America America (1963)

My reviews have slowed because of a big project I'm doing (unrelated to movies). For this reason, it was an especially bad time to receive a 174-minute disc. Nevertheless, I was a bit curious to see Elia Kazan's favorite of his own oeuvre—realizing that it was less so for quality than for personal relevance as the history of his uncle.

The plot's actually rather plain: In the late 1890s, young man Stavros, like many other Europeans, wants to move to the U.S. But unlike in other such stories I've seen, he takes an awfully long time to acquire enough money for a third-class ticket. One disadvantage he has is in being a Greek in Turkey. Most of his comrades either don't want or can't hope to leave, but after witnessing some of the Armenian genocide and realizing the Greeks might be next, Stavros won't accept his dad's plan for him to gradually pay the family's way to Constantinople.

The story doesn't move half as slowly as I feared. Evidently, it had to be this long to give us a feel for Stavros's hardships. And it's still skimping a bit: We don't see much of his laborious months.

I was a little surprised at the near absence of details for what happened after the voyage, but I guess that sort of thing is best left to another movie. Kazan would rather not undermine the idea that America is the land of opportunity; instead, he gives us almost a fairy tale ending.

One way in which this isn't like a fairy tale is the lesson(s) Stavros learns. After getting burned too many times, he concludes that he needs a cold heart to get by. He doesn't steal exactly, but he sure scores no points with me by attempting to marry for money while planning to leave his bride in the lurch. At times, it's difficult to relate to him or the others in his life. If this weren't a true story, I might boo it on moral grounds.

None of the actors' names mean anything to me, but that need not count against them. They all do at least an adequate job. Indeed, from technical and artistic standpoints, there is nothing bad about AA. I have already covered the few things not to like about it.

I would have given either AA or Lilies of the Field the Best Picture Oscar over Tom Jones. It wasn't an especially strong year for the Academy, but it had its charms.