One of my favorite categories is gangster films. And, according to several film publications it is the favorite category of the majority of American viewers. Clearly, one movie (series) is responsible for this focus - The Godfather. In an earlier post we talked about movies that were as good as the book and The Godfather almost certainly qualifies. The book was good but the movie was great. There have been several other classics in this segment and several are highlighted below.
As with many of my "categories" definitions are arbitrary. So, while Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs are somewhere on my top 100 overall list, they do not qualify for this one. Nor do the Yakuza films (Japanese gangsters).
And, ordinarily a movie like Leon (also called The Professional) would not qualify either. It is more of a "hit man" film than a true "gangster" movie. But it still fits into the slightly broader category of Film Noir. Either way, its my blog so... I am highlighting this movie before going on the Top 10. This is a Luc Beeson film. It is ranked among the top hundred films on numerous film lists and the top 500 for almost every list I have seen. And, the best part of this film is the first 10 minutes. The star is one Frank Senger. In addition to being a seasoned actor Frank is my brother-in-law. This film plays often on cable and is another one of those that I stop at frequently to watch at least a few minutes. Well worth the rental.
Now, on to my Top Ten Gangster Films - in order...
The Godfather (1972) - One of the great movies of all-time. So much has been written and all of it justified. Even after a third or fourth viewing this movie still really holds together. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. One little known fact - five Coppola's had bit parts, Carmine, Gian-Carlo, Italia, Roman and Sofia. [Remember the guy who played Johnny Fontane (Frank Sinatra)? His name was Al Martino and other than GF Part II and Godfather for TV, he never acted in any other movie until 2006 when he starred in a bomb call Cutout.] The Godfather cost $7MM to make and it has grossed about $300MM - just at the box office. Add in all the merchandising, video game sales etc. and the gross is upwards of $1Billion. Leela is the only person I know who has not seen this movie. We will have to tie her down at some point and make that happen.
Goodfellas (1990) - I liked this movie almost as much at The Godfather. Not a dull moment. Ray Liotta was fantastic as the main character - Henry Hill - as were DeNiro, Pesci, Jackson, Bracco, Imperioli and Sorvino. A Martin Scorsese film, and a couple of his relatives had bit parts. Martin directed about 50 films and had bit parts in 23 of them. The movie was also known as Made Men and Wiseguy. Liotta has been in tons of films but none of his other performances come close to this one. Pesci and Bracco won and were nominated for Best Supportings.
The Godfather, part II (1974) - Won six Oscars. The Best Sequel ever, by far. (A later post will tackle the subject of best sequels, and this movie will be far and away in first place.)
Once Upon a Time in America (1984) - Commented on in an earlier post - this movie is often called the Jewish Godfather. Another DeNiro film, also with Pesci and James Woods, Tuesday Weld and Treat Williams. The film is long but a great saga - 3:47 run time. After a while you just want it to keep on going.
A Bronx Tale (1993) - Robert DeNiro's directorial debut. Chaz Palminteri and DeNiro star, only this time, DeNiro is the straight laced neighborhood bus driver trying to protect his kid from the neighborhood hood. Good vs. evil on lots of different levels.
Miller's Crossing - Great prohibition-era gangsta flick with some excellent but slightly lesser knows - like Albert Finney, John Turturo, Gabriel Byrne and Steve Buscemi (of the Sopranos). If you like this genre you'll really like this film. Very noirish feel to it and an excellent storyline. A Coen brothers written and directed film.
Bonnie & Clyde (1967) - One of the original modern gangster films with Faye Dunnaway, Warren Beatty, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons (Best Supporting Oscar) and Warren Oats. Also a part for Gene Wilder, in his first movie role after a couple of TV bits. Shot in B&W, very effective moody movie about the two famous gangsters, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker - who were actually just a couple of lawless kids on the run. Then they went a little crazy. The final scene is pretty intense, especially when you consider the 1967 release date. Quite a scandal over the violence at the end.
