Matt Connarton Unleashed: Erich Pilcher reviews A Bronx Tale (1993)

Alright, you got to know nice and time two. This is the Fordham

section of the Bronx. My home a world into itself. You could get

Tenny Bong fifteen minutes from here, but they might as well be three thousand

miles away. That's Mount Carmel Church and the sound of the bells would fill

the neighborhood on the street to the where. It was nineteen sixty and Duop

was a sound on the streets. It felt like there was a duop group

on every corner back then. What a time it was. The New York

Yankees were playing the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series and Mickey Mantle was like

a god to me. My dad would take me to Yankee Stadium and we

would watch the Yankees win. That's the shape Bipy. That's where all the

guys hung out. But I'll tell you about them later. That's my building.

I lived right there on the third floor six six seventies a hundred and

eighty seventh Street. There's my stoop and I war summer nights through the neighborhood

you would hear sounds of young Italian men ro man sing their women. I'm

right getting a car, no getting a car. Let me alone. Come,

mom, baby, you know I love it. Were you getting a

car? And right there, right there under that lamp post, Dan stood

the man, the number one man in the neighborhood, Sonny. Everybody loves

Sonny, and they treated him like a god. And in my neighborhood he

was a god. And I would sit on my stoop and watch him all

day and all night. But he would never even look at me, never

until one day. If one were to think of the countless movies that have

taken place in the Bronx, there would be many great films that come to

mind. However, this week's film, sadly is often forgotten in the upper

tier of films about the great city, despite having the known area in its

title, and even though it can be overlooked, it has carved itself a

nice little legacy even over thirty years after its initial release. This week's film

is the directorial debut of screen legend and my personal favorite actor of all time,

Robert de Niro. Adapted from the autobiographical One Man's Stage Play starring in

written by Chas Paul Monterry, a Bronx Tale, released in nineteen ninety three,

presents us the story of Claire Duo, a young man that, over

the period of ten years, finds himself torn between a life in organized crime

when he is befrinded by local mob boss Sonny played by Paul Mon Terry in

his honest, hard working bus driver father Lorenzo played by De Niro. Our

next clip will tell us how this film came to be. Two years ago,

De Niro, Paul me and Terry Tommy Mottola were on The Today Show

before the premiere of the Broadway musical adaptation of this film. Paul Menary and

De Niro speak on what led to the film being made and the uniqueness of

the deal broker between the two to get it made the right way. Check

out this crew Oscar nominee Chas Pulmonary, Oscar winner Robert De Niro, Tony

winner Jerry Zax and legendary music mogul Tommy Mattola. They all share a love

for the Bronx tail. It says a one man show. Staring was a

one man show starring Chaz Palm and Tary back in the eighties. Robert made

his directorial debut and appeared in the nineteen ninety three movie version. Now,

nearly twenty five years later, they've turned a Bronx Tail into a Broadway musical.

Chaz wrote the book. Robert and Jerry codirect Tommy is lead producer.

Wow, guys, good morning, Nice to see you take this the right

way. This is like a murderer's row producing and directing talent here. This

is your story. Yeah right. I saw him at a basketball game not

long ago. We walked up talk to each other. When we brought this

show up. You got a smile on your face like I have never seen

before. Why does it mean so much to you? Well, you know

it was my life story, you know, growing up in the Bronx.

You know, I witnessed this murder when I was a kid. My father,

Lorenzo, was a bus driver. He played saxophone, you know,

and he always wanted to play, you know, be a saxophone player.

Which I didn't bring it up in the movie The Other One Man Show,

but I was able to do it in this new Bob saw me do it

in the twenty five almost twenty eight years ago, and he said this should

be a movie, and Bob made it happen as a movie. The way

the story goes you're told, after one night doing that one man show that

he's in the house and in your dressing room and wants to talk to you.

Yes, what do you remember about that meeting? No, I had

been hearing about the show and so on, and I said, I want

to go see it. And that's how it then one. I mean,

it had been running for a while, a couple of months or so.

