A Bronx Tale (1993)

A father becomes worried when a local gangster befriends his son in the Bronx in the 1960s.

Director:

Robert De Niro

Writers:

Chazz Palminteri (play), Chazz Palminteri (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert De Niro, Chazz Palminteri, Lillo Brancato

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert De Niro	...	Lorenzo
Chazz Palminteri	...	Sonny
Lillo Brancato	...	Calogero (Age 17)
Francis Capra	...	Calogero (Age 9)
Taral Hicks	...	Jane
Kathrine Narducci	...	Rosina
Clem Caserta	...	Jimmy Whispers
Alfred Sauchelli Jr.	...	Bobby Bars
Frank Pietrangolare	...	Danny K.O.
Joe Pesci	...	Carmine
Robert D'Andrea	...	Tony Toupee
Eddie Montanaro	...	Eddie Mush
Fred Fischer	...	JoJo the Whale
Dave Salerno	...	Frankie Coffeecake
Joseph D'Onofrio	...	Slick (Age 17)

Storyline

Gangster Sonny is the big man in the Bronx neighborhood of an Italian small boy named Calogero. A shooting witnessed by the boy (nicknamed C) is the starting point of a lasting bond between the gangster and the boy. Father (bus driver Lorenzo), however, disapproves. C grows up under the wing of both men, torn between his own natural honesty and his fascination with Sonny. C's neighborhood cronies get involved in theft, use of guns, and racial fights. When C falls for an African American girl, things don't get any easier. C's leap to manhood is marked by tragedy, but also by his recognition of the many faces of love.

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Plot Keywords:

first love | father son relationship | gangster | money | bus | 

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Taglines:

One man lives in the neighborhood, another man owns it. A devoted father battles the local crime boss for the life of his son.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language and several scenes of violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

1 October 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

In den Straßen der Bronx

Filming Locations:

Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$17,266,971

Company Credits

Production Co:

Price Entertainment,Penta Entertainment,Tribeca Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The street in front of the Chez Bippy bar is 30th Avenue in Astoria Queens, New York. Now called the American Sports Center, and is located at 4402 30th Avenue, Astoria, New York 11103.

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Goofs

When Phil give Calogero the peaches it's daylight. He goes upstairs & he's confronted by his parents about the money he got from Sonny. They go to the bar to give the money back and it's dusk. They give the money back to Sonny and leave the bar, and it's now dark.

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Quotes

Sonny: You like this girl?
Calogero 'C' Anello: I do, but I don't want to hear all the guys. I don't want to hear all their mouths...
Sonny: F those kids. Half of them are going to end up dead or in jail anyway. Nobody cares.

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Crazy Credits

Dedicated to the memory of Robert De Niro, Sr.

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Connections

References The Godfather (1972)

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Soundtracks

Say It (Over and Over Again)
Performed by John Coltrane

User Reviews

Growing Up In The Bronx

A Bronx Tale does take me back to New York City in the sixties. I grew up in Brooklyn then which certainly has always had its own identity. I'm glad that Chazz Palmentiri has given the Bronx an identity of its own. There are still parts of the Bronx which have the Italian neighborhood you see depicted here. But the Bronx is a Latino majority borough now, ironic when you consider part of the story of A Bronx Tale is the racial tension between the blacks and Italians.

The movie divides in two parts, the first is around 1960 with the background of the 1960 World Series, one of the best ever played where the Yankees of Mickey Mantle lost to the Pirates in seven games. Robert DeNiro is your average Joe, a bus driver by profession trying with his wife, Katherine Narducci, to raise their son who is eight years old. Young Francis Capra who is fascinated by the gangsters hanging out at the bar down the street, witnesses the local boss commit a murder. True to the neighborhood code he doesn't snitch to the police and the local boss takes him under his wing.

Chazz Palmentiri is the boss and he's an interesting character. A man who's risen to the top of his profession, he's got a sense of himself and what it took to get there. Life is about choices, he made his and he's going with the flow, but he knows it isn't for everyone. He advises young Capra to stay in school, but the more he advises the more fascinating Palmentiri becomes to DeNiro's dismay.

The second half of the story is in 1968, the Bronx as part of America ravaged by racial tensions, assassinations and the war in Vietnam. The little boy is now teenager Lillo Brancato who gets interested in a black girl, a big no-no in the crowd he comes from, but Palmentiri is the one person who encourages the relationship. Let's just say that everything, every element of the story comes full circle on one night in the Bronx in 1968.

The comparison to Goodfellas for me is obvious. The two kids who grow up to be Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta are taken under the wing of neighborhood boss Paul Sorvino who sees them as promising gangster material and they grow into the roles. Palmentiri keeps telling the young kid here do what I say not what I do, but in the end it takes some tragic events to set him on a right path.

DeNiro who you would normally expect in the gangster role is just fine as the father, a good man, not a perfect one by any means, but just a guy trying to do right by his family. It's Palmentiri however who really steals the film as the local gangster boss who's as street smart as they come, but even with all that can't anticipate all contingencies.

Lillo Brancato who went on to several other film roles and a long running one in The Sopranos certainly in real life didn't make the same choices as his character Calogero Anello did. Life really imitated art in his life story.

Nice to see the Bronx get its due.