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19 reviews in total

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39 out of 44 people found the following review useful:
A Forgotten Masterpiece, 11 August 2002
Author: ChuckTurner from Hove, England

Kazan's reputation seems to have been diminishing for some time, a process, ironically, that his 'Lifetime Achievement' Oscar seems to have accelerated. Yeah, he did betray his fellows and himself in the 1950s. Again, ironically, it's the films he made later in his career, which show the scars of his loss of self-esteem, which are the most fascinating - WILD RIVER, SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS, THE ARRANGEMENT - and most powerful of them all, AMERICA AMERICA.

I too am surprised that this monument to Americanism and monument of American cinema, seems not very widely known in America itself. It has all the values of classic American cinema - a strong, simple narrative, a limpid visual style which eschews any directorial histrionics to concentrate purely on the characters. It is the story of young men driven from their homeland and making the long voyage to America - the huddled masses yearning to be free. The journey is long and terribly hard, and even as the shore of American comes into view, sacrifices still have to be made. The end of the film is enormously powerful, one of the most moving I have ever seen - the effect is still with me now, 30 years after seeing it.

It is the story of Kazan's father and uncle - the character who makes an appearance, played by Richard Boone, in Kazan's more heavily fictionalised subsequent film THE ARRANGEMENT. It is a personal story, and the simplicity of the telling seems like the end of a process of endless re-telling around smokey fireplaces, and before children go to sleep, a family saga which has almost attained the status of myth. The savagery of the film's first hour, and the dream-like quality of the last act make AMERICA AMERICA a genuine and powerful part of American mythology.

So don't torture yourself about whether Kazan was morally and politically wrong in betraying his colleagues - see AMERICA AMERICA, and you'll see why he could never have acted any differently. Yes, he was a radical, and a leftist, and a deeply intelligent and passionate man; but he was also an immigrant - and his horror of disenfranchisement and ejection overcame his moral and political views. Kazan may criticise aspects of its culture and politics, but he loves and respects and is grateful to America above all. So he made his choice. He could have made no other.

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33 out of 42 people found the following review useful:
A realistic portrayal of the immigrant experience, 29 September 2003
Author: cathyb from Ridgefield CT

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.

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30 out of 39 people found the following review useful:
One of the Greatest Films Ever Made, 17 June 2005

Author: Sturgeon54 from United States

Imagine a film like "The Godfather" receiving almost no audience, relegated to the occasional appearance on the AMC channel, barely being released on VHS or DVD, and you will have some idea of the tragic fate of this lost epic masterpiece. As hard as it is to believe, this may be the prolific director Elia Kazan's greatest film achievement, yet hardly anyone has seen it. This is a film on the epic scale of "The Godfather," about a young Armenian man's escape from Turkish persecution, flight from Anatolia, and eventual immigration to Ellis Island - all based upon the the experiences of the director's uncle. What is also tragic is the fact that I can think of no other film which portrays the cruel persecution and genocide inflicted upon the Armenian minority by the Ottoman Turks in the early 20th century (which Hitler correctly pointed to as proof that the world would look the other way at the genocide he had planned in Europe in the 1930s). Every period detail in the film is perfect, from the Oscar-winning costume design to the set design, Greek folk music score, veteran Haskell Wexler's cinematography, and acting - especially lead actor Giallelis, whose intensity brings to mind some of Brando's early work.

It is obvious that this film was a very personal piece of film-making for Kazan. And though I don't want to dwell as others do on Kazan's checkered past in his naming of communist colleagues for HUAC in the 1950s, it is interesting to note a parallel in the main character Stavros' personal anguish in making the choice to leave his wealthy wife and use her money to immigrate to the United States; both men made the conscious decision to drive a wedge between them and their past relationships. This is truly a film for all Americans to treasure, and if I had my way, I would make sure it was broadcast every 4th of July just as "It's a Wonderful Life" is broadcast every Christmas. As a nation of immigrants and descendants of immigrants, this is a film virtually every American can relate to. I can't figure out why it is so obscure.

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17 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
An unjustly forgotten volatile classic, 11 November 2005
Author: neithernor2000 from Long Beach, CA

"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.

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15 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
One of the best films of the 60's., 5 September 2000
Author: jpf4000 from Santa Barbara, California

This is a superb piece of filmmaking which has, unfortunately, been all but forgotten. The only weakness is in its star (Stathis Gialellis), but the film is so good that it doesn't matter (and, on second viewing, he's really not all that bad). I have seen this film many, many times on video and once I was privilaged to see it on on the "big Screen" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. I highly recommend it. The black and white cinematography by Haskell Wexler is top-notch. This film is a testament to the human spirit.

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6 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Kazan's heart-felt folly, 6 September 2008

Author: Martin Bradley (MOscarbradley@aol.com) from Derry, Ireland

It takes some time for Kazan's movie to find its level and it could do with some judicious pruning, (it lasts about three hours). The faults are mostly at the beginning, (it's worth sticking with it), and the scenes of peasant oppression and revolt don't ring true. The casting of American players doesn't help or maybe Kanzan was just too close to his material. It is, after all, the story of his own family and how they came to America. He not only directs but wrote it as well and it's a subject deeply felt, and which he doesn't view objectively.

