Blog 10

Liam Breslin
Dr. Esa
Reel Food
4/26/20
Blog 10
What is your favorite food? Where does it come from? Is it something your family makes often? If so, it is likely that that food is something grounded within your heritage. Heritage is an important part of human culture and is vital to coexisting with each other. This plays a very important role for our brotherly characters in Big Night. Stanley Tucci’s “Segundo” and Tony Shalhoub’s “Primo” are two italian immigrant brothers living and working in 1950’s New Jersey in a family owned Italian restaurant. Throughout the movie, from the very first 10 minutes all the way to the end, it seems as though these brothers are on opposing sides of the same coin. They are both brothers from the same Italian town trying to survive in America, but have completely different immigrant perspectives. Segundo wants to be successful and financially stable and remain in America, but the restaurant is not as popular as the other Italian restaurant down the street, “Pascals”. Equally, these feelings and confusion Segundo deals with certainly affect his relationship with his brother as well as (both) women in his life, his presumed girlfriend Phyllis and Pascal’s wife, Gabriella, whom Segundo is sleeping with. On the other side of the coin, Primo is absolutely captivated by his culture and the food of Italy. It drives his every move, such as his hate of Pascal’s restaurant as well as his eventual iea to return to Italy to work for his uncle. These separate feelings of both brothers makes their relationship throughout the movie constantly conflicting, however there are certain times where they can come together and use each other's strengths to unify. Through cooking the dinner for Louis Prima’s arrival, Segundo requests that Anna attend because Primo was unable to work up the courage to do it, and even the very last scene when they eat breakfast with one another after having a monumental fight on the beach the previous night. Although conflict riddles their relationship at times due to stress of immigration and survival, these brothers in Big Night come together at the most important moments. 

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