Don Jon hits cinemas this week, so JOE takes a look at some of our favourite Italian American movie characters throughout the years
Joseph Gordon Levitt’s directorial debut comes in the form of Don Jon, a film that sees him struggle to hold on to a relationship with the new lady in his life, Barbara (played by Scarlett Johansson) thanks to his addiction to online porn.
His character however plays with one of the most famous stereotypes in popular culture, the Italian American. From The Sopranos to Fat Tony in The Simpsons, we’ve seen plenty of incarnations and twists on this iconic figure, but on the silver screen has been home to some of the best versions. JOE casts our eye over some of our favourite characters, not to mention favourite movies, and has a look at a few of our favourite Italian Americans.
Michael Corleone
Perhaps one of, if not the greatest movie trilogy known to man, The Godfather is all about Italian members of the Mafia and their lives in America. Al Pacino got the Oscar nod twice for his portrayal of the mobster, who many believe is a tragic hero.
He certainly starts out as a paragon of virtue, when he joins the Marine Corps to fight in the war, and slowly but surely turns into his father, something which he never though would happen. One of the greatest scenes in the history of film features Michael Corleone, and we advise that you take the few minutes to simply sit and enjoy it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSQqv2UuvC0
If you haven’t seen any of The Godfather films yet, then what are you doing in work/online? Go home and watch them you fool!
Rocky
One particular JOE in the office (Adrian Collins) loves the Rocky movies, because people have great original jokes about shouting Aaaaadriaaaaaan at him. Funny stuff.
Anyway, the movies themselves are actually very good, in particular the first one which won three Oscars at the 1976 ceremony, including Best Director (John G. Avildsen) and Best Picture. The main character is the Italian Stallion himself Rocky Balboa, who gets a freak bit of luck when he is chosen to face Apollo Creed for the heavyweight title. He manages to go the distance with Creed despite no one ever having done it before, and if you were thinking about ditching that trip to the gym today, then crank the loudspeaker on this one, and try not to get motivated.
Don Jon
Although the quirk that Joseph Gordon-Levitt has given his character, Jon Martello, is his addiction to online pornography, which sees this film deal with some very modern issues, he also plays with the stereotype of the Italian American as seen in countless TV shows such as Jersey Shore.
He loves the gym, he loves his car, and he loves going out at night, but he has deep-seeded issues that go beyond the superficial image that he puts forward. His relationship with Barbara (Johansson) exposes the difficulty with these issues and how he sees women, not to mention how the world deals with it. This is a film with plenty of laughs from JGL in the lead, but there is a serious point here too about our own attitudes and culture.
Tony Manero
Before the Scientology and jumbo jets, John Travolta took on the role of the cuttin’ and struttin’ king of the dancefloor Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever. He’s a man who is totally frustrated with his life from Monday to Friday working in a job he sees as going nowhere, but come the weekend, he can dance his cares away. It also produced one of the most iconic opening sequences in cinema, set to the seemingly helium-induced high-pitched voices of The Bee Gees.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okpCx87orOA
Tony has a complicated family life, has to deal with racism in his neighbourhood and his only outlet is going to the club to express himself somehow. The movie takes a sideways turn with the ending with some upsetting scenes, butsimilarly to Don Jon, it raised plenty of issues about the subculture it was identifying at the time.
My Cousin Vinny
Joe Pesci is a man who we haven’t heard a lot from recently, but his portrayal of the brash New York lawyer who goes down south to get his cousin off a murder charge in My Cousin Vinny is as brilliant as it is zany. This flick also featured the lovely Marissa Tomei, and played with the idea that people see Italian Americans as only one type of person.
Vinny was loud and dressed inappropriately for the court, but he proved himself to be a brilliant questioner and up to the task of a murder trial, despite having pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes just to get the case in the first place. He wins the trial, gets his cousin off the charges and heads off in to the sunset with his lovely bride-to-be. We like Marissa Tomei, as much as we like Scarlett Johansson.
Don Jon hits cinemas around Ireland this Friday, the 15th of November
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