It picks up when the hero, Stavros, (an unconvincing Stathis Giallelis), gets to Constantinople and falls in with a rich merchant and his family and is promised in marriage to the merchant's daughter. It isn't that these scenes feel any 'truer' than the earlier scenes of poverty, (this is a culture that is alien to us and Kazan lays on the religious symbolism a mite too heavily), but dramatically they are very well structured and observed and the performances of both Paul Mann as the merchant and Linda Marsh as his daughter are outstanding. The rest of the acting is very uneven and Giallelis is certainly no James Dean, (his career was short-lived).

In the film's final third we follow Stavros to America and the ship-board scenes are brilliantly done. Haskell Wexler photographs them with a documentary-like realism, (his cinematography throughout is superb), and Kazan reins in the film's penchant for melodrama, (only a sacrificial act of kindness strains credulity). There are several splendid sequences spread across the film and ultimately one is inclined to forgive Kazan for the occasions where it falls flat. It isn't, of course, in any way 'commercial', which is some kind of virtue in itself. It panders to no-one but Kazan. Perhaps that makes it some kind of folly but if it is, then it's a grandiose one.

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12 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
Sensational and touching movie with an excellent direction by Elia Kazan, 28 October 2005

Author: ma-cortes from Santander Spain

The picture talks about a Greek young from Anatoly ( Turkey ) named Stavros ( Stathis Giallelis ). He is sent by his father to Constantinopla for helping their family . Howewer Stavros only thinks on America . Across the journey he will suffer several misfortunes , risks and odds in his relationships to friends (Frank Wolff, John Marley, Lou Antonio) and enemies . Later on , Stavros will work in laborious employments to obtain a passage in a splendid ship for the promised land.

The movie is a magnificent adaptation based on the autobiographic novel of Greek-Turkish director Elia Kazan who being a child emigrated along with his family to United States . Since the initiating he describes memories , emotions and infancy images , besides narrates the persecution to Greeks and Armenians by Turkish that finished in genocide . Kazan reflects the particular characters , rural sets in realism way , folkloric customs , glimmer landscapes as well as interior homes . Kazan achieved a real emotion and sensibility by means of slow-moving scenes and close-ups of protagonists full of dialogs dealing with essential feeling as familiar love , friendship or happiness . These images contrast with the breathtaking outdoors of the mountains and countrysides where are developed the events . Magnificent cinematography in black and white by Haskel Wexler . Awesome and evocative musical score in oriental style by Manos Hadjidakis ( Topkapi ). The motion picture is very well directed by Elia Kazan ( On the waterfront ) . The release won Academy Award , an Oscar for production design and attained three nominations referred to Director and original screenplay , plus obtained a Golden Globe for Director and the biggest prize in Festival of San Sebastian . Rating : Above average and astounding movie. Well worth watching .

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13 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
One of the Best!, 8 September 1999
Author: syohanan from Illinois

Agreed! "America, America" is one of the best pictures ever made. It is a must see for any first or second generation American. A true American classic in the best sense. The movie might be a bit hard to find on video, but when you find it you won't be disappointed....I promise!

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Kazan's America America Is Smashing!, 16 March 2012

Author: Humphrey Fish from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Elia Kazan directed many great classics, like On The Waterfront, East Of Eden, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, and his 1963 film, America, America. Kazan's America America is smashing, delightful, and unforgettable. Elia Kazan brings this movie to the level of masterpiece, it is without a doubt one of his best movies, in fact, it probably ranks in his top five best movies! A young Anatolian Greek, entrusted with his family's fortune, loses it en route to Istanbul and dreams of going to America, where he hopefully can live a better life. In a movie that is nearly three hours long, Elia Kazan shows us his outstanding talent as both a director, and as a screenwriter. Yes, he also wrote the screenplay for this movie, and hey did a very dang good job at it too! Kazan is one of my favorite directors, and America, America, is one of my favorite movies that he directed! I am really glad that I watched this movie, because it is fabulous, F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S Fabulous! If you wondering, yes, this movie has just become another one of the greatest movies that I have ever seen!

Until I saw this movie, I had never heard of Stathis Giallelis, who plays the main character, Stavros Topouzoglou. He stunned me with his acting, that is something that doesn't happen really often. What I mean by that remark is there is rarely a time in which I am stunned by the performance from an actor that I have never heard of or heard very little about, and Giallelis was a prime example of that. There are also a few other great performances in this movie, such as from Harry Davis and Frank Wolff. Another great thing besides the acting is the art-direction (which won an Oscar), the art-direction was stupendous. And of course, Kazan's directing was superb, he directed this film on the same level as two of his other classics like East Of Eden and On The Waterfront. Kazan also got three Oscar nominations for this film alone, Best Picture, Best Director, and Best screenplay, although he didn't win any of these. Oh well, this film is nevertheless a great film!

So all in all, America America is another film that is in the long line of great movies that I've been watching for the past months. I may be sounding like this too much, I'm sorry if you think so, but I have been seeing a lot of movies that are films that I would call "great movies." Is this a movie that you should watch? Yes it is, yes it is, oh yes it is! When you watch America America, get ready to see some spectacular results. Elia Kazan will totally and completely dazzle you with his remarkable talents at both directing and storytelling! No kidding, this movie really is a great as I am telling you it is, when you watch it, you will perfectly see what I mean. America America is also one of those movies that you will probably have to watch over and over again, as you will believe that it is a masterpiece made by a master director! This is a gem of a film, the results are something spectacular to see!

10/10

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One of the most American of movies., 22 April 2012

Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida

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.

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