America America Page #3

Synopsis: Elia Kazan, ethnic Greek but Turkish by birth, tells the story of the struggles of his uncle - in this account named Stavros Topouzoglou - in emigrating to America. In the 1890's, the young, kind-hearted but naive Stavros lived in Anatolia, where the Greek and Armenian minorities were repressed by the majority Turks, this repression which often led to violence. Even Stavros being friends with an Armenian was frowned upon. As such, Stavros dreamed of a better life - specifically in America - where, as a result, he could make his parents proud by his grand accomplishments. Instead, his parents, with most of their money, sent Stavros to Constantinople to help fund the carpet shop owned by his first cousin once removed. What Stavros encountered on his journey, made on foot with a small donkey, made him question life in Anatolia even further. Once in Constantinople, his resolve to earn the 110 Turkish pound third class fare to the United States became stronger than ever. But try after try,
Genre: Drama
Director(s): Elia Kazan
Production: Warner Home Video
  Won 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 11 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.8
Rotten Tomatoes:
71%
NOT RATED
Year:
1963
174 min
60 Views


not going to be like your father.

Already you've got his smile.

What are you going to do?

All the men in our family lie.

The Turks spit in their face

and they say it's raining.

Be honest.

Tell me what you came for.

Don't lie again. Your grandfather

told me what you wanted.

What did he tell you I wanted?

Money. True?

True.

Why should I give you money?

What do you need it for?

You're an old woman.

Get out, you're just like

your father! Get out!

Don't do that.

Listen to me. You're my last hope,

do you know that?

You're going to listen to me.

I'm going away.

Good.

Far away.

The farther, the better.

To America,

I'm going to America.

Give me enough

to get to Constantinople.

There, I'll work and make the rest.

Hear me. You're my last hope.

Put me down.

Long ago...

you used to say to me

when I come of age...

you had something to give me.

I remember you as a little baby...

soft and round and made of butter.

And I remember you in a little blue

dress that your mother made you.

A little saint,

with a blessed, pale face.

And your eyes,

shining with God's own light.

My boy.

I thought, if only the whole world

were like that.

Here, take it.

It was your grandfather's.

I don't need this,

I need money.

You need this more,

take it.

It will remind you that no sheep

ever saved its neck by bleating.

I'll take it and put it

in the first soldier I meet.

Stavros! I'm an old woman,

you can't frighten me.

Where's your money?

I need money.

It is here, under my clothing.

You're not going to America,

you're your father's son.

Go home, be what you are.

Anything, anything...

help me.

Anything? Anything...

I'll remember you,

in America, I'll pray for you.

You?

You're going to America?

With the help of Jesus.

On foot?

However.

With nothing?

Each day, part of the distance.

How will you get there with those?

Take these.

Where do you come from?

Far away.

See those clouds? Behind

those clouds there are mountains.

The mountains of Armenia.

I shall never see them again.

I'll remember you.

Isaac!

Isaac, the family is eating.

Isaac, I've brought you some food.

I want you to eat something.

He did this once before,

stayed in there for nine days.

Isaac.

Isaac.

You're forgetting who you are.

If I want food, I'll call you.

I don't want to see you,

I want to see my son.

Stavros.

Stavros.

Where are your shoes?

What did you do with your shoes?

I've been waiting for you.

What? Where?

Where have you been?

Vasso, leave.

Yes, Isaac.

Remember,

you're talking to your father.

Come here, boy.

Sit close to me.

You look changed.

When I don't see you for a day,

you look changed.

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Elia Kazan

Elia Kazan (; born Elias Kazantzoglou; September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was a Greek-American director, producer, writer and actor, described by The New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history".He was born in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), to Cappadocian Greek parents. After attending Williams College and then the Yale School of Drama, he acted professionally for eight years, later joining the Group Theatre in 1932, and co-founded the Actors Studio in 1947. With Robert Lewis and Cheryl Crawford, his actors' studio introduced "Method Acting" under the direction of Lee Strasberg. Kazan acted in a few films, including City for Conquest (1940).Noted for drawing out the best dramatic performances from his actors, he directed 21 actors to Oscar nominations, resulting in nine wins. He directed a string of successful films, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), On the Waterfront (1954), and East of Eden (1955). During his career, he won two Oscars as Best Director, three Tony Awards, and four Golden Globes. He also received an Honorary Oscar. His films were concerned with personal or social issues of special concern to him. Kazan writes, "I don't move unless I have some empathy with the basic theme." His first such "issue" film was Gentleman's Agreement (1947), with Gregory Peck, which dealt with anti-Semitism in America. It received 8 Oscar nominations and 3 wins, including Kazan's first for Best Director. It was followed by Pinky, one of the first films in mainstream Hollywood to address racial prejudice against black people. In 1954, he directed On the Waterfront, a film about union corruption on the New York harbor waterfront. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), an adaptation of the stage play which he had also directed, received 12 Oscar nominations, winning 4, and was Marlon Brando's breakthrough role. In 1955, he directed John Steinbeck's East of Eden, which introduced James Dean to movie audiences. A turning point in Kazan's career came with his testimony as a witness before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1952 at the time of the Hollywood blacklist, which brought him strong negative reactions from many liberal friends and colleagues. His testimony helped end the careers of former acting colleagues Morris Carnovsky and Art Smith, along with ending the work of playwright Clifford Odets. Kazan later justified his act by saying he took "only the more tolerable of two alternatives that were either way painful and wrong." Nearly a half-century later, his anti-Communist testimony continued to cause controversy. When Kazan was awarded an honorary Oscar in 1999, dozens of actors chose not to applaud as 250 demonstrators picketed the event.Kazan influenced the films of the 1950s and '60s with his provocative, issue-driven subjects. Director Stanley Kubrick called him, "without question, the best director we have in America, [and] capable of performing miracles with the actors he uses." Film author Ian Freer concludes that even "if his achievements are tainted by political controversy, the debt Hollywood—and actors everywhere—owes him is enormous." In 2010, Martin Scorsese co-directed the documentary film A Letter to Elia as a personal tribute to Kazan. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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