Golden Door (2006)
Average Rating: 6.8/10
Reviews Counted: 87
Fresh: 63 | Rotten: 24
Slow-moving but ultimately rewarding, Golden Door is a profound drama with scenes of fantastical magical realism, lively humor, and stunning images.
Average Rating: 6.9/10
Critic Reviews: 31
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 11
Slow-moving but ultimately rewarding, Golden Door is a profound drama with scenes of fantastical magical realism, lively humor, and stunning images.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 5,056
My Rating
Movie Info
A family living in poverty leaves behind the world they know in hope of finding new opportunities in this historical drama from director Emanuele Crialese. The Mancusos are a family struggling to make ends meet in a small farming community in Sicily in 1913. Life has long been hard for the Mancuso Family, who have lived in the same village for generations, and one day they are visited by a man who claims to be from the United States. The man tells them of the wonder and plenty of life in
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Lucy -
Vincenzo Amato
Salvatore -
Aurora Quattrocchi
Donna Fortunata -
Francesco Casisa
Angelo -
Filippo Pucillo
Pietro -
Federica de Cola
Rita -
Isabella Ragonese
Rosa -
-
-
-
-
ADVERTISEMENT
All Critics (90) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (66) | Rotten (24) | DVD (6)
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.
Top CriticIts minutiae don't bring a lump in the throat -- just a drumming of the fingers.
The rhythms of the movie are slow and daydreamy, but [director] Crialese delights in breaking up the realism with his protagonist's mystical -- almost madcap -- visions of the New World's abbondanza.
The film never really coheres, and although some scenes are amazing, the total is slow, ponderous and sometimes silly.
[Director] Crialese ends his film on an exquisite note of fantasy: an indelible image of hope and good fortune. His vision is unique; his film, strange and lovely.
Director Emanuele Crialese passes no judgments, capturing the mundane and miraculous alike.
Prince of the New World
I would imagine that if you have a close connection to Ellis Island immigrants, you will be similarly touched by this movie.
The film's cinematography by Agnès Godard is breathtaking at times, especially early on during exterior scenes.
Crialese presents enough historical detail to give many 2nd and 3rd generation Americans today an idea of what physical and mental scrutiny their grandparents might have been subjected to in order to be accepted through the "Golden Door."
The journey to America by an Italian peasant and his family, conveying their yearning for a new life in scenes of magical realism.
is all facade and no force
Thanks to Martin Scorsese's seal of approval, Emanuele Crialese's Golden Door may now he salvaged from critical and popular disinterest.
Its series of episodes don't always add up to a single, cohesive narrative so much as they seem a succession of surrealistic impressions.
Although the movie's plot line is rather flimsy and its characters somewhat distant, the movie's images are hard to forget.
Not as inspiring as it should be.
The early parts require some patience, but the film richly rewards that patience. I know of no film that so patiently and so completely documents the Ellis Island experience.
Golden Door is a cinematic treasure reimagining the emotional landscape of Ellis Island, dipped in the delights of magical realism and the enchanting nomadic dual consciousness of cultural relativism.
Punishing but eye-opening immigrant tale.
So enjoyable and visually stimulating is the experience, it's tough to knock Crialese's Door.
Although it has a gorgeous, lyrical visual style, it contains no stirring speeches or sentimentality.
Golden Door belongs to(Vincenzo) Amato (Respiro). He makes this tale of woe and wonderment the charmer it turns out to be.
Audience Reviews for Golden Door
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for Golden Door yet.
Latest News on Golden Door
June 14, 2007:
Critical Consensus: "Silver Surfer" Trips Fantastically, "Nancy Drew" Without a Clue, "DOA" Dead on ArrivalPop quiz, hotshot: which of the lesser Roberts do you prefer? Because this Friday, it's a match...
May 24, 2007:
Critical Consensus: "Pirates" is Adrift, "Bug" Creepy and CrawlyThis week at the movies, it's the pirates ("Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,"...
What's Hot On RT
Every Star Trek movie listed
Star Trek is Certified Fresh
Forest Whitaker serves the White House
Trailer for Tom Hanks thriller
Featured on RT
- Weekly Ketchup: Will Smith to Star in Wild Bunch Remake? 31
- Critics Consensus: Star Trek Into Darkness is Certified Fresh 85
- Red Carpet Roundup: Star Trek Into Darkness Edition 0
- Video Interviews with Katie Aselton & Lake Bell of Black Rock 2
- VIP Access: Eli Roth talks Aftershock 1
- Total Recall: Star Trek Movies 88
- Parental Guidance: Star Trek Into Darkness 18
Top Headlines
-
J.J. Abrams Talks Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Wars, and More
0
-
Vin Diesel Says Fast & Furious 7 Will Begin a New Trilogy
4
-
Mickey Rourke Confirmed for Expendables 3
3
-
Brad Bird Still Mulling Incredibles 2
0
-
Reese Witherspoon, Jena Malone, and Martin Short Join Inherent Vice
0
-
Bruce Willis Makes an Expiration Date
2
-
Drew Pearce Hired for Mission: Impossible 5
0
Fresh Links
Featured
Star Trek Movies Ranked
HitFix offers their own take on the worst-to-best of the Enterprise crew's cinematic adventures.
Top 10 Star Trek Villains
Rolling Stone unveils the Enterprise's most irksome adversaries.
Celebrity Yearkbook Flashback
We'll bet you never realized how many stars were cheerleaders and high school athletes!
50 Most Classic Movie Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, TimeOut offers up 50 iconic matriarchs from the big screen.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Foreign Titles
- The Golden Door (UK)
- Golden Door (Nuovomondo) (CA)
[font=Century Gothic][/font]
[font=Century Gothic]None of the emigrants have ever gone any distance beyond the village they were born in, so what makes them take such a perilous journey is the extreme poverty at home coupled with the fantastic promises of America which include money on trees, huge vegetables and rivers flowing with milk. They are not stupid, just lacking a proper education at a time when technology is not quite at a point to permit a free flow of information. All they have are postcards of a wondrous land.[/font]