Hello friends,
last September I went to watch this movie (Nuovomondo) about the Mancuso family from Agrigento emigrating to USA and landing to Ellis Island.
The actors talk in sicilian and there are subtitles.
It is worth to watch it, I just figured out that a DVD can be bought on line.
Here there is a trailer

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubO7UXlTpaM

I hope it helps,
bye Riccardo

Thank you Riccardo. My friend from Belluno told me about two months ago that she was going to see this movie. I've tried to find it online, but all I've been able to locate is the movie "New World" which is very different. On what website did you find this one, and do you know if it is compatible with U.S. DVD players?

here there is where you can buy a dvd

www.internetbookshop.i...MONDO.html

I hope it helps, bye Riccardo

The American version of this movie is called "The Golden Door" I think it just premeire here last May.

I saw the promo for this film at Ellis Island

Thank you both. I will check it out.

Wonderful film, it opened the Cinema Italian Style film festival in Los Angeles last year.

I also watched this movies atleast five times and i must appreciate the director. Very nice movie

mier:

Netflix has The Golden Door as well as a number of Italian films some of which are available dubbed in English although my preference is to view the Italian language version with English subtitles.

I just checked Netflix and now one can watch that film directly online via one's computer if one is a member of Netflix. Watching online is free of charge to Netflix members. The film is also entitled Nuovomondo

I just watched the movie The Golden Door and I am still trying to decide how I feel about it. I know there were scenes in that movie that will stay with me forever. It was indeed memorable and parts of it were very moving. The ending was brilliant and I won't say anything more about it so as not to ruin it for others.

I was hoping, since I have been studying Italian with Rosetta Stone for about 6 months, that I would understand more of the dialog. I have to say I understood very, very little. Perhaps it was the Sicilian dialect that made it so difficult. I don't know.

I have alway heard that Sicily was one of the most beautiful places on Earth. It sure didn't look very beautiful in the movie. Can you imagine walking barefoot on those rocks? And I'm not sure how I feel about the sorceress. That snake scene was wild.

I wonder if Ellis Island had different rules as the years went on. In the movie, a single woman couldn't enter America unless she was "claimed" at Ellis Island by her fiance. I don't think this was the case with my grandmother or her sisters. They came in 1903 and altough they did marry soon after their arrival I don't know that they were "claimed" at Ellis Island. I certainly never heard that they were.

This was the 5th movie that I have enjoyed with subtitles. My favorite of all time was Ciao Professore. I absolutely loved the Tree of Wooden Clogs. Cinema Paradisio was also very memorable. And I will never ever forget the disturbing Miracle at St. Anna

Donna I was just re reading your post and I noticed the reference to Ellis Island and single woman. From my understanding, if the officials at Ellis considered you a LPC (Likely Public Charge) then they would not allow you into America unless claimed by a husband, father, son, etc. That's one of the reason's for being detained - otherwise they would ship you back where you came from. So if they felt an unmarried woman could not support herself and become a dependent on the country then no, they would not be allowed in. I haven't seen the movie so I can't comment on the exact meaning though.

But while we're on the subject of movies, Ellis Island and such - ever notice the part in the Godfather 2 when Vito Adolini arrives at Ellis and they ask him his name? The official looks at his tag that says what town and country he's from and says "Corleone, Vito Corleone". Adds to the myth that names were changed at Ellis -although in Vito's case, who knows if they even gave a surname for him upon boarding - and why did they not send him back home? He was only 9 right so wouldn't he have been considered a LPC?

That's a great question about the Godfather. I need to watch it again. It has been years.

Maybe the woman in the Golden Door needed "claimed" because she had no other family in the US. I definitely need to learn more about the Ellis Island experience. It's on my long, long list of stuff I need to know about.

Maybe this page will help you - I loved going through it and I still refer to it often.

www.jewishgen.org/info...Manifests/