A Bronx Tale

A Bronx Tale
Directed by	Robert De Niro
Produced by	Peter Gatien Jon Kilik Jane Rosenthal
Written by	Chazz Palminteri
Starring	Robert De Niro Chazz Palminteri Lillo Brancato, Jr. Taral Hicks Francis Capra Kathrine Narducci Clem Caserta
Cinematography	Reynaldo Villalobos
Editing by	David Ray
Distributed by	Savoy Pictures
Release date(s)	September 14, 1993 (Toronto Film Festival) September 29, 1993 (U.S.)
Running time	120 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

A Bronx Tale is a 1993 American crime drama film set in The Bronx during the turbulent era of the 1960s. It was the directorial debut of Robert De Niro, and follows a young Italian-American teenager 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 and an appearance by Clem Caserta, who plays as the costar Jimmy Whispers. It was written by Palminteri, based partially upon his childhood. The film grossed over $17 million domestically in the box office.

Plot

In 1960, Lorenzo Anello's (Robert De Niro) young son Calogero (Francis Capra) witnesses a murder committed by the local Mafia boss, Sonny (Chazz Palminteri), in defense of an assaulted friend. When Calogero chooses to keep quiet when questioned by NYPD detectives, Sonny takes a liking to him and gives him the nickname "C". Sonny's men offer Lorenzo a job to make more money, but Lorenzo, preferring a law-abiding life, politely declines. Sonny, however, befriends Calogero and introduces him to his crew. Calogero earns tips amounting to $600 dollars working in the Mafia bar and throwing dice, and is admonished harshly by Lorenzo when he discovers it. Lorenzo speaks severely to Sonny, returns the money, and warns him to keep away from Calogero. Outside the bar, Lorenzo admonishes Calogero, who is unrepentant, and slaps him across the face. Calogero begins to tear up, and Lorenzo hugs him and apologizes, picking him up and carrying him home past the bar's front window, through which Sonny can be seen watching.

Eight years later, Calogero (now played by Lillo Brancato, Jr.) has grown into a young man and has secretly been visiting Sonny regularly without his father's knowledge (Calogero's mother, played earlier in the film by Katherine Narducci, is not seen again for the rest of the film, leaving it ambiguous as to what happened to her). Calogero is also part of a gang of local Italian boys he grew up around, even though Sonny tries to persuade Calogero to keep away from them and focus more on his schoolwork. Some time later, Calogero meets an African-American girl, Jane Williams (Taral Hicks), and is smitten with her. The two arrange a date, despite the high level of tension and dislike between Italians and Blacks, particularly amongst Calogero's friends. He asks advice from both Lorenzo and Sonny, the latter who agrees to lend Calogero his car and tells him of a test to determine whether or not the date is a worthwhile prospect. Around the same time, Calogero's friends beat up black cyclists passing through their neighborhood; Calogero is powerless to stop them but does his best to defend a young man, who turns out to be Jane's brother, Willie. Willie, however, mistakes Calogero for one of the assailants and accuses him of beating him when Calogero and Jane meet for their date. In the ensuing argument, Calogero loses his temper at Willie's lack of gratitude and responds by addressing him rudely with a racial slur, but then instantly regrets it. Heartbroken, Jane leaves Calogero.

At home, Calogero is confronted by Lorenzo, who saw him driving Sonny's car from the window. An argument ensues, and Calogero storms out. Suddenly, he is confronted by a furious Sonny and his crew, who found a bomb in Sonny's car and suspected Calogero of planning to assassinate him. Calogero swears his innocence again and again as Sonny treats him roughly and accuses him of lying even about the existence of Jane. Calogero breaks down, proclaiming his love and dedication to Sonny, whereupon Sonny recognizes Calogero's innocence and allows him to leave. Lorenzo, who saw the mobsters roughing Calogero, emerges to defend his son, but is held back and assaulted by Sonny's men, and goes home. The African-Americans egg the Italian boys' usual spot in retaliation for the previous beating, and in revenge, Calogero's friends make a plan to strike back using molotov cocktails. They take Calogero with them but during the ride, Sonny stops the car and orders Calogero out. Calogero catches up with Jane, who tells him that Willie had since admitted that the boy who beat him up wasn't Calogero, but that Willie was angry and tried to hurt Calogero (simply because of his affiliation with the Italians) by lying about him. Jane and Calogero make amends, but Calogero suddenly remembers his friends' plans to assault Jane's neighborhood, and the two rush to stop them. However, upon arriving, Calogero and Jane see the boys' car destroyed. During the assault, someone had thrown one of the molotov cocktails back into their car through the window, igniting the remaining bottles, causing a crash and explosion and killing all of Calogero's friends.

