Revenge, Masculinity and Glorification of
Violence in the Godfather
Abstract: Crime films have been the most enduringly popular genre since the dawn of sound era in Hollywood.
Mob and gangster films are a sub-genre of crime films and deals with the mafia and their organized crime focusing on rise and fall of power. These films primarily have stacks of money, guns, flashy cars, illegal goods, cluster of goons, crime families, and a plot with a central theme coupled with violence. Hollywood gangster films in the
1930’s had liberally drawn inspiration from the newspapers and books of the era. Films of gangster genre are strongly driven by themes such as power, loyalty, betrayal, rivalry, morality, revenge, masculinity, materialism etc.
Motifs
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The Godfather, a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola exposes the dark side of the American dream. Betrayal, revenge, masculinity, morality, and violence are some of the predominant themes which drive the film The Godfather. This paper focuses on the study, portrayal and execution styles …show more content…
They also highlight the crime victim’s life and their struggle to justice. Cinematic plot of these films portray real life situations and characters from true events and past crime records. Money, power, greed, revenge, gambling, drugs, murder, robbery, masculinity, violence, etc., are some of the central themes of crime and gangster films. Characters playing the role of gangsters and the bad guys are often personified with materialistic, immoral, and dishonest traits. “The first gangster film in the history of cinema was The Musketeers of Pig Alley, a 1912 American short drama film directed by D. W. Griffith.”[1]
Early gangster films were produced from a non-criminal point of view or precisely placing it, a law-abiding view, i.e. the story is narrated from the perspective of a character or a system, which is trying to stop the crime.[2][3]
Later writers and directors started exploring the other side of the story. According to Dirks, first film which was shot from a gangster’s point of view was Josef von Sternberg’s Underworld (1927). Several film critics consider this as the
“I am like any other man. All I do is supply a demand” – Al Capone. 1920’s Chicago, a place riddled with crime and vice became victim to a cultural widespread of lawlessness. Research indicates that the iconic mafia Lord Al Capone “Scarface” saw Chicago as his domain to commit unjust actions however his actions weren’t the sole contributor to the Chicagoan chaos in 1920’s - 1930’s.
Gangs began fighting for their territories which led to destruction and death. Violent crime became prominent in the era of prohibition. Capone was one of the major leaders in the violent crime. He organized one of the worst murders during this era, the St. Valentine 's Day Massacre. The St. Valentine Day Massacre is just one example of the numerous murders committed in the mobsters search for territory.
Al Capone came to Chicago in 1919 at 20 years old and became one of the city’s most successful gangsters in 3 years while attacking and defying prohibition (Karamanski). Al Capone, being one of the top gangsters, committed many crimes which involved disregarding the prohibition and many other gang related crimes. But Capone’s success and legacy left a hold on Chicago. Before Capone, Chicago was always worried about its reputation but after, Capone and other criminals turned Chicago against its reputation and pushed Hollywood to enforce a gangster image on the city (Karamanski). Chicago didn’t wanted to be seen as a crime and gangster ridden city, but the acts of many criminals, including Al Capone, established Hollywood’s gangster image of Chicago, which the city would never be able to get rid of.
Since the end of the cowboy times gangsters have ruled the crime of cities. They don’t do the bank robbing that the cowboys did. Gangsters get more into the business of selling things people desire. They sold drugs, alcohol, and women. They sold alcohol, prohibition made that illegal, so people would buy alcohol if someone would sell it.
The films Gangs of New York and Goodfellas both directed by Martin Scorsese and are based in New York, the former in the 1860's and the latter in 1960's. Scorsese is known for directing gangster films with an historical accuracy. Gangs of New York was based on an era rather than a specific person's story. He took some artistic liberties with dates and personalities but based the story around characters known in the gang rings in the 1860's. Goodfellas however is based on a true life story of Henry Hill who was a member of a New York based branch of the Mafia.
