Based on Chazz Palminteri’s 1989 play of the same name, A Bronx Tale is a 1993 American coming-of-age crime drama film produced by Jane Rosenthal, directed by Robert De Niro, and starring in De Niro’s directorial debut.
It chronicles the coming-of-age tale of Calogero, an Italian-American child who, following his contact with a local Mafia boss, finds himself caught between organized crime’s allure and his father’s moral standards—an honest and hardworking man—as well as racial tensions in his neighborhood.
With just minor alterations, the Broadway production was adapted for the big screen, starring Palminteri and De Niro. After seeing the play in Los Angeles for the first time in 1990, De Niro bought the rights from Palminteri to direct the piece himself.
The two then collaborated closely on the screenplay, with Palminteri hoping to keep a lot of the original material because it was mostly based on his upbringing as the first movie published by each studio, Savoy Pictures, and De Niro’s TriBeCa Productions collaborated to bankroll the production, which got underway in 1991.
Plot Of The Movie
Nine-year-old Calogero and his mother, Rosina, resided in Belmont, a working-class Italian-American neighborhood in the Bronx, in 1960. Lorenzo is an MTA bus driver. Calogero grows enamored with the Mafia, led by Sonny, the local boss, in his neighborhood.
Calogero sees Sonny shoot and murder a man who is threatening his friend one day. When NYPD detectives question Calogero, he remains silent. Lorenzo graciously accepts Sonny’s men’s offer of better-paying employment because he would rather live by the law. Calogero makes friends with Sonny, who gives him the moniker “C.”. Working in Sonny’s tavern and throwing dice, Calogero receives tips.
When he finds the cash, Lorenzo chastises him. Sonny receives his money back from Lorenzo, who also advises him to avoid Calogero. After eight years, Calogero, now seventeen, has been going to Sonny regularly without his father’s awareness.
Sonny is concerned about Calogero since he is a member of a group of local Italian-American boys. After Calogero meets Jane, an African-American girl, they begin to tentatively become friends. Calogero sets up a date with Jane despite the significant degree of racial hostility that exists in the community between African Americans and Italian-Americans.
After consulting with him, Sonny decides to lend Calogero his automobile. Later, as the African-American cyclists were passing through their neighborhood, Calogero’s companions beat them up. When Calogero and Jane go on a date, one of the cyclists turns out to be Jane’s brother, who charges Calogero with beating him up.
Overheated by the accusation, Calogero calls him a nigger, a move he later regrets. Jane and her brother head out. After observing Calogero using Sonny’s vehicle at home, Lorenzo confronts him. When Calogero gets upset, he storms out. When he runs into his pals, they inform him that several African-Americans have trolled their social group as payback for the beating they suffered earlier.
Soon after, upon discovering a bomb in Sonny’s car, he and his group confront Calogero. Calogero begs Sonny, who acknowledges his innocence and permits him to depart with tears in his eyes. Calogero joins up with companions who use Molotov cocktails to plot retaliation against the African Americans. Calogero is coerced into joining them, but Sonny pulls over and tells him to get out.
When Calogero finally reaches Jane, she informs him that her brother has acknowledged that Calogero did not attack him. After making amends, Jane and Calogero rush to thwart his companions’ impending attack on Jane’s neighborhood when he suddenly remembers them.
An unbroken Molotov cocktail that the African-American shopkeeper threw back at the lads during the attack entered the car through the window and ignited the Molotov cocktails that were still inside, causing an explosion that killed every person inside. Calogero and Jane come to see the lads’ burnt bodies and the automobile destroyed by flames.
Filming Locations
The movie involves many different locations in New York. The locations include C’s home address, 44-08 30th Ave., Astoria, NY 11103, USA. Sonny’s Bar was located at 4404 30th Ave., Long Island City, NY 11103, USA. Sonny’s funeral was held at 44-15 30th Ave., Long Island City, NY 11103, USA.
The address of the Aqueduct Racetrack was 110-00 Rockaway Boulevard, South Ozone Park, Queens, NY, USA. It was Fordham Social Club, 45-02 30th Ave., Long Island City, NY 11103, USA. The record store is located at 1502 Gravesend Neck Road, Brooklyn, New York, USA.
C’s school was William Cullen Bryant High School, located at 31st Avenue in Queens, New York, USA. Sonny’s house was located at 30-34 45th St., Long Island City, NY 11103, USA.
