In Saturday Night Fever, portrayal of scenes and actions that were once prohibited due to the Hays Code allowed the characters to develop while giving a sense and portrayal of who Italian Americans are. Many of the characteristics exhibited by Tony, his friends and other characters relate to the first time they were explored and used in the film, The Godfather. For example, in Saturday Night Fever, there is a scene in which Tony and his friends are beat up by the Barracudas (Hispanic gang) and vice versa, when they go to get payback and avenge their friend Gus who was hospitalized (AFI). This relates to scenes in which the Godfather displayed brutality, blood, and mob violence (Browne). In general, such violence would be prohibited in films
Boyz n the Hood, filmed in 1991, illustrates the problems young African Americans endure while growing up in “the hood”. The Outsiders portrays similar struggles with young white males of a low socioeconomic class. Both films take place in tough neighborhoods where many young men are killed due to violent crimes, like drive-bys or street fights. Both films also depict a main character who is struggling with his own identity and place in the community; however, The Outsiders takes on a much darker tone than Boyz n the Hood likely due to the point the director of Boyz n the Hood was trying to make on ending black-on-black violence. In both Boyz n the Hood and The Outsiders, the directors portray the young male’s struggle to overcome impulsivity
“Need a haircut, greaser?’” “’How’d you like that haircut to begin just below the chin?”(Hinton, pg.5) A Soc says, as Ponyboy gets jumped by a few Socs. There is a colossal rivalry between the Socs and the greasers, and it has always been that way. The two gangs cannot see each other and put aside their differences, thus the greasers, the poorer gang, on occasion, experience “jumps”, or in other words gets injured by a couple of Socs. This goes the same for West Side Story, a movie created in 1961. In West Side Story, two gangs, the Sharks (Puerto Ricans), and the Jets (White), are rivals, and one gang is thought of a lesser group of people. Slowly but surely, both gangs in both The Outsiders and West Side Story and eventually put aside their differences. In both West Side Story, and The Outsiders, the gangs learn a very important theme: “I should do what is right, even if it means crashing the stereotypes.”
Have you ever noticed in “The Outsiders” the differences and the similarities between the Greasers and the Socials? Well I will be explaining and showing why the Socials and Greasers are different and why they are the same. I will also be giving evidence supporting Ponyboys thought that Greasers and Socials are the same.
“ They rely on a viewer's preconceived idea of how a particular person or ethnic group should act and merely fulfill these expectations. External signs and cues are used to indicate and suggest the veneer of culture. Dress, eating habits, and language accents are exaggerated…” Even though the directors of the movie did not directly refer to Italian Americans, the way they portrayed the characters based on their language, clothes, food and etc. indirectly told the audience that the characters were of Italian background. By seeing this occur in every movie and show, the public got accustomed to seeing Italian Americans as the mafia and failed to recognize that the mafia was only a small percentage of Italian Americans and the rest were just like ordinary people trying to make a better life.
The Greasers and the Socs' Are two rival gangs who try to claim there place in a small town. Throughout the book and movie an interesting twist occurs, Ponyboy runs away and meets with Johnny Cade, they walk throughout a vacant lot and didn't expect to see the Socs' and their blue Mustang . This is when the interesting twist occurs one of the greasers called Bob had tried to drown Ponyboy and Johnny having no choice, killed him with a switch blade. The movie had quite a turn as it included different details.
