Embodying the Italian-American: an Analytical Look at Bodily Performances of Italian-Americans in Film Daniella N
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Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2004 Embodying the Italian-American: An Analytical Look at Bodily Performances of Italian-Americans in Film Daniella N. Bozzone Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS AND DANCE EMBODYING THE ITALIAN-AMERICAN: AN ANALYTICAL LOOK AT BODILY PERFORMANCES OF ITALIAN-AMERICANS IN FILM BY DANIELLA N. BOZZONE A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF DANCE IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE AWARDED: SUMMER SEMESTER, 2004 The members of the Committee approved the thesis of Daniella N. Bozzone defended on April 9, 2004. Tricia Henry Young Professor Directing Thesis John O. Perpener Committee Member Sally Sommer Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Some of the ideas presented in this thesis are inspired by previous coursework. I would like to acknowledge the contributions of Dr. Sally Sommer’s courses on dancing in the movies and American Dance History as particular influences in my approach to this project. I am incredibly thankful for her tireless commitment to this thesis. I would like to acknowledge the contributions of Professors Jack Clark and Patty Phillips for their generosity with their time and expertise in movement analysis. I would also like to acknowledge the editorial feedback, support and encouragement from Dr. Tricia Henry Young. Dr. Young’s comments have been invaluable during the entire project. As final acknowledgements I would like to recognize my father, Ric Bozzone, my own personal Guido, for his consultation, inspiration and support in developing this thesis, and my mother, Laurie Bozzone for her input, support and editing. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents....................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT............................................................................................................... v PREFACE.................................................................................................................. vi Introduction................................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 1: When the Italian became the Italian-American........................................ 9 Chapter 2 : An overview of filmic Italian-Americans types...................................... 16 Chapter 3 : Italian-American Men ............................................................................. 24 Chapter 4 : Italian-American Women ....................................................................... 38 Chapter 5 : Dancing ................................................................................................... 56 Chapter 6 : Family and Church.................................................................................. 68 Chapter 7 : Conclusion............................................................................................... 82 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 87 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ..................................................................................... 91 iv ABSTRACT This study provides an analytical exploration of the embodied performance of Italian-American ethnicity in film. The analyzed performances are taken from The Godfather trilogy, Moonstruck, and Saturday Night Fever. These films provide a wide range of characters expertly portrayed by the actors and directors. The purpose of this study is to illuminate the inherent presence of dance and movement in expressing ethnicity in filmic performances. This project utilizes movement analysis, cultural studies, gender studies and ethnicity studies to address the importance of the performer’s body in expressing character, gender and ethnicity. American folklore or mythology is largely created by the medium of film and many of these mythological characters are part of the hyphenated ethnicities that form our culture. The seminal performances found in The Godfather trilogy, Moonstruck, and Saturday Night Fever brought several Italian-American character types to mythological proportions. The movement of these character types as individuals and in ensembles, as well as the films’ mise en scene forms the primary focus of this analysis. This project also allies the inherently intertwined relationship between acting and dancing. Analyzing these performances as choreographic as well as dramatic broadens the scope of dance studies to include other bodily performances. A brief introduction and outline of this study begins the text of this thesis. This introduction elucidates the dance perspective given to the filmic analysis. The first chapter provides a brief history of Italians in America in the twentieth century. The following chapters contain an overview of the character types to be discussed, movement analysis of these characters as individuals, ensemble movement and the narrative venues for these portrayals of ethnicity. Finally a concluding chapter will tie together the overarching ideas of this project and consider future possibilities for this approach to performance studies. v PREFACE When I began the research for my thesis, it occurred to me that among the required reading for academic courses in dance there were several discussions of various types of ethnic movement, minority dance, and choreographed cultural rituals. There was not, however, any discussion about the unique movement habits of my own cultural group of Italian-Americans. Yet in my travels, both in the States and abroad, I have always been, and am, referred to as an “Italian-American" or "My Italian” friend. The description is true. Though I do not introduce myself verbally as “Daniella Bozzone, Italian-American,” the fact is my manner, my face, and my name indicate that aspect of my character. While scholars who study cultural movement were focusing largely on other ethnicities, a scan of popular culture writings showed that television, advertisements -- and especially films --were saturated with references to Italian-Americans. Magazine articles had pictures of Italian gestures with explanations and definitions. Television shows parodied famous Italian-Americans like Frank Sinatra, Mario Cuomo, Rudolph Giuliani, Joe DiMaggio and fictional Italian-Americans like Vito Corleone, Tony Soprano and “my cousin Vinny.” Clearly most Americans had been able to absorb at least some generalized and popular notions about what is Italian-American. So I decided to delve into the movies to learn more about how Italian-American ethnicity is portrayed. I chose five films depicting Italian-Americans in three different film genres -- drama, comedy, and the movie Musical -- to explore the popular culture perceptions of Italian- Americans. Obviously the American public is familiar with Italian-American stereotypes and images because parodies and impersonations abound. In order for a stereotype or parody to be successful, the subject must be familiar to the audience. Whether the parody takes place on Saturday Night Live or just comes up in general conversation, the impersonator always begins with a gesture, a bodily attitude, a pose. As a dancer and choreographer I find this fascinating. I began to more carefully observe the movements of actors portraying Italian-Americans and learned that the repertory of movements associated with Italian-Americans was fully legible to anyone educated in American popular culture. My questions about others’ perceptions of my own vi identity initiated a research process. Since identifiable body behaviors are prominent in any Italian-American representations, dance analysis seemed the ideal method to use to uncover how Italian- Americanness is constructed. This type of movement study on popular representations of Italian-Americans had not been done before, so it was not only an interesting marriage of two of my favorite disciplines, dance and film, it was also a necessary study. The first three sections of this thesis lay a foundation for the discourse on Italian- American movement in films. The Introduction provides an overview of the specific films to be discussed and sets forth general ideas about the choreographic compositions of Italian-American ethnic portrayals. Briefly mentioned are some other disciplines, which are relevant to this study and have contributed to the interdisciplinary development of the approaches used here. These fields include film studies, dance studies, ethnology, cultural studies and popular culture studies. A discussion of Italian-American types in films requires a brief history of the immigration of Italians to America. Chapter One deals with the actual situation Italians found in America during the height of the Italian immigration wave, as this early period of Italian-American history (1880-1920) set the foundations for the current perceptions and images portrayed in films. Chapter Two is organized into the recurring types of Italian-American characters and images. In Chapter Three and Chapter Four I separate Italian-American Character types and their "choreographies" into males and females, discussing the body behavior of each as seen in film. This separation by gender is necessary because directors and writers treat the