Longtime fan praises
Pacino The American Film Institute is finally recognizing what Schaumburg resident Terri Castonzo has known for 35 years — that Al Pacino is one of today’s greatest actors. Pacino will be the recipient of the 35th annual AFI Life Achievement Award June 7 in Los Angeles. The event will be broadcast on the USA Network. The very next day, his latest film — “Ocean’s 13” — will be released in theaters. But for years already, Castonzo has been turning a room of her apartment into a shrine to the actor she first noticed in “The Godfather” in 1972. Photographs, books and copies of his movies cover the walls and shelves of the mirrored room between her living room and bedroom. She and her husband lived in Chicago when “The Godfather” was released and couldn’t get tickets to any of the sold-out theaters in the city. So they trekked all the way out to Barrington to stand in a line that stretched down the block and around the corner at the Catlow Theater. Though it was originally only the Italian-American themes of the movie that brought them out to see it, Castonzo found herself stunned by the authentic performance of its young leading man. She was particularly moved by the polar opposite scenes in which the character of Michael Corleone kills a corrupt police chief and a mobster in an Italian restaurant, then flees to Sicily to fall in love with a beautiful young girl. “He looked like he was really doing it,” she said. “He wasn’t acting.” As film after film has come out, Castonzo has found ever more reasons to respect Pacino for his craft. Among her favorites are “Scent of a Woman,” “Sea of Love,” “Serpico,” “Scarface,” and “Insomnia.” “A lot of actors … every part they play is the same,” Castonzo said. “I look at him and I don’t see Michael Corleone. I don’t think there’s one movie where he’s Al Pacino. He always becomes that character.” In almost equal measure to her respect for Pacino’s acting, Castonzo also feels deep pride in how he conducts himself in his private life. His success has never pressured him into a Hollywood marriage or turned him into fodder for gossip magazines. “He’s above all that. He doesn’t need all that,” Castonzo said. “He’s not a showoff person. He doesn’t look for a lot of praise. He doesn’t need it.” Raised by his mother and his grandparents, Pacino once said that his greatest regret was that his grandfather never lived long enough to see his success, Castonzo said. In short, he’s an ideal Italian-American, she added. “I’m proud of him,” she said. “He never changed his name like a lot of people do, which tells me he’s proud of his name.” |