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Movies / On DVD / Golden Door
Golden Door

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Golden Door (2007)

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Reviews Counted:83

Fresh:59

Rotten:24

Average Rating:6.8/10

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

Rated: PG

Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Theatrical Release:29-06-2007

Synopsis: Set in 1913, GOLDEN DOOR begins in a treacherous, barren, and rocky area of the Sicilian countryside. On advice from a stranger, a widowed father named Salvatore Mancuso (Vincenzo Amato) decides to... Set in 1913, GOLDEN DOOR begins in a treacherous, barren, and rocky area of the Sicilian countryside. On advice from a stranger, a widowed father named Salvatore Mancuso (Vincenzo Amato) decides to make the difficult voyage to America with his two sons (one of whom is deaf and mute) and his stubborn, highly superstitious mother, Fortunata (Aurora Quattrocchi). Just before boarding the boat, they meet Lucy (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a mysterious and refined British woman who pretends to be with the Mancuso family while their pictures are being taken. During their journey, Lucy tells Salvatore she needs to find a man to marry before arriving in New York. The reasons are never fully explained, but Salvatore is attracted to her, and so he agrees. After arriving at Ellis Island, the family must endure the long battery of tests that are part of the standard entrance procedure. The plot of GOLDEN DOOR is simple, but the film is not, thanks to interesting stylistic choices. What differentiates GOLDEN DOOR from other films of its genre are the surrealist, imaginative avenues it takes most unexpectedly. Amid a sea of authentic costumes and realistic sets, director Emanuele Crialese places playful scenes of stunning beauty. This gives the film an open feel and an optimism one would never expect from the opening sequence, which is bleak, to say the least. As the characters travel to America, their minds open up to a new way of seeing. The experience of the journey is presented as difficult, but never horrific, and the strength of the characters is in their ability to remain dignified, even under potentially humiliating scenarios. [More]

Starring: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Vincenzo Amato, Aurora Quattrocchi, Vincent Schiavelli

Starring: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Vincenzo Amato, Aurora Quattrocchi, Vincent Schiavelli

Director: Emanuele Crialese

Director: Emanuele Crialese
Screenwriter: Emanuele Crialese
Producer: Alexandre Mallet-Guy, Fabrizio Mosca, Emanuele Crialese
Composer: Castrigano
Studio: Miramax Films

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Reviews for Golden Door

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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The film is touching, imaginative and makes the best of its cash through a minimalist skill that shows Crialese to be a genuinely original director.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
06/29/07
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

The details of this chaotic odyssey to the New World are so intricately and poignantly handled that throughout a voice in your head insists: this is how it must have been.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
06/29/07
Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Independent

It’s an eye-opening insight into pre-Virgin Atlantic travel, beautifully acted by its mainly Italian cast and guaranteed to make you count your blessings.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
06/29/07
Johnny Vaughan
Johnny Vaughan
Sun Online

Making the most of an evidently limited budget, Crialese makes the Promised Land seem as poignantly out of reach to us as it is to his tragic characters.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
06/29/07
Jamie Russell
Jamie Russell
Total Film

Except during the pointed and crisply staged scenes of testing and quarantine, his movie feels thoroughly adrift.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
06/29/07
Tom Robey
Tom Robey
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

His excellent new film gives us the fierceness without the syrup: a solidly constructed film with a brilliant visual sense, tremendous performances and an eloquent, dreamy sense of time and place. It held me in every frame.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
06/29/07
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Gorgeous to look at, unfashionably optimistic and quirkily seductive, this is a robust joy of a movie. It’s certainly one of my favourite releases of the year so far.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
06/29/07
Wendy Ide
Wendy Ide
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A wonderfully poetic film offering a fresh perspective on America's early immigrants, Golden Door is as affecting as it is innovative

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
06/29/07
Steve Watson
Steve Watson
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Tedious and bland - entry denied!

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
06/29/07
Rob Bennett
Rob Bennett
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A powerful look at the quirks of human nature, weaving in a subtle but overwhelmingly powerful political message.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
05/23/07
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Prince of the New World

Full Review Source: JWR | comment Comment
07/23/09
S. James Wegg
S. James Wegg
JWR
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Peg Aloi
Peg Aloi
Boston Phoenix
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: NPR.org | comment Comment
10/18/08
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR.org

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

Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | comment Comment
08/17/08
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

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

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
01/15/08
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

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."

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
01/14/08
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

The journey to America by an Italian peasant and his family, conveying their yearning for a new life in scenes of magical realism.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
01/10/08
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/10/08
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

is all facade and no force

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/08/08
Bill Gibron
Bill Gibron
Filmcritic.com

Although the movie's plot line is rather flimsy and its characters somewhat distant, the movie's images are hard to forget.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
01/06/08
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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Latest News for Golden Door

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