COMMENT
Choose a photo you would put on the cover of Son and one for a poster of The Italian.
Describe each one so that we can recognize them clearly (this takes good skills, it's not an easy exercise) and explain the reasons of your choice.
REPLY
Choose a comment that present the best argument for the choices and explain why you think it is very effective at making its own point.
The way They Lived
The picture I'd choose for Son of Italy is the picture at 1:19, where the men are all laying down on the floor next to the oven. There's a pile of firewood in the corner. They’re uncomfortable, one man even has another’s feet against his head. The man rests his hand on the bottoms of the feet to, presumably, keep them from kicking him in his sleep. A man to the far right is using two fragile-looking wooden chairs as his place of rest, his feet propped up on one while the other half of his body is out of frame. I chose this picture because many of the descriptive scenes that I remember from the book were the different sleeping arrangements that Pascal had endured his entire life. He always slept somewhere run-down and uncomfortable, either on hard wooden boards and hay, or in a bed with more people than could fit.
ReplyDeleteFor The Italian, a good picture for a poster would be the one at :49 where a woman stands in a large lot holding her child while three men sit nearby in a line. They’re all in front of poorly built wooden shacks that look to be made of cheap wood and cardboard. They’re behind a brick building, and a clothes line runs down from a window in the building down towards the shacks that are barely taller than the standing woman. The three men sit on a low to the ground bench, each wearing a hat of a similar shape. They’re nearly indistinguishable from each other. I think this picture could symbolize the idea that Beppo had the intention of giving Annette a wonderful life, but in the end they were unhappy. Annette was left alone for god only knows how long while Beppo was in jail, unsure whether he was dead, jailed or if he just abandoned her and their dying child. She was left to handle the burden of losing a child without her love who had promised to give her a better life. To me the picture symbolizes the difference between what they imagined their lives in America would be, and what they actually got when they came.
I like your interpretation of the 1:19 image (we picked the same one for Son Of Italy). I thought you give a very general and good perspective of this image as Pascal's different living conditions in the book. I was more focus on one part of the book (where he worked without his gang in New Jersey) while you applied his life and condition in America.
DeleteWe picked different images but shared almost the same idea of how we want the poster to look like. I, too, want to showcase Annette's internal struggles as she and her dying son waits for Beppo. I think it is one of the most impactful struggles in the movie.
A cover photo for the Italian would be at 2:47 in the song, there is a woman looks as if she is washing clothes and there is a baby in the cradle looks like he/she is crying. The place that they are staying looks very disorganized and the woman is washing her clothes while the baby is crying, there is also another kid by the the window that seems uneasy. Their floor is dirty, the window has no proper curtains and the kids have dirty clothes. The reason why I chose this as the cover photo for The Italian is because it reminds me very vividly about Annett's baby that had died because the baby couldn't get the pasteurized milk in time.
ReplyDeleteA cover photo for the Son of Italy would be at 0:39 the photo illustrates a very old building with broken woods and looks very unsafe. This building is no proper place for anyone to stay in and yet the Italians had to stay in it. The reason why I chose this photo is because Pascal had big dreams about coming to America so this building can actually foreshadow what America will be like. Pascal story is a little different becaused he didn't give up he kept on going and I find that really motivational because it was no little disaster what it was like during the time Italians came to America.
I think that you make a good argument because the fact that you mention it being a foreshadow (about the apartment) which is a very accurate depiction of what I read about Pascal. I also agree and liked how you noticed the hope he had, which he never let go of. It also not only motivated me but inspired me too. It was very sad to read what he went through but the fact he held onto the possibility of success and how he achieved it at the end made it worth reading. It bought a closure I was hoping for. I also agree with the image you selected for the Italian. The child's death carried a very significant emotional impact within the film. It was the turning point of the movie in my opinion. Overall I think it was two great choices that did make a good correlation between each other.
DeleteIf I had to choose a cover photo for Son of Italy I would select the image at 3:57, which shows a group of women and children outside a fire escape. What stood out to me was that in the photo there appears to be a american flag present. Its interesting to me that there were so many sad imagery, within the entire video, of people and children who seemed tired and unhappy. Out of all the sad collections of pictures the fact I noticed the american flag symbolizes a sort of hope because the fact it is suppose to stand for opportunity. Although, its not a very appealing photo that would be pleasing to the eye, it would indicate of not only the mental but of a physical struggle he had to endure. I see the flag a symbol of the opportunity he achieved at the end of the book.
ReplyDeleteFinding a poster for Son of Italy was challenging for me to find but if I had to choose it would be at 0:25 of the video, which shows a group of immigrants who were arriving to this country. One person who stood out was the lady in the middle of the photo who reminded me of the wife. The lady's head is tilted down and her eyes seem closed. I could see this as a sign of her being isolated and fragile. It makes me want to know more about her. I wounder about what motivated her to take a risk to leave her homeland. I also wonder if she will find a place to stay but not only that will she find happiness. In the movie the wife, Annette looked scared as well. She did not have her husband with her. Overall, I feel that she is an important character within the movie because she was so important to Donnetti.
