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immigration scenes
	Topic by: kingturtle Posted: September 30, 2005 - 7:35 PM PDT Last Reply: October 25, 2005 - 6:48 PM PDT

author	topic: immigration scenes
kingturtle	post #1  on September 30, 2005 - 7:35 PM PDT   i posted this question about a year ago i think. but there's new blood here, and i wanted some new input. i teach a U.S. History class, and i have a unit on Immigration. i want to share with the class some scenes from movies that SHOW the immigrant experience. for example, the Ellis Island scene in The Godfather II, and the slave ship scene in Amistad. Please post your suggestions :)
pooja	post #2  on September 30, 2005 - 7:47 PM PDT   Do you want an accurate and realistic immigration experience? If not, try Green Card Fever.
dpowers	post #3  on September 30, 2005 - 9:05 PM PDT   an important early one is chaplin's short the immigrant from 1917, in the collection chaplin mutuals, vol 1. among other jokes it has the tramp kicking an immigration official's butt. so you're talking about border processing and travel, not like cultural interface stuff.
pooja	post #4  on September 30, 2005 - 9:26 PM PDT   I don't know...otherwise I would have suggested Far and Away and Avalon and stuff like that... there was that Andie MacDowell movie...was Peter Weir the director?
kolohe61	post #5  on October 1, 2005 - 12:02 AM PDT   > On September 30, 2005 - 7:35 PM PDT kingturtle wrote: > --------------------------------- > i posted this question about a year ago i think. but there's new blood here, and i wanted some new input. > > i teach a U.S. History class, and i have a unit on Immigration. i want to share with the class some scenes from movies that SHOW the immigrant experience. for example, the Ellis Island scene in The Godfather II, and the slave ship scene in Amistad. > > Please post your suggestions :) > --------------------------------- There's the "Ellis Island" miniseries, but it's not on DVD. Available on VHS according to IMDB
kingturtle	post #6  on October 5, 2005 - 7:32 PM PDT   what i am looking for are different scenes in movies which depict an immigrant experience during the immigration processes....since it is a U.S. history class, the immigrant's destination should be the U.S.
Eoliano	post #7  on October 5, 2005 - 7:51 PM PDT   Though I seriously doubt these will likely suit your needs, how about El Norte, The Border, Green Card or Scarface? ^_^
kohnfused1	post #8  on October 6, 2005 - 2:43 PM PDT   How about this? It touches on the same subject, different species though.
underdog	post #9  on October 6, 2005 - 3:31 PM PDT   I was going to recommend Pawel Pawlikowski's Last Resort, but that's a British film. (About Russian immigrants to the UK.) Quite excellent, though. And it's not out on DVD here, either, so... never mind. How about: The unfairly maligned Heaven's Gate. I also recommend Jim Sheridan's In America. Captures the struggles of modern Irish family immigrating to America, autobiographical.
pooja	post #10  on October 6, 2005 - 3:46 PM PDT   How about this? It touches on the same subject, different species though.
pooja	post #11  on October 6, 2005 - 3:48 PM PDT   How about this? It touches on the same subject, different species though.
DLeonard	post #12  on October 6, 2005 - 5:25 PM PDT   Elia Kazan did a movie called America, America. I saw it a long time ago, so I don't remember it too well, but it detailed the life a recent immigrant and probably included scenes of his arrival. Doesn't appear to be on DVD though. What about illegal immigration? John Sayles's Lone Star had several moments involving border crossings. There's also that clip from the Sipmsons where Grandpa recounts his journey to America. As their ship sails into New York harbor past the Statue of Liberty, his father states, "There Abe, that's our new home." Cut to the family actually living in the Statue of Liberty. Don't forget, the Titanic was carrying many immigrants to America on its one time voyage.
Eoliano	post #13  on October 6, 2005 - 5:41 PM PDT   > Elia Kazan did a movie called America, America. Good one DL! I had comletely forgotten about America, America. Pity it's not on DVD.
pooja	post #14  on October 6, 2005 - 6:21 PM PDT   I guess The Terminal would qualify... and how about Born in East L.A.? Getting stuck south of the border and having no way to prove you're American... a comedy for white Americans but a real potential nightmare for the rest of us...
underdog	post #15  on October 7, 2005 - 10:32 AM PDT   While we're speaking immigration from south of the border, Gregory Nava's El Norte is maybe the best film ever on that subject. And, alas, not available on DVD. Or, it appears, even on VHS anymore. A crying shame.
artifex	post #16  on October 7, 2005 - 12:02 PM PDT   Immigration? But only to the USA? I think Avalon might have a little of what you're looking for.
kingturtle	post #17  on October 25, 2005 - 6:48 PM PDT   you are all very helpful. i truly appreciate it. showing 5 to 10 minute segments of movies helps drive home visually what i am trying to get across through my lectures and projects. even something like the simpsons is useful. if they understand the material in my unit, then they get the jokes lying in the simpsons. anyway, thanks!