I went and so chazed, he said, we'll talk blah blah blah.

Next thing you know, you say, he changed your life. And I

want to mention there were other offers you had gotten to buy the story.

Why was his offer the right offer at that time? Well, because what

Bob said was well, first of all, Bob was the one who said,

you should play Sonny and you'll write the screenplay because it'll be honest.

He was the one who gave me that opportunity. Everybody else wanted it,

but they didn't want me. They wanted to put a star in the role.

But Bob let that happen and he let me write the screenplay. And

really, I mean, and he looked at me and said, if you

do it with me, I'll make it right. I'll never forget those words.

And he said, shake my hand, and that's the way it'll be.

That was the deal right there. Oftentimes in gangster films there is this

poll of good versus evil. Many times our primary character falls into the pitfalls

of a life in organized crime. However, in this film, Sonny doesn't

want this life for Claire Duro. In a way, Lorenzo and Sonny want

the same thing for the young man, but they cannot see it through their

different standings in the community. Our next two clips are examples of this.

First, when Lorenzo finds out his young son has earned over six hundred dollars

working at Sonny's bar and shooting craps, he angrily confronts the mobster. Then,

in the second clip, Sonny schools the teenage Colaire Dureau or See as

he is known as, on life and hearkening back to the ending of our

previous clip, Sonny answers if it is better to be loved or feared Sonny

around. Yeah, I think he's in the back. We can't accept that

I didn't give you. I give you your son. He worked, that's

right, my son, and I don't want my son involved in what goes

on here. What what are you talking about phase. I'm not a stupid

man. Okay, Please, I'm not stupid. You know what I'm talking

about. Just stay away from my son. Okay, hey, you stay

right over here. See, why don't you go outside? I want to

to your father. I'll speak to my own son. Go out your wait

outside. First of all, I respectul the rent. So you're a stand

up guy from the same neighborhood. But don't ever talk to me like that

again. I tell your son to go to school, to go to Carl.

Understand, it's not what you say. It's what he sees. It's

the clothes, it's the cars, it's the money, it's everything. He

tried to throw away his baseball cards the other day because he said Mickey Mann

will never pay my rent. He said that that's not funny. Not funny

when your nine year old kid has a bigger bank account than you do.

I offered you a job, but you said a note to me. That's

right, and I say no. Now, just leave my son alone.

Please. Hey, don't you see how I treat that kid. I treat

that kid like he's my son. Yeah, your son, he's my son,

he's what he's my son. I'm not afraid of you. You should.

I know you are Sonny. I know what you're capable of, and

I would never step out of the line. You can ask anybody in this

neighbor who knows me. But this time you're wrong. You don't fool the

man's family. This is my son, not yours. What are you gonna

do? You stay away from myself? Here? Before I give you a

flock, you'll just stay away from my what? How could you do that?

Yet? He was my money. That's bad money. I don't want

you to have that money, I said, I want you to stay away

from him. I said, you stay away from him. Did you hear

what I said? You stay away from him? Said? He was right

the Woo community. He's a sucker. Yet he's a sucker. He's wrong.

It don't take much strength to pull a trigger. But try and get

up every morning, day after day and work for a living. And let's

see him try that. Then, well, she was the real tough guy.

The working man is the tough guy. Your father is the tough guy.

But everybody loves him. Do you think everybody loves you? In the

bus to say thing, No, it's not the same. People don't love

him, They fear him. There's the difference. And now Sonny imparts a

lesson on Claire dream Sku Dumpsolvia. You know hees me twenty It's been two

weeks now, and every time he sees me keeps dodging me. He's becoming

a real pain in the ash. I mean, should I crack him on

a one? Somebody? What about it? Telling me sometimes hurting somebody in

the answer? First of all, is he a good friend of yours?

