Gangster Movies: Scarface and Godfather
The infancy of gangster films can be traced back to the early 1930's, with such movies as Scarface, Little Caesar, and White Heat. These movies are considered classics of the gangster genre for several reasons. They were each made during an era where real gangsters were making daily headlines. Hollywood captured the authenticity of current life, and adapted it such a way as to make it attractive for a movie audience to enjoy. Another example is the classic gangster movies glamorized the gangster, while portraying the ordinary citizen as boring. Audiences found themselves routing for the bad guy. This was morally wrong in that society and threats of federal regulation forced the moviemakers to tone down the hoodlum image. Generations later, a new breed of gangster films emerged. The Godfather I is considered a baroque gangster film that set new standards for the genre, thus becoming a new classic. Many aspects of the Godfather I differ from the classic 1930's gangster films. For example, in this "new breed" of gangster films, each gang is made up of members of a family. Family members are usually blood relatives, or someone that has married into the family. Few exceptions are made to welcome non-related members. There
A final example of the new generation of mobsters is that they demand respect, above everything else. For example, in the opening scene, we see an extreme close up of Bonasera's face, and a very slow zoom out to a wide angle as he explains to Don Corleone the unfortunate circumstances of his daughter's brutal beating by two boys. By the end of Bonasera's story, the camera is now at a wide angle, showing the out of focus back side of Don Corleone. He implores the Don for justice against the two boys. The Don does not feel that he should help Bonasera, simply because he did not treat the Don with respect. Nevertheless, Bonasera finally asks for the Don's friendship and shows his respect by kissing the Don's hand. The Don then agrees to provide him with justice. Another scene in the Godfather I that exemplifies a new classic gangster genre that differs from the old classic genre is the approach they took towards the movie producer to put Don Corleone's godson, Johnny Fontane, into his new motion picture. The Don sends Tom Hayden to Hollywood to politely, but firmly, stress the importance of Johnny being cast for the lead role. The Corleone family tries to muscle the producer without violence. Instead, Tom threatens him with guaranteed union troubles and a drug scandal on one of his contract actors. After the producer ultimately refuses to cast the Don's godson for a personal and vindictive reason, Tom leaves for home immediately to report the bad news to the Don. That evening, this new generation of mobsters hit in a way that the classic generation would never have dreamed of. For in the next scene, we see daybreak at the producer's lavish home. First, a long shot of the back of the house a
Some common words found in the essay are:
White Heat, Instead Tom, McCloskey Italian, Nevertheless Bonasera, Solluzzo McCloskey, Don Corleone, Hayden Hollywood, gangster movies, , Johnny Fontane, classic gangster, classic gangster movies, gangster films, mid camera, Don Corleone's, generation mobsters, example generation mobsters, camera shots, wide angle, example generation, baroque gangster, elevated subway, generation classic gangster, mid camera shot, breed gangster films,
Approximate Word count = 1154
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