Since the beginning of time there have always been clicks and groups that were made up of people who had the same goals in mind or same interests. However, nowadays gangs consist mostly of people who commit the same type of crimes together that involve drug charges or murders. Gangs noticeably started getting their “bad image” beginning with a man named Al Capone. The rebellion started with the prohibition era. Al Capone was the most powerful gangster in Chicago during this era.
The Godfather is a mob film focuses on the Corleone Family, with its head Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) trying to find a suitable heir
Accessed February 13, 2018. http://allthatsinteresting.com/five-points-gangs-bowery-boys . Rabbit75. " Gangs of New York: The History That Inspired the Movie."
The movies made car crashes, gunfire, and killing seem like wonderful things just because these gangsters had cool cars, girlfriends, and nice clothes (Lieurance 71). These gangsters were so glorified in the movies, but in real life, they were no joke. “During the first ten years of the 18th amendment, the murder rate climbed to 78% across the country and the arrests for drunken driving increased by 81%” (Hanson). One of the most popular and well-known gangsters in the 1920s was Al Capone (Lieurance 72). His most popular nickname was “Scarface” because when he was young he was attacked by a man named Frank Galluccio that cut his face three times with a razor (Lieurance 72).
This was life for the citizens in Chicago, everyone was kept in constant fear for their lives if they ever crossed Capone. The Federal Government knew they had to control the violent city of Chicago by eliminating the Gaffron 2 criminal that was behind it all, Al Capone. This is when our heroes enter, The Untouchables. In the movie, The Untouchables were a team assembled by Federal Treasury Officer, Eliot Ness, to help combat the massacres by mobsters in Chicago. The Federal Ban of alcohol (prohibition) led to an illegal market for liquor and in turn, more crime.
As a producer/director it is hard to precisely depict genuine occasions that depend on a genuine story. Edward James Olmos went up against that test as he featured and coordinated the gang related motion picture in light of genuine occasions titled American Me. Brutal scenes go with the job when making films about packs and mobsters, and Olmos saved no cost with American Me. Olmos ' offered a reasonable delineation of how the Mexican Mafia started and in addition what it resembled for a youthful Chicano to experience childhood in Los Angeles amid the 1980 's, and the 1940 's. What can be troublesome about recounting the account of posse life is the way that on the off chance that you reveal excessively data about what truly happened, there can be shocking repercussions that accompany it. Robert Lopez composed a piece 1996 in the Los Angeles Times remaining that Olmos
This would spark gang wars which would tear cities apart. Aside of bootlegging, the mobs committed many other illegal acts including murder, theft, and managing prostitution rings. The Untouchables is a TV series based on 1920’s Chicago and is about the most infamous gangster of all time, Al Capone. Capone was notourious for smooth business deals in making maximum profit as well as keeping the peace, until he was crossed. The Untouchables is quite an interesting series, It’s full of action packed scenes that keep the viewer on the edge of their seat!
“Essential for the movie is the time and the years; here I’m more interested in realistic and allegorical. The most important thing is the feeling of hallucinations, travel in dreams, born because of opium, which begins and which ends the film.” – Leone. This essay is an attempt to investigate how Leone, in his film Once upon a Time in America, created a narrative that involves the spectator, gives more impact, tells a number of stories, and moves between time frames.
The Godfather (1972) is said to be one of the greatest films ever made. When this movie was released in 1972, it was nominated for Ten Academy Awards and it won three: Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film was adapted from the book with the same name written by award winning author of mafia fiction, Mario Puzo. This film takes place in a span of ten years following the life of Don Corleone, the head of the Corleone Crime Family. It was a film that changed the history of cinema, introducing a very talented filmmaker and several acting legends in the telling of a story of a Sicilian Crime Family.
As a result, The Godfather ends up becoming a successful blockbuster, but it’s also artistic, and reflective of our society. The Godfather caters to both casual and critical audiences. Coppola uses graphic violence to draw in casual viewers, but he draws in critical viewers by having the film become a social critique of society. Auteur films are meant to give us a view of the world. In addition, the film draws parallels between the mafia and the police, by essentially stating that our society is corrupt.