Robert De Niro
Bronx

The figure of Robert De Niro has always fascinated me. Perhaps for his amused and entertaining grin, or perhaps for his "malicious" portrayals in films like The Untouchables and Taxi Driver. Maybe I've always loved him for his extraordinary performances in films like those already mentioned, to which one could add a rather long list, even though performances in Raging Bull, Once Upon a Time in America, The Godfather Part II, Cape Fear, The Mission, Goodfellas, remain enduring testaments to one of the greatest actors in the history of cinema. Out of this great curiosity for him, I decided to get my hands on his first directorial work, the 1993 film "A Bronx Tale" which I heard so much good about.

De Niro returns to his roots and tells us a story set in those tough American neighborhoods where he himself was born and raised before becoming the figure he is known for today. Lorenzo (Robert De Niro) is a bus driver living with his son Calogero (first Francis Capra, then Lillo Brancato) and his wife Rosina (Kathrine Narducci). They live in a small apartment in the Bronx, facing economic hardships due to a single job in a changing America (the film is set in the 60s). In addition to these material problems, there will be those arising from Calogero’s interaction with Sonny, the neighborhood boss (played by an excellent Chazz Palminteri) who takes the boy under his protective wing against his father’s wishes.

There's a bit of nostalgia in De Niro's Bronx. The desire to highlight those situations common to various U.S. cities. Living perpetually in fear, even though the film gives us a "mafia" turn more anchored in simplicity rather than violent like Goodfellas or Scarface. There is a desire to portray the fragility of a boy born and raised with the desire to become a "mafioso," a criminal. The fashion of those American years, where there was the icon of a boss with money, women, power. The romantic idea of ruling with a firm hand and many "subjects" those concrete buildings where inside dwelled infamous and struggling people. The idea of being able to give and receive favors of all kinds. In this scenario, the subtle tragedy permeates De Niro's film, which through young Calogero's eyes shows us the complicated approach to life, the difficult acknowledgment of the precarious condition of one's family. The essential figure in shaping the child and instilling fundamental values is Lorenzo, played superbly by the good Bob De Niro. He is not the central figure of the film, but the few times he intervenes, he shows to have the most crucial task of all: repeatedly pointing out to his son the difference between him and Sonny, the fulfillment in feeling part of something real when one manages to work hard to support a family, through problems and fear.
Hence, the figure of young Calogero becomes a metaphor for a life lived in the shadow of the "myth of well-being" but perpetually overshadowed by reality, which is reflected in Lorenzo's figure and not in Sonny's rather kind ways. Calogero's story is a parable towards truth, towards the discovery of life's fundamental values, towards recognizing the importance of work, family, and love...

"There's no greater tragedy in life than wasted talent…"