A Bronx Tale Plot

A Bronx Tale is a 1993 film set in New York City during the turbulent era of the 1960s. It was the directorial debut of Robert De Niro, and follows a young man as his path in life is guided by two father figures, played by De Niro and Chazz Palminteri. It also includes a brief appearance by Joe Pesci. It was written by Palminteri, and based partially upon his childhood.

De Niro did not direct another film for thirteen years. In 2006, his second directorial effort, the Academy Award-nominated The Good Shepherd, was released.

The movie opens in 1960 with Lorenzo Anello's (Robert De Niro) son Calogero (Francis Capra) witnessing a murder committed by the local Mafia boss, Sonny (Chazz Palminteri). When Calogero chooses to keep quiet when questioned by police officers, Sonny takes a liking to him. Calogero starts visiting Sonny and his posse almost every day, much to the dismay of his father, a hard-working bus driver struggling to make ends meet. Eight years later, in 1968, Calogero (now played by Lillo Brancato Jr.) has grown into a young man. He will eventually have to make the choice between his two mentors. He also pursues an interracial relationship with an African American girl named Jane (Taral Hicks), and has to cope with this while being in the company of racist friends who coincidentally attack the girl's brother and his friends, and who later plan to raid an African American neighborhood.

A Bronx Tale is generally ranked with other great films of the Mafia film genre. It contains several violent scenes, including a savage beating of a biker gang by the Mafia, and Calogero's friends' tragically botched incursion into the African American neighborhood.

A Bronx Tale was filmed in three New York City neighborhoods. Though set entirely in the Bronx, only one of these locations was actually in that borough. The Fordham neighborhood in which Calogero lives was actually filmed in Astoria, Queens; the black neighborhood said to be on and around Webster Avenue was actually filmed at East 15th Street and Gravesend Neck Road in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn; finally, the scene set on the Bronx's City Island was actually filmed in that location.

Palminteri adapted the screenplay from his one-man show of the same name. The show had successful runs in Los Angeles and Off-Broadway. De Niro saw the show and approached Palminteri for the film rights. But Palminteri refused to sell the rights unless he was guaranteed the role of Sonny.

Palminteri based the character of Calogero on himself; his real first name is Calogero. The Lucchese crime family mobster Louis Inglese a.k.a "Gigi The Whale" was the inspiration for Chazz Palmineri's character "Jo-Jo The Whale" in the film.