I suppose the 'Golden Door' of the title of this film is that small patch of water just in-front of; level with and partly yonder The Statue of Liberty in New York. It's that small, minute space in which Europeans know they're about to enter the nation of the United States of America and begin a new life. Or are they? The film is all about those little moments in life; those instances in which you have to take a minute to breath and recognise that things are, indeed, about to change rather drastically: the leaving of the Italian port to the sound of a deafening foghorn; that first meeting with a potential suitor, while remembering where you were and how you felt as well as the very first glimpses of America as you huddle around widows in immigration halls.
Remember that very short but rather upsetting passage of cinema in the second Godfather film during which a ten or so year old Vito Corleone arrived in America from Italy and couldn't catch a break at immigration control? I always found that tiny segment quite upsetting, and wanted the film to revolve around young Vito's troubles at that locale a little more. The Golden Door uses that setting, indeed that scenario, as its rousing finale. The film builds to that concentrated moment during which the characters have come so far but cannot get over the line; that moment when all they believed was actually challenged by the reality of the situation.
Ultimately, the film is about what individual characters think, feel and believe rather than immigration from Europe to America back-in-the-day. There is a certain degree of anxiety and conflict right near the end when it transpires certain characters' beliefs are challenged by these formal, suit wearing officials in the immigration office; housed within the 'new' world. There doesn't seem to be any room for those deemed 'different' to everyone else; no room for the shaggy dressed, elderly women who has been brought up for the last several decades on specific thoughts and spiritual practises.
The film follows a poor, rural family by name of Mancuso whom live on the island of Sicily, just off the coast of Italy. The lead is named Salvatore (Amato); the head of a household whom head for Ellis Island with many others seeking a new life at the turn of the 20th Century. The first time we see Salvatore, he is partaking in what the film is essentially about: beliefs. He, as is an acquaintance, are carrying rocks in their bloodied mouths before laying them down somewhere specific and saying a prayer. What follows is a very bizarre and ritualistic scene involving an elderly spiritual woman and a much younger woman, with the elderly woman attempting to extract a supposed wriggling sensation from the younger one's belly. Again, these are spiritual and somewhat classical beliefs engaged in by those living on the notion they are true to life and work.
The Golden Door is essential split into three different segments. The first is set in rural Italy and covers poor, backward even, people carrying out ideas and getting by. The beliefs are ancient and very spiritual; the people omit feelings of desperation and dream of lots of food, milk and money. The second third involves a developing of these emotions; an ingredient of lust as pretty British woman Lucy (Gainsbourg) becomes the clear object of a lot of male passenger's gaze as she strolls around the large boat transporting everyone to the new world. There is a certain hopefulness as the new land draws nearer; a certain anticipation as paradise is supposedly weeks away. This is additionally captured by the tiny narrative that opens up to do with Lucy searching for a husband and that, after meeting Salvatore, she is hopeful he will be the one, even if the right 'time' has not arrived where she can say she loves him. It is a poignant parallel in regards to the characters' overall predicament whilst waiting for this new world.
The final third pushes the ideas to the forefront of questioning and examination, nicely captured by actual examinations on human beings by other human beings. The clashing of the old and new; the classical and the modern and of the science and the spiritual is just as awkward as it is humbling as it is fascinating. The film certainly carries that slow-burning and epic feel, punctuated by minute branches off into surrealist realms of fantasies and impossibilities. It does well with what it has at its disposal, namely scenes on the deck of the ship and the sense that this huge boat is casting off; soon to be midway across the Atlantic, when really, it's a series of rather small-ish sets.
The Golden Door must cover several thousand miles or so over a span of several months but it never really feels like it. Whether that should count as a criticism or not, I'm not actually sure. The film is more a study of the smaller, more concentrated occurrences and emotions felt by people; the fact it just happens to play out amidst a several thousand mile journey on a massive ship is a mere coincidence. The film is brave; brave for the filmmakers to take on something so grand for a study so much more fitted to smaller scales.
Remember that very short but rather upsetting passage of cinema in the second Godfather film during which a ten or so year old Vito Corleone arrived in America from Italy and couldn't catch a break at immigration control? I always found that tiny segment quite upsetting, and wanted the film to revolve around young Vito's troubles at that locale a little more. The Golden Door uses that setting, indeed that scenario, as its rousing finale. The film builds to that concentrated moment during which the characters have come so far but cannot get over the line; that moment when all they believed was actually challenged by the reality of the situation.
Ultimately, the film is about what individual characters think, feel and believe rather than immigration from Europe to America back-in-the-day. There is a certain degree of anxiety and conflict right near the end when it transpires certain characters' beliefs are challenged by these formal, suit wearing officials in the immigration office; housed within the 'new' world. There doesn't seem to be any room for those deemed 'different' to everyone else; no room for the shaggy dressed, elderly women who has been brought up for the last several decades on specific thoughts and spiritual practises.
The film follows a poor, rural family by name of Mancuso whom live on the island of Sicily, just off the coast of Italy. The lead is named Salvatore (Amato); the head of a household whom head for Ellis Island with many others seeking a new life at the turn of the 20th Century. The first time we see Salvatore, he is partaking in what the film is essentially about: beliefs. He, as is an acquaintance, are carrying rocks in their bloodied mouths before laying them down somewhere specific and saying a prayer. What follows is a very bizarre and ritualistic scene involving an elderly spiritual woman and a much younger woman, with the elderly woman attempting to extract a supposed wriggling sensation from the younger one's belly. Again, these are spiritual and somewhat classical beliefs engaged in by those living on the notion they are true to life and work.
The Golden Door is essential split into three different segments. The first is set in rural Italy and covers poor, backward even, people carrying out ideas and getting by. The beliefs are ancient and very spiritual; the people omit feelings of desperation and dream of lots of food, milk and money. The second third involves a developing of these emotions; an ingredient of lust as pretty British woman Lucy (Gainsbourg) becomes the clear object of a lot of male passenger's gaze as she strolls around the large boat transporting everyone to the new world. There is a certain hopefulness as the new land draws nearer; a certain anticipation as paradise is supposedly weeks away. This is additionally captured by the tiny narrative that opens up to do with Lucy searching for a husband and that, after meeting Salvatore, she is hopeful he will be the one, even if the right 'time' has not arrived where she can say she loves him. It is a poignant parallel in regards to the characters' overall predicament whilst waiting for this new world.
The final third pushes the ideas to the forefront of questioning and examination, nicely captured by actual examinations on human beings by other human beings. The clashing of the old and new; the classical and the modern and of the science and the spiritual is just as awkward as it is humbling as it is fascinating. The film certainly carries that slow-burning and epic feel, punctuated by minute branches off into surrealist realms of fantasies and impossibilities. It does well with what it has at its disposal, namely scenes on the deck of the ship and the sense that this huge boat is casting off; soon to be midway across the Atlantic, when really, it's a series of rather small-ish sets.
The Golden Door must cover several thousand miles or so over a span of several months but it never really feels like it. Whether that should count as a criticism or not, I'm not actually sure. The film is more a study of the smaller, more concentrated occurrences and emotions felt by people; the fact it just happens to play out amidst a several thousand mile journey on a massive ship is a mere coincidence. The film is brave; brave for the filmmakers to take on something so grand for a study so much more fitted to smaller scales.