Visually astounding Italian epic following a turn-of-the-century family across the ocean to the New World. "Unveils the dark side of America's immigrant history." — indieWIRE
Screened as part of NZIFF 2007
Golden Door 2006
Nuovomondo
Last year's hit Italian film, this visually astounding epic follows the turn-of-the-century journey of a family of emigrants across the ocean to the New World.
"Emanuele Crialese's surprising Golden Door... unveils the dark side of America's immigrant history. While sprinkled with magical realist glimpses of an idealized America (rivers of milk, giant carrots), Golden Door is unflinching in its depiction of both the rocky Sicilian hillside town where his poor protagonists come from and their brutal experiences during the Atlantic passage and stranded in Ellis Island. Gone are the familiar romanticized visions of Italy as well as clichés of the majestic Gotham skyline. Instead, Crialese creates a more original immigrant's story... One particular image - an overhead shot of the boat pulling away from the Sicilian shore, slowly separating the emigres from those left behind - is masterfully executed. And the final image - poetic, silly and darkly ironic - is a sharp-edged coda to a satisfying cinematic journey." — Anthony Kaufman, indieWIRE