Mafia movies have few rules when it comes to life and death. But killing one’s own mother is something even the bloodiest mafia movies wouldn’t touch.
Hoboken resident Frank Gigante’s short film Mamma’s Heart documents one gangsters struggle between the love for his mother and his dedication to the family.
A New Jersey native, Gigante was born in Hoboken before moving to the Puglia region of Italy in 2005, where he landed many different roles including two feature-length films L’ariamara and Frankie Facciatosta and the Search for Success.
“Even if he killed her, would the mother’s heart forgive him?” – Frank Gigante
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Wanting to explore the idea of a mother’s love in film, Gigante took forgiveness to an unprecedented level for a mafia film.
“Even if he killed her,” Gigante said, “would the mother’s heart forgive him?”
A mother’s love
The mother’s character was played by Hoboken resident Yolanda Romano whose work in Mamma’s Heart was her first appearance in a short film.
“The part came naturally to me,” Romano said, “because I’m also a mother.” Romano, who hails from Salerno, Italy, is a long-time friend of Gigante and his family.
“It was the hardest thing for me to do,” Gigante said, “asking Yolanda to play a part where she’d be killed. But I wanted to leave the final decision [if she was killed] up to the audience – to play on a mix of consciousness and a dream.”
The cast of Mamma’s Heart includes Frank Gigante, Yolanda Romano, Jack Genchi, Steven A. Cohen, and director of photography William Osorio.
Film festivals
Last year, Gigante’s film Role Play was selected in the Hoboken International Film Festival and he hopes this year Mamma’s Heart will have the same honor. He has submitted his film to many other festivals and was already selected in the smaller Bergenfield Film Festival.
Gigante was even complimented by a well-known Italian-American actor from Hoboken who might be interested in funding a project with him in the near future. “You’re on the right track,” the actor said, “but Frankie, we don’t do that to our mothers.”
Gigante’s next project will be a movie about Italian Americans and African Americans in the mid-1900s entitled, Forbidden Blood. For now however, Gigante is hoping Mamma’s Heart is well received in the film community.
“Some people may like it and some people may not,” Gigante said, “but the message is about forgiveness.”
For more information about Gigante and his new film, please visit: www.frankgigante.com.
Sean Allocca can be reached at current@hudsonreporter.com