This short American silent feature is a knockout. Made in 1915, it was lost for several decades. It is the story of an Italian immigrant and his wife who see in the United States a land of opportunity and happiness. Everything, instead, works against them. The film makes a very strong impression and has credible performances. The location shooting in the ghettos of the time give it a distinctly neo-realist feeling. It is said that Francis Ford Coppola watched it closely before shooting the Little Italy sequences of "The Godfather, Part II"
Review of The Italian
