A Bronx Tale

A Bronx Tale, released in 1993, marks the directorial debut of the great actor Robert De Niro. It was written by Chazz Palminteri,  based on his one-man-show of the same name. Palminteri had written this one man show which was inspired from his own experiences in childhood. The show was quite succesful and had attracted many studios and producers but Palminteri had a condition before selling out the rights - that he would play the role of Sonny LoSpecchio.

Its the story of a young Italian-American boy, Calogero 'C' Anello who has two important but very much opposite sided father figures in his life. Out of which one is his father, Lorenzo Anello played by Robert De Niro and other, Sonny LoSpecchio played by Chazz Palminteri. The story is set in 1960s in the The Bronx, New York. Lorenzo, the father of Calogero is a simple and honest man who works hard for a living and wants to give his son a better life. On the other hand, Sonny LoSpecchio is the local mafia boss.

Calogero with his father

The story starts with a murder Calogero witnesses, when he is nine years old. It is Sonny who has done it in the broad day light. When the police question Calogero, he keeps quiet. Sonny starts to like the kid with every passing day and hangs out with him. Sonny even offers Lorenzo a better job offering more money which Lorenzo declines. Lorenzo, an honest and law abiding man, wants a peaceful and lawful life and tries to keep his son away from criminals.


Years pass on, Calogerro now a young seventeen year old is still under the influence of Sonny by meeting him secretly without the knowledge of his father. Sonny acts like a father figure to Calogero and brings him up well. Soon, Calogero falls for an African-American girl. They go out on a date, inspite of knowing the tensions between Italians and the Blacks in their area. For the date, Calogero asks for advice from both his father as well as Sonny. Sonny even lets Calogero take his car.  

Grown up Calogero with Sonny

Ahead are some events and turns to the story which make it worth a watch. The end is well executed. A perfect father-son story and a movie which shows the importance of father figures in life.

Robert De Niro showed some impressive skills inspite of this film being his first directorial venture.  The film holds 96% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four stars, calling it "a very funny movie sometimes, and very touching at other times. It is filled with life and colorful characters and great lines of dialogue, and De Niro, in his debut as a director, finds the right notes as he moves from laughter to anger to tears. What's important about the film is that it's about values."