I think you made a good point about the "The Way They Lived" video particularly this part: "Out of all the sad collections of pictures the fact I noticed the american flag symbolizes a sort of hope because the fact it is suppose to stand for opportunity." It comments on the contrast between American optimism and the American reality which was central to the experience of a lot of immigrants in America.
DeleteI also think you made a good point about "The Italian" since almost every work we've encountered so far that focuses on the immigrant experience has this theme of social isolation and fear. The songs, "The Italian", "Son of Italy", etc. all have this theme to varying extents and that is what ties them together.
The picture I would pick for Son of Italy is in clip 4:40, where the children was sleeping on the fire escape to fight the summer heat. The clip shows the children very close on each other, both boys and girls slept together. Girls had dress on, while some of the boys had on shirt and shorts,while the rest had no shirt on just shorts. They were also sleeping upside down in different position and on top of each other. I chose this picture for Son of Italy because in the first part of the book Pascal had the same sleeping condition with his parents and brother. He had to share a very small bed and very often he would fell off, which causes bruises and swollen spots to his head. Pascal lived in a very uncomfortable condition. But his perseverance and hope that one day his parents would make their condition better, made him become motivated.
ReplyDeleteFor the Italian poster, I chose 3:27 where the family had a home sweatshop and everyone even the little girl had to work, as they sit around a table with small pieces of white cotton preparing to make different supplies. I chose the clip as a poster for the Italians because it depicts the same working condition when they came to America. They had to do different types of small jobs, in order to survive and support their family. This also represent the struggle Beppo had when he came to America and looking for a job, eventually he got one as a shoe shiner.
I choose the picture at 1:12. It's a picture of six men cramped in the corner of a filthy apartment all staring tiredly at the camera taking the picture. They're sharing blankets and it seems like they hardly have any room to maneuver. None of this looks even remotely comfortable for them. Also all the things these men own could be that single picture which speaks to their impoverishment.
ReplyDeleteI chose this picture because I think it best captures the terrible conditions of the tenements that Pascal D'Angelo lived in while he was in New York.
For "The Italian" I choose the shot at 50:03 which features an intense close-up of Peppo looking intently at the camera after he spots the people who robbed him earlier in the film. He slowly gets closer and closer to the camera and its easy to see his inner emotions by reading the expressions of his face and his eyes. This shot should be the movie's poster since the movie is all about Peppo's struggles in America and what better way to capture that then to have a close-up shot of an anguished Peppo?
For Son of Italy, the photo at 1:30 would be appropriate for the cover of the book. The picture shows several men sitting in a small crowded room posing for the photo. The room is likely where all of them lived and slept together as you see several beds and their clothes hanging around the room. This fits the cover quite well as it represents a large section Pascal’s life in America. When he first arrived to America, he was grouped together with a group of Italians who became his family away from home as they always stuck together whether they had found a job or not. This picture shows an important aspect of Pascal’s early life in the new country as he experienced what America had to offer with his new family which shaped his idea on America.
ReplyDeleteFor The Italian, the photo at 0:25 would fit well as the poster for the film. The picture depicts men and women laying on the crowded ship deck with their few belongings awaiting their arrival to America. The main aspect of the picture is the facial expression of the people on the ship, as they are all look tired and dismayed. This matches Beppo’s expression and emotional conflict in The Italian upon his arrival in America; he should be excited for coming to America like everyone else behind him as it gives him the chance to make money and marry the woman he loves. Yet his outward emotion is distressed because he misses her and had to leave everything he knows behind and come into a foreign land he’s not used to.
for son of Italy i would use the photo at 1:39 as the cover photo for son of italy. the photo clearly shows a h hard working man surrounded by his possesions. his look was of loneliness and destitution. he had his work boots on the wall alongside what looks to be possibly a picture of his family or maybe i picture of italy. his eyes painted a picture of longing for what may have been or may be.
ReplyDeletefor the Italian the photo at 2:07 would make a fitting poster. the picture shows what is apparently a downtrodden women holding her baby. she looked as if she was waiting for someone, possibly her husband. the picture made me think of what beppo wanted and also what he lost.