The Departed - (2006) Maybe this was really a good cop / bad cop movie but underlying it all was a mobster and his connections into the Boston PD. This time it is the Irish mafia. So, it makes my list. Leo Dicaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin - what a great cast. The dynamic between Damon and Wahlberg was outstanding. And Nicholson was made for this kind of part. Another Martin Scorcese picture.
The Untouchables (1987) - Other than The Fugitive I cannot think of a better movie made from a TV show. Kevin Costner was himself and did a great job. I always love Sean Connery and no different in this one. Andy Garcia was good too as his brooding self. Really enjoyed Charles Martin Smith in his role. He's been in a ton of movies always in these kind of background parts.
Scarface (1983) - Pacino, Pacino and more Pacino. One of the most violent movies around, this film has generated an amazing following. A so-called Scarface Nation (the name of a book given to me by the Pickle's). All kinds of amazing facts/trivia available from that source.
Honorable Mention:
Donnie Brasco - Pacino, Depp, Madsen. The best scene is the exchange of Xmas presents.
Mean Streets -Scorcese, DeNiro and Harvey Keitel. Almost made the list.
James Cagney - Many of his films qualify. Try: White Heat, The Roaring 20's or Public Enemy - all excellent early gansta pics.
Special Mention:
Casino -DeNiro, Sharon Stone, Pesci and James Woods. Great movie. Also almost made the list, but the category isn't quite right.
Not on this list - The Godfather, Part III - there are very few movies where even the sequel is any good, much less the third, fourth or fifth in the series (see, e.g. Star Wars, Rocky, Halloween, Superman, Harry Potter, Fast and Furious, Alien). This is another one of those continuations that should never have been made.
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Great list. Surprised Carlito's Way and City of God didn't garner attention. IMO, Carlito's Way is superior to Scarface. Also, Bound is up there for me.
ReplyDeleteDoes Snatch fit this category?
Also, I don't know if you're taking requests but how about an "adapted from comic book/graphic novel" category?
ReplyDeleteTruman, great comments. City of God was outstanding but frankly I did not consider it for this category - sort of an American centric view of the gangsta world. But you are right: it was GREAT - will likely make my top 10 ALL-TIME foreign films list.
ReplyDeleteBound - sometimes you miss one and I missed this one. But I will see it now. Love Jen Tilly and Joe Pantoliano so thanks for that recommendation!
And, I didn't really like Carlito's Way that much when I saw it but based on your comments will watch again with an open mind.
Hamm - a category about comics made into movies. Good idea - have you seen Watchmen yet? I read the book and it was very interesting. Yet to see the movie. I will add this category to the master plan. Thanks!
If Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs don't fit into the gangsta category, what category do they fit into?
ReplyDeleteAlso, didn't know that the Untouchables or the Fugitive were made from TV shows- cool trivia! Wayne's World I think should also make the top 10 for that list.
...can't wait for the sequels top 10! That is a much debated list, and I'm excited to see your take on it!
Pickle - two wonderful movies. Loved them both. But I see them as CRIME movies; Dogs, more specifically as a "cops and robbers" film.
ReplyDeleteYes, the main characters in PF were all "mobsters" and so it could have qualified but since I am the god of the category I arbitrarily am holding both for the other category (CRIME).
The Untouchables was an excellent TV show from 1959-1963. At the time, "the most violent show on television." 118 episodes. Robert Stack as Elliot Ness. Fun to watch even now.
And, the Fugitive starred David Janssen, and also ran for four years (from 63-67). In the two part finale they actually caught the one-armed man (until then there was some doubt whether he actually existed). And that two part episode is still the all time most watched show in TV history (in terms of % of TVs tuned in - 72% of the US watched). More viewers for MASH finale and for Dallas "Who SHot JR" episode but not as big a percentage.
Wayne's World is a really fun movie. Ask me about my WW Hat sometime. But it was only a skit on SNL, not a whole show.
With only one film before 1970, focused primarily on mid-century, American Italian/Irish/Jewish mobsters, and directed almost entirely by Italian or Italian-American directors (7 of the 10), your list is sufficiently narrow that most of the following comments are probably off-topic.
