Hollywood Italians: Dagos, Palookas, Romeos, Wise Guys, and Sopranos
Stereotypes have their uses. Just ask Bondanella, a professor of comparative literature and Italian at Indiana University, who has organized his study of Italian-Americans in film by examining conventional roles. Italians may be prominent as immigrants, boxers, lovers and gangsters, but Bondanella employs the categories to showcase the values associated with Italian culture, such as hard work and loyalty to family. He claims negative portrayals haven't prevented Italian-Americans from receiving full acceptance in American society, and he emphasizes their rejection of victim status to gain upward mobility. His critique covers a wide range, beginning with the classic 1915 taleThe Italian, which addresses immigration, toRockyandSaturday Night Fever, and ends withThe Sopranos, which he treats as film. In a few generations, Bondanella notes, Italians have gone from outsider to ordinary citizen. In fact,The Sopranosis his strongest argument for a multidimensional Italian-American portrayal, since its characters enjoy range: mob king to doctor, teacher to FBI agent. Not surprisingly, half the book examines the association of the Italian-American with the gangster milieu. Bondanella is intrigued by films that pair a criminal with an ethnic law-enforcement officer, the "bad-wop-and-good-wop theme," from 1909'sThe Detectives of the Italian Bureauthrough 1997'sDonnie Brasco. Predictably, much of Bondanella's attention focuses on theGodfathertrilogy and the variations in Martin Scorsese's films that deromanticized the Mafia. Throughout, Bondanella offers engaging plot lines, astute observations and compelling behind-the-scenes tidbits, which make for entertaining reading as both cultural and film history. Photos.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.