If there’s one archetype that Robert De Niro is known for playing most frequently, it’s the mobster tough guy. For decades, his work in the genre has dominated how the Italian mob is perceived and depicted in popular culture.
However, one film in 1993 flipped expectations on their head with regard to De Niro as a performer, as well as his choices as a filmmaker: A Bronx Tale.
The Subversion of Audience Expectations
The film marked the first of only two times in his career that Robert De Niro actually sat in the director’s chair for a film. His character, while a central one, also isn’t necessarily the protagonist of the film. Not only that, the film is a mob movie where De Niro plays a character that is unequivocally anti-mob. The film follows De Niro’s son who befriends a local crime boss, played by Chazz Palminteri, as he attempts to steer his son in the right direction, while avoiding the external consequences. There is a softness to his performance in the film that really transforms him out of the more jaded, stoic, borderline sociopathic tendencies that we’re used to seeing him exercise.
Maintaining the “Tough Guy” Look
Despite the clear differences between A Bronx Tale and the vast majority of other works in the mobster subgenre that De Niro is involved in, his performance is still able to channel the more “tough guy” persona that is often expected of his roles.
One element that is often explored through De Niro’s mob films, particularly the ones he’s done with Martin Scorsese, is the depictions of masculinity through a mobster lens. We often see how the protagonists manifest the more toxic elements of their masculinity through their work, their violence, or their general depravity. Masculinity is depicted mostly through the physical strength of the characters, as opposed to the more healthy, protective, emotionally intelligent aspects of proper masculinity.
That’s where A Bronx Tale has the best of both worlds. Masculinity is heavily explored throughout the film, and is depicted through De Niro in a way that is uncharacteristic for him. There are still plenty of intense moments where he stands up to other characters and displays his macho attitude. However, in this film, it is always under the guise of protecting his son from being groomed by the crime family. His character is a loving family man who minds his business, but still stands up for what he believes in when necessary.
The flipside to this, and the side we normally see through De Niro, is explored through Chazz Palminteri’s Sonny LoSpecchio, who uses intimidation, violence, and emotional suppression to manifest his own definition of masculinity.
Caught in the middle of it all, of course, is De Niro’s onscreen son, Calogero, played by Lillo Brancato. Throughout the film, we see him experiment with both men’s definitions of masculinity, and the successes and consequences that come with each. De Niro remains on the sidelines throughout, exercising the strong, silent type muscle, but manifesting it in a far more wholesome way.
The Utilization of Other Classic Actors
‘A Bronx Tale’Credit: Savoy Pictures
While this trio of men remains the central focus of the film, there are plenty of other actors that, by this point, had become mob movie staples that are also present. Kathrine Narducci, Clem Caserta, and Joseph D’Onofrio all make appearances in the film. But, perhaps the most impactful character with regard to screen time is Carmine, played by the incomparable Joe Pesci.
In an additional effort to subvert audience expectations, the film rarely shows Joe Pesci’s character outside of insert shots until the conclusion of the film. When he enters, he is aged greatly through makeup, uncharacteristically calm, kind in Calogero’s time of pain, yet still a greatly intimidating presence. It’s abundantly clear that he’s a character that is not to be trifled with; however, similar to De Niro in the film, he is far more understanding of the young man’s struggles than other characters he’s played likely would have been.
Up until this point, and even beyond, Joe Pesci was known for hilarious, loud, violent, often unpredictable characters. The intensely deliberate choice to make his character in A Bronx Tale the direct antithesis of all of these traits speaks volumes to De Niro’s filmmaking instincts.
Where it All Fits After 30 Years
A Bronx Tale was far from the last crime or mob film that Robert De Niro starred in. He released half a dozen more in the succeeding years of the 90s alone. What the film ultimately represents after all this time is a clear, if brief, manifestation of De Niro’s versatility in the genre. Nobody will ever question his versatility as an actor; however, when you examine the roles that he is most famous for, it’s clear that the man has a type. However, with this film, he proved that not only can he comfortably play a similar role with entirely different priorities, but he can do so while doing some pretty extraordinary work in the director’s chair as well.
