And what? Nobody had time to clean their fingernails?
It's not like they were busy at the buffet and the floor show, Jeeze!
Altpensacola, the dirty fingernails were an important symbol of Sicilian life.
I plan to watch this fascinating film again, and will count the number of close-ups on the nails. I also wonder whether after the mama says to Lucy, "Look at your hands." whether the camera actually does.
My Papa, aged 17, came alone to America aboard the ship "Duca degli Abruzzi" in 1921 in steerage like these people. They were packed together like sardines. Crialese got the atmosphere of steerage right: dark and crowded. I don't think there were too many amenities. Papa said the trip took about 15 days. He said he spent a lot of it throwing up.
In the new country, he lived a long life, beloved of his children. He died at the age of 90.
They had just had a thorough shower. I think the grandmother's and boy's hands and fingernails were filthy in that last scene symbolically, since they were supposed to be sent back where they came from, where they were always dirty.
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