Calogero rushes to the bar to thank Sonny for saving his life, but the bar is crowded, and an unnamed assassin (the son of the man who Sonny killed in the beginning of the film and, most likely, the one who planted the bomb in Sonny's car) shoots Sonny in the back of the head before Calogero can warn him. A funeral is then held for Sonny, where countless people come to pay their respects. Once they are all gone, a lone man named Carmine (Joe Pesci) visits, claiming that Sonny once saved his life as well. Calogero does not appear to know Carmine, but remembers him when he sees a scar on his forehead: the day Sonny had committed that murder outside Calogero's home when Calogero was little, it had been in defense of Carmine, who was being beaten by the assailant with a baseball bat. Carmine tells Calogero that he will be taking care of the neighborhood for the time being and promises him help should he ever need anything, and leaves just as Lorenzo arrives, surprisingly, to pay his respects to Sonny, and thank him for saving his son: he says that he had never hated Sonny, but merely resented him for making Calogero grow up so quickly.

Calogero makes peace with his father, and the two walk home as Calogero says, "I learned something from these two men. I learned to give love and get love unconditionally. You just have to accept people for what they are. And I learned the greatest gift of all: the saddest thing in life is wasted talent. The choices that you make will shape your life forever. You can ask anybody from my neighborhood, and they'll just tell you, 'This is just another Bronx tale'".

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. Shops craftsman, Salvatore Sirico, helped build the infamous bathroom in the basement scene where three mobsters were outcasted to. He was also featured on Hall and Oates' music video, "Out of Touch".

Music

The movie features a lot of music from the '50s and '60s era including Donald Byrd, John Coltrane, The Beatles ("Come Together"), Frank Sinatra, The Jimi Hendrix Experience ("All Along The Watchtower"), James Brown ("It's a Man's Man's Man's World"), Cream, The Kinks, Dion and the Belmonts ("I Wonder Why"), The Moody Blues ("Nights in White Satin"), Miles Davis, Dean Martin among others.

Sources

Palminteri adapted the screenplay from his one-man show of the same name. Several characters' names are based on himself: his real name is Calogero Lorenzo Palminteri. 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's refusing to sell the rights. For the rights, he told Palminteri he would act in the movie and meet Palminteri's conditions if De Niro could direct. De Niro said he was good to his word with only a handshake from Palminteri.^{[citation needed]}

Critical reception

The film was a critical success, holding a current "Fresh" rating of 96% from Rotten Tomatoes, and an average score of 80/100 from Metacritic. Critic Roger Ebert gave the film four stars, calling it "a very funny movie sometimes, and very touching at other times. It is filled with life and colorful characters and great lines of dialogue, and De Niro, in his debut as a director, finds the right notes as he moves from laughter to anger to tears. What's important about the film is that it's about values."^[1]

A Bronx Tale was nominated for AFI's Top 10 Gangster Films list.^[2]

Release

Sometime after the film's theatrical run, HBO released the movie on VHS and in 1998 on DVD. The DVD is now out of print, but in January 2010, Focus Features released an Amazon.com exclusive DVD copy of the film.

See also

• A Bronx Tale (play)

References

External links

• A Bronx Tale at AllRovi
• A Bronx Tale at the Internet Movie Database
• A Bronx Tale at Rotten Tomatoes
• A Bronx Tale Location