Yeah? I don't even like him. You don't even like him? Does

your answer right? Then look at it this way. Of course, you're

twenty dollars to get rid of him. Right, He's never gonna bother you

again. He's never gonna ask you for money again. He's out of your

life. For twenty dollars, you gotta have cheap forget it. You're always

right, You're always right. Yeah, I'm always right. If I was

always right? And when he done ten years in the giant, what did

you do every day? There's only three things you can do when the joint

kidden, lift weights, play cards, and get into trouble. What did

you do me? I read it? What did you read over here?

Machiavelli. Who Machiavella. It's a famous writer from five hundred years ago.

Availability. That's what he always said. Availability. That's right. Listen to

me. I could live anywhere I want to. You know why I live

in this neighborhood. Availability. I wanna stay close to everything cause being on

the spot, I can see trouble immediately. Trouble is like a cancer.

You gotta get it early. If you don't get it early, it gets

too big, then it kills you. That's why I gotta cut it out.

As come on. You worried about Louie Thoms, nobody cares. Nobody

cares. Worry about yourself, your family, the people that are important to

you. That's what it comes down to. Availability. The people in this

neighbor that see me every day, that are on my side, they feel

safe because they know I'm close and that gives them more reason to love me.

But the people that want to do otherwise, they think twice because they

know I'm close and that gives them more reason to fear me. Is it

better to be loved or feed It's a good question. It's nice to be

but it's very difficult. But if I had my choice. I would rather

be feared, fear less longer than love. Friendships that are bought. Would

money mean nothing? You see what is around here? I make a joke.

Everybody laughs. I know I'm funny, but I'm not that funny.

It's fear that keeps them loyal to me. But the trick is not to

be hated. That's why I treat my men good, but not too good.

I give them too much, then they don't need me. I give

them just enough where they need me, but they don't hate me. I'll

forget what I'm telling you. This film builds up to one of the most

heartbreaking climaxes one can see in a quote unquote gangster film. Sonny is murdered

by the man that Colaire Dureau as a young man witnessed him murder. Sees

unwillingness to identify Sonny as the shooter, starts the friendship slash mentorship between the

two. In our final brief clip, Lorenzo and c finally put their differences

aside, and Lorenzo admits to Sonny, laying in his open casket, why

he disliked the mentorship that Sonny gave to his son. Dude, what are

you doing here. I came to pay my respects to your friend. Are

you okay? Yeah? And I'm sorry if I've heard him anyway, It's

okay. Everything's gonna be okay, Sonny. I want to thank you for

saving my kid's life. I never hated you. I guess it's that I

was just mad at you because you made him grow up so fast. Make

God have mercy on your soul. The way over here, Sonny, did

you hear that my father didn't hate you? Nobody cares. You were wrong

about that one. What is the talent she around? Sonny? Let's go

home and see Some of you may be asking, wondering, or even be

upset that I spoiled the ending of this film. I feel comfortable doing so

because knowing the ending doesn't diminish this film's impact or how great it is.

That's because this film transcends its ending the powerhouse performances from pulmonarian de Niro,

the accurately depicted and at times uncomfortable showing of racial tensions in the Bronx,

and a story that we all can relate to, the mentor that made us

into who we are is what this film is truly about. I dare any

of you to watch this film and state that knowing the ending made this film

any less enjoyable, because I believe this film is much better and greater than

a simple ending. I hope you join me when we will look at the

crowning achievement of director Ridley Scott's career and our first sand in Sandals Roman epic

film covered on Classic Film Reviews. The film is the two thousand release Gladiator

for W. M. N H and Matt Connorton. Unleashed. This has

been a classic film review with Eric Pilcher on the street of the rocks,

well on a f standing on the corner, seeing goodle homy uh all the

maco lo the creach some please good job. Oh but time you w want

want to set I'll dump up and down about see my brady shiny col want

the streets is where I want a beef. That's where I wanna be,

all shaping in harmon on the streets where among a fields, where of coin

of bothering Parmaskita bruns, Where one of me on the corner the mindty seven

streets of the way are the medico long discovered me standing on the corner scene

good Homon. On the streets of the Pass is where I wanna be.

Where one be