ReplyDeleteGiven the content of your list, it's not unusual, I guess, that Coppola & Scorsese each show up more than once, but it did come as a bit of surprise to see De Palma show up as often. I loved Carrie, but De Palma always seemed creepily misogynistic to me (as opposed to the straightforward misogyny of, say, Spike Lee). And I suppose in the context of his later work, Carrie counts in that regard as well.
Still, the early rap on De Palma was that he was ripping off Hitchcock and doing so in shallow, but flashy, ways that added little additional content. So I guess the misogyny was part of the package. He would always defend the copying of Hitchcock, and eventually others, as homage. At any rate, without commenting on whether he was engaging in shameless mimicry or real homage, "shallow" and "flashy" seemed about right. As a result, I haven't seen many of his films.
So, I've never seen Scarface. Maybe it was out of respect for Howard Hawks and Paul Muni. Or perhaps my lurid-o-meter couldn't handle the combo of De Palma, Pacino & Stone. Similarly, The Untouchables started out with three strikes -- De Palma, Costner & Mamet -- despite my love for the old TV show and appreciation for the talents of De Niro, Connery, Garcia & Morricone. It didn't disappoint. Costner was as wooden as ever -- sometimes I think his best film performance was as the corpse in The Big Chill -- and De Palma managed to recreate the Odessa Steps scene from Battleship Potemkin. I can watch this on TV, but it dies on the big screen; it has no soul. Give me White Heat any day.
Finally, before I veer dangerously off-topic, did you consider American Me?
In a recent review of Waltz with Bashir, the author cited an observation by Francois Truffaut that struck me as pretty insightful: Truffaut suggested that it was impossible to make an anti-war film because the act of presenting war on film necessarily glamorized it. I think this is equally true of the gangster film. Certainly it is true of the films in this list. Still, Gomorrah, a recent release about the Neapolitan Camorra, seems pretty unglamorous and it's fairly amazing. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.
Now, at the risk of falling into a rut, I'll confess that the first films that leapt to my mind upon seeing this post were, naturally enough, French and from the period 1937-1970. To be honest, this is a relatively new area that I'm slowly discovering (and, fortunately, the films in question are experiencing a bit of a revival): Pépé le Moko (1937), with Jean Gabin, released the same year as Grand Illusion; Rififi (1955), directed by blacklisted American Jules Dassin before his eventual return with films like Topkapi and The Naked City; Touchez pas au grisbi (1954), with Jean Gabin again and an early role for Jeanne Morreau; Classes tous risques (1960), with the incomparable Lino Ventura and a young Jean-Paul Belmondo, released in the same year as Breathless. It looks like Rififi is being remade for 2011.
The director that piqued my interest in these films was Jean-Pierre Melville. Born Jean-Pierre Grumbach, Melville took the last name in homage to Herman Melville. He also had an affinity for Stetsons and American cars. He had a profound influence on the French New Wave (and even had a small part in Breathless).
The film that got me hooked was Bob le flambeur (1955), a great film that could easily have been considered within the gambling category. This film was remade as The Good Thief, with Nick Nolte. Melville's gangster films explore the "code" of the criminal class and their relationships to the police and to society as a whole. As with nearly all noir films, the code leads to only one real outcome: tragedy. Other films exploring the French underworld by Melville include:
* Le Doulos (1962), with Jean-Paul Belmondo, about informing and betrayal.
* Le samourai (1967), again with Belmondo. For me, this film sealed the argument that film noir, Westerns and samurai films are all, really, the same film.
* Le cercle rouge (1970), with Alain Delon & Yves Montand. A very dark film, a remake is in production.
* Un flic (1972), with Delon, Catherine Deneuve & Richard Crenna, again concerning the relationship between police and criminals.
Melville also had a number of excellent films outside of the gangster/noir genre. One of these -- Léon Morin, prêtre (Belmondo as a priest!) -- will be starting a brief run at the Film Forum in NYC in less than a week. But possibly his best film -- and one of the best war films I've ever seen -- is Army of Shadows (L'armée des ombres). Made in 1969, it wasn't released in the US until 2006. Lino Ventura stars and is incredible. A must see.
This blog sleeps with the fishes.
ReplyDelete-TheGraveWolf