History Film / AmericaAmerica

* VideoCredits: Sort of-stills of all the actors as their names appear in the credits.

* VideoCredits: Sort of-stills of all the actors as their names appear in the credits.
* YourCheatingHeart: Mrs. Kebabian cheats on the husband she loathes with Stavros.

''America America'' is a 1963 film written and directed by Creator/EliaKazan.

''America, America'' is a 1963 film written and directed by Creator/EliaKazan.

''America, America'' was based by Kazan on his memoir of his family's history. Other Kazan films like ''Film/OnTheWaterfront'' are better remembered in latter days, but this was [[MagnumOpusDissonance Kazan's favorite of his own films]].

'''''America, America''''' is a 1963 film directed by Creator/EliaKazan.

-> "My name is Creator/EliaKazan. I am a Greek by blood, a Turk by birth and an American because my uncle made a journey."

''America, America'' is a 1963 film directed by Creator/EliaKazan.

It is loosely based on the experiences of Kazan's uncle Avram, called "Stavros Topouzoglou" in the film. Stavros is a young Greek who lives with his Greek Orthodox family in a Christian village in UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}}--the [[UsefulNotes/TurksWithTroops Ottoman Empire]], actually--in the latter 19th century. The ruling Muslim Turks treat the Christian Greeks and Armenians as domestic enemies. Stavros's father chokes down his resentment of the Turks in order to protect his family, but after a violent pogrom perpetrated by the Turks against the Armenians of the village, Stavros's father gives him all the family's material assets and tells him to go to Constantinople and thence to America. Stavros has a difficult journey in which he loses all his family's money and possessions and winds up penniless in Constantinople, but he refuses to give up on his dream of escape to America.

* HeroicSuicide: Stavros has been barred from America after Mr. Kebabian caught him doing the horizontal mambo with Mrs. Kebabian. Hohannes has a free pass to America due to his IndenturedServitude opportunity, but he remembers the kindnesses Stavros did for him, like giving his shoes. He also knows that [[YourDaysAreNumbered His Days Are Numbered]] due to that IncurableCoughOfDeath. So Hohannes jumps off the ship to his death, within sight of Ellis Island, while leaving behind Stavros's shoes--with his ID papers inside. Stavros makes it past immigration and into America by using Hohannes's name.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Pretty darn cynical for most of the movie. Stavros is robbed and nearly killed by the con artist, ruthlessly exploited during his time as a porter at the docks, robbed by a prostitute, then nearly killed by the Turks just for being at a meeting. Eventually he grows hard, telling guileless Hohannes that people should only trust themselves, and that you can't be "human" because others will exploit your weakness. It veers towards idealism at the end, though. It is Hohannes, who remembers Stavros's friendship and generosity to him, and specifically Stavros giving Hohannes his shoes, who performs the NobleSacrifice that allows Stavros to come to America.

It is loosely based on the experiences of Kazan's uncle Avram, called "Stavros Topouzoglou" in the film. Stavros is a young Greek who lives with his Greek Orthodox family in a Christian village in UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}}--the [[UsefulNotes/TurksWithTroops Ottoman Empire]], actually--in the latter 19th century. The ruling Turks treat the Christian Greeks and Armenians as domestic enemies. Stavros's father chokes down his resentment of the Turks in order to protect his family, but after a violent pogrom perpetrated by the Turks against the Armenians of the village, Stavros's father gives him all the family's material assets and tells him to go to Constantinople and thence to America. Stavros has a difficult journey in which he loses all his family's money and possessions and winds up penniless in Constantinople, but he refuses to give up on his dream of escape to America.

* CallForward: The Greek elders in the village tell each other that the Armenians' problem is not their problem. A sarcastic Stavros asks whom do they think the Turks will come after next. Almost all the Greeks in Turkey were forcibly ejected from the country following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the foundation of Turkey after UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.

