Movie Analysis: A Bronx Tale

The movie "A Bronx Tale" is obviously set in the Bronx and sets a young man Calogero Anello, "C" against the trials and tribulations of growing up incorruptible, in a neighborhood of mob crime and wayward minors. The movie holds characters that fit delinquency terms such as chronic offenders, and characters that fit theories such as the choice theory. Calogero at the end of the movie seems to have an identity crisis as mentioned by Erikson in his theory. Also characters show signs of being latent delinquents, and some characters seem to attribute their actions to the social learning theory. The movie as a whole is a great sign to see the varying degrees of delinquency especially in urban communities. I think the movie also gives people
hope that despite all the odds against children growing up in the midst of crime they do have a choice and a chance to break free and choose their own road.
The word chronic offender applies to most characters in the movie. One of the stars of the movie "Sonny" Chazz Palminteri admits in the movie he had been to jail before. During the movie he is involved in obvious criminal offenses. Two obvious offenses are aggravated assault when his mob friends and him get in a fight with the motorcycles gang Satan's Messengers. Also early in the movie he kills a man in the street. It shows that he is a chronic offender because despite being to jail and obviously being exposed to specific deterrence he still has the urge to commit crimes. Even thought the crimes are never prosecuted and he is never caught. Calogero's friends "Slick and Mario" are both in my eyes chronic offenders. In their youth they commit "small crimes" such as stealing from the food cart man. "Crazy" Mario as he is called in the movie I feel is more of the leader and I think Slick just goes along with what Mario says. It is shown later in the movie that they assault a group of African American's riding bikes through their neighborhood. Then at the end of the movie they try to burn a building down and fire shots inside
in hope of killing someone. It shows that these characters obviously never went through the aging out process and they were most likely destined to be criminals for the rest of their lives. They represent what we now call the chronic 6%. The 6% of people that will stay mixed up in crime one way or another. In the midst of all this crime there is a beacon of hope in Calogero. Even though early in the movie he participates with his friends in stealing food from the food cart. Also he hangs out at the bar with Sonny and his mob friends. But he seems to have gone through the aging out process. When his friends are fighting the African American's he tries to protect them without directly speaking out against his friends actions. Also he doesn't join his friends later and gets out of the car. Calogero is a prime example of the choice theory in action. Calogero shows that he has a choice and he takes a different path. It is seemingly evident throughout the movie that he has a choice but isn't sure what he is planning to do. At the viewing with Joe Pesci he says "I think I am going to give the Bar a break for awhile" it shows he is thinking about leaving that part of life behind him. It gives you the idea maybe he is going to make the right choice.

Calogero at the end of the movie is kneeling at the casket and praying. He seems confused he thought Sonny was wrong about people not caring when Sonny first told him that but now when he looks back he isn't sure. Because when he looks around it doesn't seem to him that anyone cares. I think this is a sign of Calogero having an Identity Crisis. From the time he was a child watching Sonny he always wanted to be a wiseguy it seemed. He wanted to be part of the bar and such. Now that Sonny is dead he isn't so sure. Calogero has come to find most of the things in his life he thought to be true and permanent aren't there anymore. Along with the fact most of his friends are dead and all he has left is his father. Calogero doesn't seem to have an idea of where he is going. He leaves with his father and I think that is symbolic of the path he is planning on taking, had he left with Joe Pesci I would have interpreted it the opposite way. At the end of the movie the evident fact is Calogero is finding many things he thought to be true are not. All starting with the two men weren't fighting over a parking space. When someone has a situation like this, a time laced with deaths and discovering fallacies in morals you held for yourself it is no wonder he is probably having an identity crisis.

Latent delinquents are youths whose family lives lead them to crime for means of gratification.
Nicky Zero is an obvious delinquent whose family life probably led him to where he was at. Nicky Zero as described in the movie was the neighborhood thief. Zero wasn't his actual name though. The movie said his mother called him zero because they said he would never amount to anything. The movie never mentioned a father but it was my impression he didn't have one. With a family life like that where a mother calls you zero and a father not around he is a prime example of a latent delinquent. He probably thrived of people knowing him as Nicky Zero and didn't want to "disappoint" anyone. In the movie he is selling Calogero and his friends a gun, he thinks the whole situation is quite humorous and they even talk about shooting somebody just to do it. Nicky Zero obviously has inexcusable actions but they can be accredited to something more then his bad choices. A theory dealing with social learning explains that delinquent behavior is modeled through contact with some other delinquent. This is evident in every character in the movie. Nicky Zero no doubt learned how to steal or heard stories on how to get certain contraband from the mob presence in his neighborhood. Calogero and his friends in the beginning of the movie are directly mimicking what the mobsters down the street are doing. As children they act like the mobsters and try to guess which one the child is acting
like. This is a great example of the social learning theory. It shows how they learn to walk and talk like mobsters it also shows how the crime in the area has a direct impact on the children's upbringing.

In conclusion the movie is a great juvenile delinquency Rosseta Stone. It touches on most every topic and term you will ever hear in the field they are highly exampled and obviously shown through the movie in its entirety. In the movie Calogero seems to break away from this corrupt life but sadly in reality he will spend the rest of his life in jail. The movie never states a word like latent trait or social learning theory but it rather defines what those words mean. It tries to give a sight of the troubles of urban childhood but also the hope that maybe there is a choice and you are not so victim to the environment that you had no choice in being born into. All in all this is a great movie as a teaching utensil or for your viewing pleasure.