Hi all,
I thought it would be fun to make a post about some of the best movies ever made about organized crime. It's the holidays so I will get back to the serious historical stuff on Sunday. But, in a sense, the movies themselves are highly educational and many are quite accurate. This list will grow and I hope otheers will contribute. The ground rules are simple: the movie has to have organized crime as an important theme. So movies about John Dillinger and Bonnie and Clyde don't count. :p I am lazy so this is part one of the thread
Okay, these are not necessarily in order of personal preference unless I comment in my little synopses.
The Godfather (yep, you KNEW this was coming): Based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Mario Puzo, it's really a miracle that this movie, subsequently named the greatest American movie ever made by AFI and other major sources, was ever made. It was originally going to be a made for TV movie. Thank heaven that didn't happen. The Godfather is an interesting movie for a number of reasons but I will focus on two. First, it is both a movie about cosa nostra and it is a movie about family. In fact the movie really navigates the tension and cohesion between the borgata (crime family) and one's blood family. For those who have been hiding under a rock or were born this morning, The Godfather tells the story of the fall and rise of Vito and Michael Corleone respectively. The movie is set in the time period encompassing the mid 1940s into the mid 1950s. The Godfather concerns itself with the highest echelon of the Mafia in America and in a sense, it portrays the most deadly aspect of the Mafia in its still yet to be rivalled penchant for attaining power unimagined not only by other OC groups, but even by immigrant standards. The characters in The Godfather are those that could be most closely compared to the Roman Caesars; like the Caesars, the highest echelon of the Mafia decides a person's fate with merely a word. The film itself is a masterpiece with exquisite cinematography and masteful acting, directing, and a haunting and unforgettable musical score.
Some trivia: Paramount wanted Robert Redford to play the part of Michael. Their argument was that Redford was a known actor and he would appeal to women. Coppola, while acknowledging this and the fact that indeed there are many blond haired Italians, wanted to capture more of the "Sicilian" look.
Danny Thomas wanted the part of Vito Corleone so badly he threatened to BUY Paramount Pictures just so he could play the role!
Robert DiNero was briefly considered for the role of Michael. He would appear in the sequel as a young Vito.
Oranges = death! The next time you watch The Godfather, notice that oranges are harbingers of doom. Here are a couple of examples (and BTW, the oranges of death hold true for all three Godfather movies):
At Connie and Carlo's wedding, Tessio tosses an orange up in the air and catches it. He later betrays Michael and is whacked.
Vito buys a couple of oranges right before he is shot and when he falls over from the assassination attempt, he knocks over a bushel of oranges.
When Virgil Solozzo enters Vito's office for a "sit down" oranges are clearly visible in Vito's office. Solozzo is later whacked by Michael.
At the big sit down with Barzini and Tattaglia, bowls of oranges are placed in front of each. Both are killed later on the orders of Michael when he has the heads of all the families whacked.
There are many more like these throughout all three movies. See how many you can find.
The Godfather Part II: This movie was the first in Hollywood history to be a true sequel AND it is the ONLY sequel ever to win best picture after its parent film won best picture. The Godfather Part II weaves the story of Michael's deadly rise to power as well as beautiful flashback sequences of Vito's rise to power. Part II is also a wonderful look into a few Sicilian customs as well as touching on the American Mafia's relationship to the Sicilian Mafia. Part II is also a wonderful peak back into early 20th century America and the conditions under which immigrants lived. This movie also features the Kefauver Organized Crime Congressional Hearings. Until his death, FBI chief and women's undergarment fancier J. Edgar Hoover denied that organized crime even existed. Kefauver however had a much more accurate view of how things were. Fortunately for the mob, McCarthy's anti-Communist witch hunt hearings overshadowed Kefauver and no convictions were made from the Kefauver hearings.
One little trivia fact that is really cool: Al Pacino's family came from - you guessed it: Corleone, Sicily! (By the time the movies were in production, the town of Corleone was too industrialized to reflect an early 20th century Sicilian mountain town. The locations in Sicily were Savoca and Forza d'Agro.
Gangs of New York: Set during the time of the American Civil War, this epic film depicts the rise of the Irish mobs versus the "Natives" (English,Welsh, Scotch-Irish). Ironically, what is arguably the definitive story of the Irish in America was shot in ..... (wait for it) ...... Rome, Italy!! This movie is also important as it provides an in depth look at a country toen apart and its greatest city seething from a cauldron of chaos. Daniel Day-Lewis dominates the film but fine performances are turned in by Leonardo DiCaprio, Brendan Gleeson, Cameron Diaz, and Liam Neeson. This movie should have won best picture in 2002. Instead it lost out to the insipid musical "Chicago." I never want to hear Richard Gere sing again, UGHHHHH!!
See you soon for part II in which we will see two more Irish mob movies and two from my paesani!! (Actually, since I am part Irish, I suppose all four are from countrymen!!)
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