Themes: Dangerous Friends, Fathers and Sons, Kids in Trouble
Main Cast: Robert De Niro, Chazz Palminteri, Lillo Brancato Jr., Francis Capra, Taral Hicks
Release Year: 1993
Country: US
Run Time: 122 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Robert De Niro made his directorial debut with this expanded adaptation of Chazz Palminteri's one-character play. DeNiro's role of Lorenzo Anello, an Italian-America bus driver, is secondary to the part of his son Calogero, played by young Francis Capra. The top dog in Calogero's Bronx neighborhood is flashy "wiseguy" Sonny (Chazz Palminteri). When the boy witnesses Sonny commit a murder, he honors the code of the streets and refuses to tell the cops. Sonny befriends him and introduces the impressionable youngster to the creature comforts that mob connections can bring. But though he idolizes Sonny, the boy loves and respects his decent, honest father. It takes a major tragedy for the 17-year-old boy (now played by Lillo Brancato) to decide his true course in life. Though titled A Bronx Tale and set in the Bronx of the 1960s, the film was actually shot in the somewhat safer environs of Brooklyn and Queens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
A handsomely mounted coming-of-age story, Robert De Niro's directorial debut, an adaptation of co-star Chazz Palminteri's play, finds the veteran actor treading old ground, exploring a 1960s' New York ankle-deep in Mafia culture. But while the material might superficially seem familiar, what's remarkable about the film comes from De Niro and Palminteri's decision to cast the familiar in a new light, emphasizing borough folkways and the details of day-to-day life rather than criminal intrigues. A morality tale, but not a simple one, De Niro and Palminteri's struggle for the heart of the young protagonist avoids a simple battle between good and evil, showing instead how two decidedly different men both help shape his character. While one might ultimately be more right than the other, De Niro's direction lets the audience sort things out along with his protagonist. While De Niro seems not to have been able to coach particularly memorable performances out of some his younger actors, both he and Palminteri turn in beautifully understated performances, with De Niro proving again, as he has since Once Upon a Time in America, that however dependent his early reputation was on flashy roles, he does just as well with more interior-oriented characters. Though sluggish at times, a great feel for the period and the intricacies of neighborhood and racial relations makes this film, if not quite a knockout, deeply memorable. ~ Keith Phipps, All Movie Guide
Kathrine Narducci - Rosina Anello; Clem Caserta - Jimmy Whispers; Alfred Sauchelli, Jr. - Bobby Bars; Joe Pesci - Carmine; Elizabeth Abassi - Lady in Window; Ida Bemardini - Fish Store Customer; Garry Blackwood - Chez Bippy Customer; Nicky Blair - Jerry; Joseph D'Onofrio - Slick age 17; Tommy A. Ford - Phil the Peddler; Steve Pendleton - Satan's Messenger; Paul Perri - Crazy Mario (Age 9); Ellen Chenoweth; Mitch Kolpan - Detective Belsik; Patrick Borriello - Slick (Age 9); Joe Black - Murdered Man; Chad Dowdell - Joey's Friend (uncredited); Domenick Lombardozzi - Nicky Zero; Dave Salerno - Frankie Coffecake
Credit
Chris Shriver - Art Director, Joseph P. Reidy - Associate Producer, Ellen Chenoweth - Casting, Rita Ryack - Costume Designer, Joseph P. Reidy - First Assistant Director, Joseph R. Burns - First Assistant Director, Robert De Niro - Director, David Ray - Editor, Robert Q. Lovett - Editor, Stephen Endelman - Composer (Music Score), Ilona Herman - Makeup, Wynn P. Thomas - Production Designer, Judith Stevens - Production Designer, Reynaldo Villalobos - Cinematographer, Robert De Niro - Producer, Jane Rosenthal - Producer, Jon Kilik - Producer, Steve Kirshoff - Special Effects, Tod A. Maitland - Sound/Sound Designer, Gary Chester - Sound Recordist, Chazz Palminteri - Screenwriter, Debra Schutt - Set Decorator, Chazz Palminteri - Book Author
The music from this motion picture consists of period tunes heard in the Bronx and elsewhere in the 1950s and '60s, starting, naturally, with homeboys Dion & the Belmonts and running through the Jimi Hendrix Experience. That's quite a stretch, of course, but it is bridged by interludes given over to re-creations of the period sound by Cool Change. And from the Cleftones' "Little Girl of Mine" to the Rascals' "A Beautiful Morning," the selections are such classics it's hard to argue with them. Still, without the movie's images to hold them together, the collection seems virtually random. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
A Bronx Tale is a 1993 film set in The Bronx during the turbulent era of the 1960s. It was the directorial debut of Robert DeNiro, and follows a young man as his path in life is guided by two father figures, played by De Niro and Chazz Palminteri. It also includes a brief appearance by Joe Pesci. It was written by Palminteri, based partially upon his childhood.
The movie opens in 1960 with Lorenzo Anello's (Robert DeNiro) son Calogero (age 9 by Francis Capra and age 17 by Lillo Brancato Jr.) witnessing a murder committed by the local Mafiaboss, Sonny (Chazz Palminteri). When Calogero chooses to keep quiet when questioned by police officers, Sonny takes a liking to him. Calogero starts visiting Sonny and his crew regularly in the bar downstairs, much to the dismay of his father, a hard-working bus driver struggling to make ends meet. Eight years later, in 1968, Calogero (now played by Lillo Brancato, Jr.) has grown into a young man. He will eventually have to make the choice between his two mentors. He also pursues an interracial relationship with a black girl named Jane Williams (Taral Hicks), and he has to cope with this while being in the company of racist friends who coincidentally attack the girl's brother and his friends, and who later plan to raid a black neighborhood.
The film contains several violent scenes, including a savage beating of a biker gang by the Mafia to the tune "The 10 Commandments Of Love" by The Moonglows, and Calogero's friends' tragically botchedincursion into the black neighborhood.
Settings and filming locations
A Bronx Tale was filmed in three New York City neighborhoods. Though set entirely in the Bronx, only one of these locations was actually in that borough. The Fordham neighborhood in which Calogero lives was actually filmed in Astoria, Queens; the black neighborhood said to be on and around Webster Avenue was actually filmed at East 15th Street and Gravesend Neck Road in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn; finally, the scene set on the Bronx's City Island was actually filmed in that location.
Sources
Palminteri adapted the screenplay from his one-man show of the same name. The show had successful runs in Los Angeles and Off-Broadway. Palminteri would not sell the rights to his story unless he could write the screenplay and was guaranteed the role of Sonny. At one point he was offered one million dollars, but refused because his conditions were not met. Later, De Niro saw the show and approached Palminteri. He said he knew about Palminteri refusing to sell the rights. For the rights he told Palminteri he would act in the movie and meet Palminteri's conditions if he could direct. De Niro said he was good to his word with only a handshake from Palminteri.
Palminteri based the character of Calogero on himself; his real first name is Calogero.
