Italianamerican
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Written by Martin Scorsese
1974/US
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel
Charles Scorsese: My mother, I remember my mother scrubbin’ them floors, wooden floors, on her knees. No carpets. Wooden floors. With a brush, an iron brush. In the hallway and in the house. She used to make those floors sparkle. Wooden floors. Today they got it so soft. They got a washing machine, they got this, they got that. And they was – they never, they never cried, you know, that they’d say they were tired. There was no such thing as being tired.
The super-prolific young Martin Scorsese gives us this loving portrait of his parents and life for Italian immigrants in New York City.
The entire film looks to take place in real time. Scorsese’s mother Catherine is making her famous meat meat sauce and runs in and out of the room while she tends to it. Scorsese interviews her and his father, Charles about what it was like to grow up as a first generation American. He reminisces about his own childhood as well.
This is a charming movie, is only 45 minutes long, and contains the recipe for that meat sauce!
