FILM IS ABOUT TO START...

September 4, 2007 2:15 PM

In 1974, Martin Scorsese interviewed his parents on film, prompting them to discuss their life together as well as their Sicilian ancestry. The resultant documentary was entitled Italianamerican. Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. [Inspired by...]
posted by Neilopolis (16 comments total)

That's pretty awesome that your FPP inspired Scorcese, growabrain.
posted by Poolio at 2:22 PM on September 4, 2007

This is a terrific film, actually -- from back when Scorsese had a heart to go with his eyes and ears.
posted by GrammarMoses at 3:12 PM on September 4, 2007

great doc, thanks for the post. I have been waiting for this to come out on dvd forever. DeNiro is in the room with Scorsese too, just off camera.
posted by vronsky at 3:17 PM on September 4, 2007

Not as concise as the famous Mexican-American, but perhaps a bit kinder. Good stuff.
posted by darksasami at 3:46 PM on September 4, 2007

This is particularly amusing to me as a former film student. At York University in Toronto (at least in the early-mid 90s) I'd guess that at least four or five students every year made such films about their immigrant parents - these were usually very heartfelt and sincere, but after the first half dozen or so, it seemed as great a cliche as shooting B&W in the woods somewhere, or having lots of close-up dialogue with cigarettes being waved around.

I always assumed that the Bertolucci's 1900 or Levinson's Avalon were the first such films made by popular diectors. Didn't know about Scorcese's before, so thanks a lot.
posted by stinkycheese at 4:05 PM on September 4, 2007

Of course 1900 and Avalon were not documentaries, but the subject matter was family history. Roots would be a good early one too.
posted by stinkycheese at 4:10 PM on September 4, 2007

also be sure to watch the credits where he includes the recipe for his mother's "sauce". (at about the 9 minute mark in link number 5.)
posted by vronsky at 6:59 PM on September 4, 2007

At York University in Toronto (at least in the early-mid 90s)

What year did you graduate?
posted by dobbs at 8:07 PM on September 4, 2007

dobbs: I dropped out in 1996, a year shy of graduating.

I only took a year of production, but I took every film theory course offered there over 3-4 years (except for my final thesis). After that, I had to watch car chase and prison escape movies for a year or two just to start enjoying film again.
posted by stinkycheese at 8:23 PM on September 4, 2007

NYU film... reprezent!
posted by vronsky at 9:11 PM on September 4, 2007

But forgetting film school rivalries for a moment, it has been my experience that dobbs knows more about cinema than pretty much any other mefite.
posted by vronsky at 11:06 PM on September 4, 2007

At this point I feel it is obligatory for me to wave the flag for the film school at Paris III. Just in case, you know?

In the very unlikely event.
posted by Wolof at 12:58 AM on September 5, 2007

I'm going to have to try out that recipe sometime.
posted by Neilopolis at 5:46 AM on September 5, 2007

YouTube also has Scorsese's American Boy, from 1978 - a much darker period of his life. So many of these stories have made it into other films - it's great to see the source.
posted by mike_bling at 6:27 AM on September 5, 2007

I used to see Catherine Scorsese walk her dog around the Gramercy Park area all the time in the early 90's. She seemed like a sweet and approachable person. I wonder if anyone has tried her sauce recipe?
posted by cazoo at 7:29 AM on September 5, 2007

Haven't watched this yet, but it sounds great, because I love her in all the films she was in. On the commentary for Godfather Part III (I know, don't derail) Coppola sounded genuinely touched when her scene came up in the film.
posted by evilcolonel at 12:39 PM on September 5, 2007