A Bronx Tale (1993)

A Bronx Tale

A Bronx Tale is a one-man show written and performed by Chazz Palminteri. Palminteri based the character of Calogero on himself, partially upon his childhood; his real first name is Calogero. The play is set in The Bronx section of New York City in the 1960s.

A Bronx Tale is a 1993 film set in New York City during the turbulent era of the 1960s. It was the directorial debut of Robert De Niro, and follows a young man as his path in life is guided by two father figures, played by De Niro and Chazz Palminteri. It also includes a brief appearance by Joe Pesci.

A Bronx Tale tells the story of Calogero Anello, a young boy from a working class family who gets involved in the world of organized crime. Calogero’s father is a bus driver who tries to instill working class family values in his son. As Calogero gets older, the aura and mystique of the Mafia, and the charms of Sonny, the local mob boss who befriends Calogero, become difficult to resist. As Calogero comes of age, he must struggle with the choice of following his beloved father’s values or submitting to the temptations of the life of organized crime.

A Bronx Tale premiered in Los Angeles in 1990, achieving great critical success. Palminteri, then moved the show to New York City, where it had a critically and commercially successful, four month off-Broadway run. Palminteri adapted the screenplay from his one-man show of the same name. The show had successful runs in Los Angeles and Off-Broadway. Palminteri would not sell the rights to his story unless he could write the screenplay and was guaranteed the role of Sonny. At one point he was offered one million dollars, but refused because his conditions were not met. Later, De Niro saw the show and approached Palminteri. He said he knew about Palminteri refusing to sell the rights. For the rights he told Palminteri he would act in the movie and meet Palminteri’s conditions if he could direct. De Niro said he was good to his word with only a handshake from Palminteri.

The movie opens in 1960 with Lorenzo Anello’s (Robert De Niro) son Calogero (Francis Capra) witnessing a murder committed by the local Mafia boss, Sonny (Chazz Palminteri). When Calogero chooses to keep quiet when questioned by police officers, Sonny takes a liking to him. Calogero starts visiting Sonny and his posse almost every day in the bar downstairs, much to the dismay of his father, a hard-working bus driver struggling to make ends meet. Eight years later, in 1968, Calogero has grown into a young man. He will eventually have to make the choice between his two mentors. He also pursues an interracial relationship with a Black girl named Jane Williams (Taral Hicks), and he has to cope with this while being in the company of racist friends who coincidentally attack the girl’s brother and his friends, and who later plan to raid a Black neighborhood.

A Bronx Tale loses some of its narrative momentum after a confrontation between Sonny and Lorenzo. The second half of the show, in which the hero discovers the charms of the female sex, and the limits of his father’s uprightness, is more scattered and less compelling, although Palminteri and his director, the veteran Jerry Zaks, never allow the energy level to flag for long, thus continually engrossing his audience in the tale which brings forth the real self of life.

The film contains several violent scenes, including a savage beating of a biker gang by the Mafia, and Calogero’s friends’ tragically botched incursion into the Black neighborhood.

The story of the film starts with the introduction of a young man, who has two different dimensions in his personality and life, due to the inclusion of two other men with fatherly concerns. De Niro had played the role of the father named Lorenzo Anello’s, and the role of the role of a leading young man was played by Francis Capra with the name of Calogero, while the character of equally important other man named Sonny was played by Chazz Palminteri. The movie revolves around the plot of a witness of a murder scene by a local Mafia boss [Sonny]. It is by chance being watched by Lorenzo Anello’s and son Calogero. The twist of the story starts, when Calogero decides to not speak anything of the incident to the police investigations. The act has really won the heart of mafia Chief Sonny, and he starts to like the young boy very much, like a son. Despite the offence of his father, Calogero keeps on visiting Sonny and his posse almost every day in the bar downstairs. His father [De Niro] is a hard-working bus driver, who has to struggle hard to have a decent living.

The relationship between Calogero and Sonny has been carried on for eight long years later. Calogero has grown into a young man; Lillo Brancato Jr. had played the older version of the character in the film. The real dilemma of the story starts as the Calogero has to decide on which path to follow, as both his mentors are leading an entirely different kind of life. The film also depicts his relation with a black girl named Jane Williams (Taral Hicks). It is even hard for him to deal with the situation as being a friend of a mafia man, who is a thorough racist, and quite coincidentally has attacked the girl’s brother and his friends.

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About the Author

Maria is a professional writer for A-Bronc-Tale.com. Music and Art is her passion and she enjoys writing on various Arts events including concerts and theaters. She can be reached at maria@a-bronx-tale.com.

A Bronx Tale 1993 Trailer

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