[Vito Marzullo raw #27]

Raw tape #27 for Vito Marzullo documentary. Vito at home #2. Continuation of interview with the Marzullos. Vito Marzullo and his wife discuss his career in politics and their family background, occasionally slipping into an entertaining bout of bickering.

00:00Copy video clip URL Vito Marzullo explains how he and his wife Letizia met, “just like the old country style,” after he saw a picture of her from her relatives and began to write her letters. “So did we fall in love, or did you fall in love with me after all, or did I fall in love with you?” she says. “I don’t know, but we got married,” her husband of 56 years responds.

02:52Copy video clip URL Letizia Marzullo, a native of England, describes her introduction to American politics through her new precinct-captain husband and talks about Vito Marzullo’s early years in politics. “Politics is a hard life, I think,” she says. “You have to love people,” her husband chimes in.

05:29Copy video clip URL “Sometimes he’s a little too open… Sometimes you can avoid saying something, but he doesn’t,” Letizia Marzullo says. “For a politician, she means I’m too outspoken,” her husband says, sharing anecdotes to prove his point. Despite his image as a hardened politician, “if it’s coming out of the mouth, it’s the truth,” his wife says. They discuss the alderman’s career further, although his wife objects to his derision of “intellectuals.”

11:13Copy video clip URL The Marzullos describe a formal event they attended for the Democratic Party, but not without a fair amount of bickering that illuminates their relationship.

13:03Copy video clip URL Another crew member asks how they raised a family around the alderman’s demanding schedule and the open-door policy that made neighbors a constant presence in their home. “Oh, I had control over the children,” she responds before discussing parenting techniques.

14:40Copy video clip URL They describe the changing ethnic demographic of their neighborhood, which was a mixture of various European ethnic groups when they arrived, but was largely Mexican and Puerto Rican at the time of shooting. They also explain how the alderman, who praises the classic “American dream,” studied at a night school at a local YMCA to learn English.

19:21Copy video clip URL “How would you say he’s changed as he’s gotten older?” Weinberg asks. “Use your own judgment,” his wife jokingly responds before saying that his position in politics improves as time goes by. She also pokes fun at his image as a “crusty” politician.