MovieChat Forums > Legend (2015) Discussion > Italian-American actors

Italian-American actors

posted 8 years ago by guerrinho
16 replies | jump to latest

As an Italian, it terribly annoys me that they keep using Italian-American actors who can't speak Italian to play the part of the mafiosi.

The film is set in the '60s, so I guess an Italian-American at the time could still speak Italian (or at least a dialect), why didn't they get an Italian actor for the part instead of Chazz Palminteri? Why don't ask one of the tons of Italians in London to teach Palminteri how to say "salute"?! That put me in a bad mood for the rest of the film 😀

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] guerrinho 8 years ago

He is not Italian, he is grandson of Italians. Born and grown in New York... he doesn't speak Italian neither...

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] JaJa730 8 years ago

I was going to say the same thing, but hesitated because I didn't want to hear all the "grammar nazi" complaints. But then I saw your post and that made me very happy : )

[–] printsofdarkness 8 years ago

The word is 'either' not neither old chap.

The poster is using the correct Italian American double negative form. The call out does not account for this.

The eleventh hour is 10 o'clock and the end of the day has sweet FA to do with your opinion.

[–] bryanmillsfist 8 years ago

Your comment makes absolutely no sense and indicates to me that you know nothing about the American Mafia or how ethnicity in America works. Italian is an ethnicity. Palmintieri is Italian by ethnicity and American by nationality.

Europeans always have problems with this difference and I don't know why. America is a nation of immigrants and descendants of immigrants. The only Americans by ethnicity are the Natives. It really should not be hard to understand why Americans use Italian, German, etc. Unlike our European cousins we don't descend from the same country.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] guerrinho 8 years ago

what exactly didn't you understand of this sentence "The film is set in the '60s, so I guess an Italian-American at the time could still speak Italian (or at least a dialect)"?

Palminteri doesn't speak Italian. An Italian-American in the '60s would've speak Italian, again, I GUESS.
I didn't say they should have used an Italian actor just because of his passport, so I really don't understand why it was so hard for you to get my meaning.

[–] AngryAfghan 8 years ago

Those gangsters came over from America, not Italy. Whether or not they spoke the Sicilian dialect between themselves is irrelevant to the film as we never saw them alone.

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. - Jimi Hendrix

[–] txsiimk 8 years ago

except for fact taht italians mafioso don't realy speak italian originally they spoke SICIALIAN. If you watch godfather part II ou see they are speaking sicilian.

[–] simonkevnorris 8 years ago

I watched the original godfather movie in Perth (WA) and a young Italian lady sat next to me. She said that the Italians were speaking in a northern Italian dialect and not a southern one. I've subsequently found that the northern Italians look down on their southern brethren.

[–] segesta65-440-677054 8 years ago

Everyone here is talking about Italian-Americans and dialects, when in fact Meyer Lansky's crew very likely would have been Jewish!

And never confuse Italians with Italian-Americans. By now, they are almost completely different cultures.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] flashbobjones 7 years ago

By now? Lol, they always have been. Everyone on this post is stupid af.

[–] The-Social-Introvert 7 years ago

It's called acting?

[–] casak36 7 years ago

Why would you assume that? We had many 2nd and 3rd generation Italians in the US by the 1960's. It's not like the big immigration was in the 50's.