89 Days of Oscar Nominees – #42 – America America (1963)

In my attempt to have a more prolific repertoire of Oscar Nominated Films, I have taken it upon myself to watch 89 new Best Picture Nominees that I’ve never seen before between 1 Dec 2016 and The 89th Annual Oscars on 26 Feb 2017.

Here is my 42nd review of the 89 chosen Films…

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“I believe… I believe that in America I will be washed clean. ” – Stavros

Number of Times Seen – 1 (10 Jan 2017)

Brief Synopsis – A young Greek living in Turkey leaves his village home in order to find a life for himself in the big city while still having dreams of one day making it to the promised land known as America.

My Take on it – Once again, this is a film that I knew absolutely nothing about before watching it besides the small fact that it is based on personal experiences from the life and family of Director/Writer Elia Kazan.

I really liked how he did this film and he starts it out from a simple perspective and makes things more and more grandeur as the film moves along, just like how the main characters experiences in life evolve over the course of the film.

Kazan is an extraordinary film maker because of his ability to show us these changes so easily.

The story itself flowed really well and I loved watching the main character’s personality change as he learned more and more about how society truly is; his naivete at the beginning is slowly etched away as he becomes more and more savvy as he deals with the hardships of his journey.

We even see how he changes emotionally and physically as events force him to transform.

I loved the way that this film explored the idea that holding on to a dream can help sustain someone throughout their hardships.

My one minor complaint about this film is the fact that it runs a bit too long for its own good because there are too many scenes that drag on a bit too much.

Bottom Line – Really liked how this film started out and slowly evolves over the course of the film which shows how Kazan is truly an exceptional film maker.  The story flowed really well and we get to see the main character evolve both emotionally and physically throughout the course of the film.  The message that a dream can help sustain someone through hardships is explored really well here.  My one complaint is that parts drag on a bit and as inspiring as the story is, it’s a bit too long for its own good. Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Of all the films he had directed, this one was Elia Kazan’s favorite film, as it was very personal to him. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy

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