For an alternative Son of Italy book cover I would choose the picture at 1:19. In this picture there are men sleeping around the oven wherever they could fit. Some are lying on tables or chairs while others are sleeping on the floor with only news papers underneath them. Throughout the book Pascal speaks many times about the horrible sleeping conditions that he had suffered though in his time in America. This picture reminded me of when Pascal and his gang traveled to West Virginia to work. They had lost their bags and had to trudge through the snow to the shanty with only the clothes on their backs. When Pascal describes the shanty he says there was a stove and only pine board shelves to sleep on. That whole situation has some similarities to the picture. They only had one set of clothing to sleep in, boards of wood with a little straw on top of it to sleep on and oven I the shanty which is not unlike what is shown in this picture
ReplyDeleteThe picture I would pick for a poster for The Italian would be the picture at 2:07. In this picture there is a mother holding her child wrapped in a thick blanket in what looks like a washroom. This is the only picture that stuck out for me as a choice for The Italian. I feel like this is the only one that relates to the movie. It reminds me of Annette holding her child when he was sick. The child appears to be wrapped in a thick blanket, which could be because he is sick and needs to be warmed up. The turning point of the movie was after the death of Beppo’s child and I feel this picture captures that. The woman looks skinny like she does not eat, which could imply that feeding the baby would be tough for her to do. The room is dirty and is a mess. All these conditions are bad for raising a child, and are more likely to end in the child catching sickness, like Beppo’s child.
The alternative cover I pick for Son Of Italy is the image at 1:23 in the video "The Way They Lived". It is an image of men resting. Some laid on the floor with only a thin sheet of cloth, old newspapers or a hard plywood separating them from the dirty floor and some were on hard tables or chairs arranged enough for legs to stretch. There was a single pot belly stove in the center of the photo. Pieces of wood were stacked in one corner and on the other was a wooden wardrobe with a sink attached to it close to the only window visible in the image. I picked this image because it reminded me of the part in the book when D'angelo sought work in New Jersey by himself. There is a sense of exhaustion from hard labor and loneliness in this photo just like D'angelo's days in New Jersey. Even though there are many men in the photo, there is a feeling of disconnect from each other. This is what Son Of Italy was to me, hard work and solitude.
ReplyDeleteFor the movie "The Italian", a good poster image would be the one at 2:07 in the video "The Way We Lived". It is an image of a woman cradling an infant. She has this tired and forlorn look as she stares into the distance. She is sitting on what seems to be a storage corner. Next to her was a ladder and behind her were filled sacks piled on top of barrels. There were also pails left on the floor and on a platform. The floor and the walls are dusty and grimy. I pick this image because it reminds me of Annette and their son, Tony. I can see it as Annette waiting for Beppo to return because his son needs him. It's a powerful picture of a mother and child waiting for something that they need. It could be the pasteurize milk but it could also be just Beppo so that Beppo present in his son's last moments.
The Picture I would choose for Son, would be at 1:11 into the video. This picture is of a large number of men all sleeping in one room, as was depicted in the book. When they first were living in New York and for the most part struggling to find work all, of "the gang" stayed together and were living in very cramped quarters. Not only were they all sleeping in one room, but everything they owned also had to be brought with them, we see in the picture things hanging from the ceiling and pots and pans strewn about. The picture to me describes a sense of togetherness, that is something I got from the entire book Son of Italy.
ReplyDeleteFrom the movie "The Italian" a good poster would be the image at 3:40, from " the way we lived." To me the movie seemed to have a lot of street scenes, from the beginning where he is asking a woman for directions, to when he is working as a shoe-shine, just to name a few. This picture depicts a small street or alleyway and to me it fits the theme of the Italian. The picture to me also depicts the disorder and chaos of the streets, and how dangerous it could be (as Beppo saw in the movie when he was robbed).
The clips I picked for the Son of Italy are the images 1:24/4:46 in the video “The way they lived”. The images show how Italian men living in America in slums. They were living in unspeakable conditions. They slept on the ground with only a thin sheet. Even though the rooms was really dirty and looked like where they should only keep things that they don’t really need, they still slept in there. There is someone that’s using someone else’s feet as a pillow to rest their head. Some slept on tables, while other ones slept on chairs. There’s a pill of woods in the room, a stove in the center and chairs. The room looks more like a basement. I picked this picture because it connects to D’Angelo, even though they are so many people in the same room and they each were dealing with they own problems. They looked like they don’t talk much to each other and to discuss their issues; they just keep everything in the heart and look forward to the next day. To me in the Son of Italy the men work hard and deal with their problem on their own.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie “The Italian” the clips that match it from “The way they lived” is 3:25. In the image the part that interests me was seeing the family sitting around the table working together. From the young ones to the older ones everyone was with small piece of cotton making something. This clip related to the struggle Peppino went through when he came to America. When Peppino came to America he worked really hard to survive; even if it was had to work small jobs (such as shoes shiner, and giving newspapers out) that didn’t pay really well.
The picture that I selected for the "Son of Italy" is at 1:20, which everyone squeeze each other to sleep in such a room. I think it is one of the best example of their lives at that time. When Pascal moved to the U.S, he had to live with other gangs in a room without any stove in the winter. They also lived in the shelter when his gang had no money to pay for the rent.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I personally like the very first picture, which many Italian immigrants are packed on the ship that goes to the United States because even though it is a long and wide shot, so it is difficult to see their face emotion, I clearly can see how excited and worried they were while they were on the way to the U.S.