A Bronx Tale

It is rather curious that the film's two lead actors are responsible for the direction and the script respectively. DeNiro directed A Bronx Tale from Chazz Palminteri's script, which is moreover based on his own play. Both gentlemen have central roles in the film, namely as role models for the actual protagonist, the boy Calogero, whose development the film follows in the Italian-dominated Bronx of the 1950s and 60s.

When Calogero one day witnesses a shooting in which the mafia boss Sonny guns down another man, Sonny's piercing gaze speaks volumes, and Calogero understands that he must keep his mouth shut. By way of thanks, Sonny offers Calogero's father, the honest, hard-working bus driver Lorenzo, a far better-paid job, but Lorenzo declines. He will not be in the mafia's pay. On the other hand, he finds it hard to explain to his son that he must not associate with the mafia. Like all little boys, Calogero is tremendously fascinated by Sonny and his henchmen. When Sonny cannot get his way with Lorenzo, he takes Calogero under his wing instead. Through his childhood and youth Calogero learns that both his father's and Sonny's advice are not so bad after all. Sonny turns out to be a somewhat more multifaceted and perceptive person than Lorenzo, and indeed the audience, could have imagined.

Lillo Brancato is too dull and loutish as the teenage Calogero. A more winning personality would have made it easier to identify with Calogero. Palminteri and De Niro, on the other hand, unsurprisingly have the gravitas the roles demand.

A Bronx Tale is not really a gangster film, even though much of it is set in the gangster milieu. It is rather a coming-of-age story about a boy and the two father figures who become decisive for his future. The film is no action blast, but a quiet portrayal that gets close to its characters and setting.