Golden Door

PG-13

Released May 25, 2007

1 hr. 57 min.

Drama

History

Romance

List

72%

86 Reviews

Tomatometer

69%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Salvatore (Vincenzo Amato), a Sicilian villager, decides to leave his homeland and emigrate to America with his two sons, Angelo (Francesco Casisa) and Pietro (Filippo Pucillo). They and their fellow travelers (Charlotte Gainsbourg, Federica de Cola) face a challenging journey to what they believe is a land of milk and honey.

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Critics Consensus

Slow-moving but ultimately rewarding, Golden Door is a profound drama with scenes of fantastical magical realism, lively humor, and stunning images.

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Robert S

Movie stoped before the characters began living in the United States. Movie description claimed it was about assimilation into America. No it wasn't. Did the scrip writers and/or producers decide not to finish the film?

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Golden Door (or Nuovomondo), directed by Emanuele Crialese, is a compelling film that tells the story of Italian immigrants coming to America. Set in the early 1900s, during a period in Italy known as the Great Migration, this film focuses on the journey of a Southern Italian family to America across the ocean. Through this experience, we are able to experience, understand, and sympathize with the realities of Italian immigrants' lives during this time in history. Golden Door has many layers also, in which we observe the division between the North and South of Italy, the struggle of Italians desperate to leave their country, and the treatment of immigrants in a new country –specifically, America. Crialese brings a fresh perspective on the voyage of immigrants –showing their experience from beginning to end, while at the same time leaving much to be imagined and speculated on how their life continued "off camera". I enjoyed this film for several reasons. One is that it gives you a realistic, close-up experience of the trials, hopes, and thoughts of immigrants. Another is that the characters are played very well, and I feel almost immediately connected to them and their lives –creating a captivating and "interactive" viewing of the film. There is much more to say on Golden Door; however, I will simply encourage and recommend this film as an excellent opportunity to understand human struggle, hope, and determination, through observing Italian life and culture during the time period, as well as the interaction of Italians and non-Italians.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The Golden Door is about the early immigrants who came to the United States to start a new life- via New York City. In my opinion The Golden Door might have worked better as a documentary. The subject matter - that of third-class immigrants making their way to the New World at the beginning of the 20th century - is fascinating material, and director Emanuele Crialese includes many little details that are left out of the history books. Unfortunately, the characters he uses to populate the movie are flat. Crialese seems more interested in bringing home a sense of the overall experience than in developing characters and relationships. As a result, there are times when attempts to focus on one or more of the seven primary individuals grinds The Golden Door to a halt. The Golden Door captures an aspect of American culture that has not often been committed to film, yet the movie's length is in some ways its undoing.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Beautiful example of magical realism dealing with the archetypal American experience of immigration

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A film that educates on so many levels about brave people who survive change and embrace the unknown with hope.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Golden Door is a miniature epic, tracking a Sicilian's family emigration to the USA. It starts much too slowly, and although characters are established, it is ill thought out - particularly the dream sequences, which could have provided an added insight.Once the action moves onto the voyage, however, and Charlotte Gainsbourg's character is introduced, an interesting story emerges, and this, combined with humorous touches, are what make the film bearable. It is well directed and shot, with the other lead character, Vincenzo Amato, also impressing.. 2 1/2 Stars 3-19-14

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

Full Review

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Emanuele Crialese

Director

Charlotte Gainsbourg

Lucy

Vincenzo Amato

Salvator Amato

Aurora Quattrocchi

Donna Fortunata

Francesco Casisa

Angelo

Filippo Pucillo

Pietro

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James Berardinelli

ReelViews

Rated: 2.5/4

Jan 10, 2008

Full Review

Roger Moore

Orlando Sentinel

Yes, the details are spot-on and realistic in the extreme. But we've seen them before. It's the story Crialese hangs this detail on that's weak.

Rated: 3/5

Jul 13, 2007

Full Review

Bruce Westbrook

Houston Chronicle

Its minutiae don't bring a lump in the throat -- just a drumming of the fingers.

Rated: 2/4

Jun 29, 2007

Full Review

James Wegg

JWR

Prince of the New World

Rated: 4/5

Jul 23, 2009

Full Review

Kevin Carr

7M Pictures

I would imagine that if you have a close connection to Ellis Island immigrants, you will be similarly touched by this movie.

Rated: 2.5/5

Aug 17, 2008

Full Review

Robert Roten

Laramie Movie Scope

The film's cinematography by Agnès Godard is breathtaking at times, especially early on during exterior scenes.

Rated: C+

Jan 15, 2008

Full Review

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Synopsis

Salvatore (Vincenzo Amato), a Sicilian villager, decides to leave his homeland and emigrate to America with his two sons, Angelo (Francesco Casisa) and Pietro (Filippo Pucillo). They and their fellow travelers (Charlotte Gainsbourg, Federica de Cola) face a challenging journey to what they believe is a land of milk and honey.

Director: Emanuele Crialese
Executive Producer: Bernard Bouix, Tommaso Calevi
Screenwriter: Emanuele Crialese
Distributor: Miramax Films
Production Co: RAI Cinema, Arte France Cinema
Rating: PG-13 (Brief Graphic Nudity)
Genre: Drama, History, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 25, 2007, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 5, 2021
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.1M
Sound Mix: Dolby SR

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