would highly recommend this movie. I will be sure to tell my grandfather about this film, because I know he will be very touched by this film.
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