* HeroicSacrifice: Stavros has been barred from America after Mr. Kebabian caught him doing the horizontal mambo with Mrs. Kebabian. Hohannes has a free pass to America due to his IndenturedServitude opportunity, but he remembers the kindnesses Stavros did for him, like giving his shoes. He also knows that [[YourDaysAreNumbered His Days Are Numbered]] due to that IncurableCoughOfDeath. So Hohannes jumps off the ship to his death, within sight of Ellis Island, while leaving behind Stavros's shoes--with his ID papers inside. Stavros makes it past immigration and into America by using Hohannes's name.

* LadyDrunk: Mrs. Kebabian. Former TrophyWife now trapped in a loveless marriage to a businessman who married her when she was eighteen. Routinely gets drunk in the daytime--her maid cuts her off at one point, and her husband notes an empty wine bottle in the room. Falls in lust with Stavros, tells him through drunken tears about how she wasted the best years of her life in hier marriage and now mourns her lost youth. Eventually gives Stavros $50 (not a bad stake in 1890s America) to help him get settled.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Pretty darn cynical for most of the movie. Stavros is robbed and nearly killed by the con artist, ruthlessly exploited during his time as a porter at the docks, robbed by a prostitute, nearly killed by the Turks just for being at a meeting. Eventually he grows hard, telling guileless Hohannes that people should only trust themselves, and that you can't be "human" because others will exploit your weakness. It veers towards idealism at the end, though. It is Hohannes, who remembers Stavros's friendship and generosity to him, and specifically Stavros giving Hohannes his shoes, who performs the NobleSacrifice that allows Stavros to come to America.

* VideoCredits: Sort of--stills of all the actors as their names appear in the credits.

* HeroicSacrifice: Stavros has been barred from America after Mr. Kebabian caught him doing the horizontal mambo with Mrs. Kebabian. Hohannes has a free pass to America due to his IndenturedServant opportunity, but he remembers the kindnesses Stavros did for him, like giving his shoes. He also knows that [[YourDaysAreNumbered His Days Are Numbered]] due to that IncurableCoughOfDeath. So Hohannes jumps off the ship to his death, within sight of Ellis Island, while leaving behind Stavros's shoes--with his ID papers inside. Stavros makes it past immigration and into America by using Hohannes's name.

* FauxAffablyEvil: The Muslim man that Stavros meets on the way to Constantinople. The man acts friendly towards him and calls him "brother", but winds up bleeding Stavros of his money until he finally accuses Stavros of theft, causing Stavros to lose everything but a few coins he managed to swallow. Then the man tracks Stavros down again and, while still acting friendly and charming, says that he's going to kill Stavros and cut the coins out. Stavros kills him instead.

It is loosely based on the experiences of Kazan's uncle Avram, called "Stavros Topouzoglou" in the film. Stavros is a young Greek who lives with his Greek Orthodox family in a Christian village in UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}}--the [[UsefulNotes/TurksWithTroops Ottoman Empire]], actually--in the latter 19th century. The ruling Turks treat the Christian Greeks and Armenians as domestic enemies. Stavros's father chokes down his resentment of the Turks in order to protect his family, but after a violent pogrom perpetrated by the Turks against the Armenians of the village, Stavros's father gives him all the family's material assets and tells him to go to Constantinople and thence to America. Stavros has a difficult journey in which he loses all his family's money and possessions and winds up penniless Constantinople, but he refuses to give up on his dream of escape to America.

* NobleSacrifice: Stavros has been barred from America after Mr. Kebabian caught him doing the horizontal mambo with Mrs. Kebabian. Hohannes has a free pass to America due to his IndenturedServant opportunity, but he remembers the kindnesses Stavros did for him, like giving his shoes. He also knows that [[YourDaysAreNumbered His Days Are Numbered]] due to that IncurableCoughOfDeath. So Hohannes jumps off the ship to his death, within sight of Ellis Island, while leaving behind Stavros's shoes--with his ID papers inside. Stavros makes it past immigration and into America by using Hohannes's name.