When talking about a true American crime story, one can start and end the discussion with one of the most powerful and influential true stories ever told: GoodFellas. Based on the incredible true story, the film follows the rise and fall of Lucchese crime family associates Henry Hill and his friends throughout the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 1980s. Originally written as the non-fiction novel “Wise Guys” by Nicholas Pileggi, the story takes you deep into the world of arguably the most notorious crime posse America has ever known: the Italian Mafia. It is viewed by scores of critics and moviegoers alike as one of the greatest crime/drama movies ever filmed – so needless to say, with such a
The gangster genre within films in America has accomplished numerous positive criticisms and constant willing audiences due to containing outstanding spectacles and mind-blowing action. The Godfather, being second on the IMDb Top 250 Movies, has set a new popular concept to life within the Mafia from their point of view. Doing so, creating a positive association. Yet within Italy, the same topic contains a complete different view. Movies such as I Cento Passi demonstrate unenthusiastic view by those whom are outside yet negatively affected by those members. Unlike American films, the gangsters are not as often viewed at the protagonist and are the main causes for the problematic events. But how different is Italian Mafia and American
The Popularity of Gangster Films in the Early Nineteen-Thirties The late 1920s in America was a particularly tumultuous period of time for the country. The Wall Street Crash in 1929 had led to high levels of unemployment and dissatisfaction within the country. The Depression (1929-1934), which was a direct result of The Wall Street Crash, led to a breakdown of industry and commerce within the country and weakened its global position as a superpower. People began to realise that the ideal which had been frequently promoted by governmental propaganda of The American Dream which suggested that "success, in the democratic and classless society guaranteed by the
First, Hollywood and the media had a negative portrayal of Italian-Americans compared to other ethnic groups. In the article Family, Gang, and Ethnicity in Italian-themed Hollywood Gangster Films, the author Silvia Dibeltulo states that in movies where both Italian-American and Irish-American gangsters were portrayed, Italian-American gangsters were portrayed as more “alien” whereas their Italian-American counterparts were portrayed as more “assimilated” . This led to Italians being negatively associated with the stereotypes from these movies, which led to anxiety across the country. The article goes on to state more differences between the depictions of Italian-American and Irish-American gangs in films. The
Carlo Gambino, the man who is the family namesake, never served a day of jailtime in his life. He liked to keep low key, but many things are attributed to this family. Murder Inc., an infamous group of talented, for-hire hitmen, was started by Albert Anastasia, member of the Gambino family. While this was well publicized and talked about, perhaps the most publicized and talked about Mafia happening recently was the John Gotti case. John Gotti, Don of the Gambino family, was “ratted out” but one of his underlings, Sammy “The Bull” Gravano. Sammy, in return for this favor to the police, served only five years in jail for twenty murders. However, this offense, breaking the “Omerta” is one of the worst possible things any member of the Mafia could ever do. As Michael Corleone says to his wife Kay, “Don’t ask me about my business, Kay.” (Godfather) Everyone in the Mafia must learn many, many rules and live by all of them. Of most importance is Omerta, as stated before, but many guidelines are set for way of life as well. Members cannot show signs of weaknesses. Crying and wearing glasses are two such things. Also, women are looked upon as inferior and a couple that is unable to produce sons is frowned upon. Since power is very influential in how this business is run, members must know their place because “someone always wants more, that’s how wars start.” (Anonymous) Making reference to the movie “The Godfather” is
Drugs, violence, drugs, materialism, drugs, immorality and more drugs. The movie explores a lot of themes, crime, politics, psychology and the “American Dream”, all which is portrayed in a bloody and foul-mouthed manner. Scarface is a glorified portrayal and subversion of crime life at the same time. Tony Montana is an immigrant that has nowhere else to go, he then goes to a life of crime, got rich, and then goes down. It is a common misconception that the movie glorifies violence. The conceptions are wrong; the movie portrays violent scenes as a major turning point for characters, both tragic and bittersweet. Like the tagline of the movie. Tony loved “The American Dream, with a
Francis Ford Coppola directed the gangster crime drama film, The Godfather (1972), inspired by the novel of the same name, written by Author Mario Puzo. The film plays out in the beginning how Don Corleone declined to join the narcotics business with notorious drug lord Sollozzo. With this in mind, one of the greatest gangster films created by a man who decided to lead, and not follows. Moreover, explaining the formalist approach for this film which covers an array of elements that include plot structure, camera techniques, editing, mise en scene, and sound. The following film critique will analyze “The Godfather,” beginning by utilizing the formalist approach theory, camera technique and sound gradually introducing additional theories
One of the greatest films and novels of all time, The Godfather by Mario Puzo is the book that I chose to write my report about. This book falls under the drama and crime fiction genres, due to its dramatic story of people being shot and murdered. The Godfather takes place in New York during the years 1945-1955, right after World War II. Most of the story is written from a narrator 's perspective, save for two points in the book in which the story becomes a first person point of view. One of the themes portrayed in the novel is that family always comes first, even if it isn’t a blood-related family, but a crime family. The novel’s theme is primarily that of loyalty, which is a crucial plot device because some of the Corleone family
The Italians are associated with organized crime and are also shown as close to their families as shown in the movie The Godfather where the characters are associated with family, violence, and food, such as pasta. The TV series, Sopranos portrayed Italian men as leaders of the house with women being housewives. However, a
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka describes the story of Gregor Samsa life, working an unpleasant job that leaves no time for him. His commitment to providing for his family left him feeling alienated from himself and others. Fight club by Chuck Palahniuk is about a man named Jack, who suffers from insomnia and is dissatisfied with his life. He feels distant so he needs to attend support group meetings just to experience human connection. To escape his sleep deprived state he creates an outlet to change into Tyler Durden. Gregor was a cockroach and Jack was an insane individual. Both had turned out to be so overnight. Their stories run shockingly parallel. Both of these progressions cause each character more problems than they had, to begin with. These stories, written years