Thematic Analysis: GoodFellas, The Godfather, and The Departed

Overall as a whole the mobster genre of movies is all pretty similar in general.  These movies are generally all based on committing underworld crimes such as shipping drugs, gambling, racketeering, etc.  They are also very oriented on centering around certain religious immigrant groups like in the case of these movies either Italians or the Irish.  Being from the true religious backgrounds these mobsters come from they are all about following the church and its rules.  This leads to them being very unacceptable of gays and generally anyone who is not of their own personal religion.

In The Departed Matt Damon’s is often heard throwing homophobic slurs at the beginning of the movie, but they cool down a bit, but can still be heard throughout the movie.  Two of the movies I watched in The Godfather and Goodfellas women are generally treated like you would think a 1950s women was treated.  They are expected to cook, clean, and take care of the children with no questions asked.  The men in Goodfellas and The Godfather would also have affairs and their wives would be beaten if they were to question their husbands about it.  This is different in The Departed however when the woman has the affair and not the man.  This I think shows that men aren’t always the scumbags they get the bad rap of being, maybe its the woman who knows.

The idea of family is always important in all of these movies.  Family is above the most important thing in these mobsters lives.  I think this again always stems from these mobsters wanting people around that they can trust and most of the family friends are very old friends that have been connected with the families for years.  These mobsters are very cautious of accepting new members into their group and if you watch The Departed you will see how bad things can go in a hurry when this happens.

These movies are centered around white people almost exclusively.  African-Americans are hardly scene in any of the three movies and when they are they are always in a lowered position like a servant.  This issue both speaks about class and race as well as religion I think.  I think it all stems from religion because most of these mobsters marry inside the religion and/or ethnic group.  Then some of these movies are set before the civil rights movement so African-Americans didn’t have much say in America and most of these mobsters are rich from their underground tax free businesses.  When people tend to have money they do sometimes look down on other people who are less fortunate and many of these mobsters have to work from the ground up so they get that sense of entitlement.

Mob movies in general keep the same format as each other, but are branching out to more and more things nowadays especially with The Departed as it is was much different from GoodFellas and The Godfather.  What mob movies do in my opinion is they bring out the best in cinema.  They always deal with religion, murder, right and wrong, and a bunch more issues that I think many Americans can really relate to.  I know not many people commit crimes, but it always is something that people can some how relate to in someway.

The Godfather

The final film that I have decided to close read is The Godfather.  This movie released in 1972 is often thought of to be the greatest movie of all time and deservingly so.  It garnered 11 Academy Award nominations taking home 3 one for best actor being Marlon Brando and best picture for director Francis Ford Coppola.

The film starts off with an tune that immediately puts the viewer into the olden days.  The opening scene features a man grief stricken from the assault of his daughter.  Knowing the police wont do anything about it he turns to Don Corleone (Marlon Brando) and ask for a favor.  Don Corleone refuses at first, but accepts only on account that he can’t refuse a request on the day of his daughters wedding.  Later the Don sends Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) to see Jack Woltz about getting Johnny Fontane the Don’s godson a job, but Woltz refuses.  The next morning he discovers a horse head in his bed.  This drew my attention because I was like what the hell did they have to do that for and it was all pretty messed up.  Just putting a gun to his face would have sufficed, but one thing Ive learned after watching these movies is mobsters do it their own way.

Later on in the movie the Don gets shot in an assassination attempt all stemming from the other mob families wanting him out for his political connections and to sell drugs.  The Don survives however and remains hospitalized for awhile as Tom and Sonny (James Caan) run the Corleone business for awhile.  They devise a plan to seek revenge on corrupt police Captain McCluskey and Sollozzo who work for a rival family and are responsible for the assassination attempt on Don Corleone.  Michael (Al Pacino) the Don’s youngest son offers to do the bidding of killing them.  There are so many memorable scenes in this movie, but no one can ever forget when Michael comes back from the restroom in the restaurant and kills Sollozzo and McCluskey.  Point blank range fires and kills them both in cold blood like a complete bad ass too I might add.  Michael is then sent to Sicily to hideout from the other families after that and the Don gets brought back home.  After hearing of Michael’s involvement in the shootings the Don is very disappointed because he didn’t want Michael involved.  This was important to me because it really showed that a great bad gangster like Vito Corleone always wants to do what is in the best interests of his family not himself.

While Michael is in Sicily you see a Soviet Union flag painted on the wall.  It caught my attention because the movie is set just after World War II and the Soviets where on the rise and feared at that point and since the movie was released during the cold war I thought it was neat to include something like that.  Sonny is later shot to death at the hand of a rival family after being sold out. Later on the Don calls a meeting for all the families to settle their differences which allows for Michael to come back unharmed.  With the Don’s health failing him he steps down and Michael assumes the role of the head of the family.  Coppola really makes a bold move by doing this because Don Corleone was the heart of this movie and when he pulled the plug I think it was risky, but it pays off in the long run.  Michael then makes plans to move the family to Nevada for the casino business after the Corleone’s lose influence in New York.  Shortly after Don Corleone passes away in his fruit garden.  With an orange I might add.  The orange in this movie always seems to be a sign of bad things to come as it is seen constantly before bad things happen.

Michael is then honored to be the Godfather of his sisters newborn baby which he accepts.  Arguably the most famous scene in the movie is the baptism scene.  Michael has the heads of the other families murdered all while he is at a baptism swearing by the church.  I think its just the most ironic scene ever.  You have this guy doing right by the bible and respecting its values, but he secretly is committing the worst act possible at the same time.

Great vision from Coppola and it is what I think made this movie.  This movie is definately my favorite of the 3 I have watched and also my favorite movie of all time.  Even if you don’t like mob movies or crime this movie is still a definate must watch its just that good.  Hats of to Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo (the writer).

Contextual Analysis of The Departed

I have chosen to do my contextual analysis on The Departed. First and forth most the reason I wanted to do The Departed as a  contextual analysis is because it is modern.  I figure since I have grown up on this type of movie it will be the best one to explain without finding any background information because researching things isn’t any fun.

The movie was made in 2006 and its setting is obviously earlier 2000s most likely by judging the technology used.  I think the modern approach to this movie really helped it a lot in the box office because most people today are really looking for a modern feel to a movie.  Besides the way in which it was setup with undercover agents and spy’s forced it to be set up modern day because you’d never see these ideas in the 1920s.  The historical event that I believe really drives this movie is or was the creation of the CIA during the 1940s which was made to spy on The Soviet Union.  The idea of spy’s going into places unsuspected and being cool and secretive is what I think really appeals to people of the 21st century.  I think this because everyone wants action these days and with spy’s you get a lot of action.  Action movies I think are becoming more and more dominant in cinemas today than ever before.   The spy’s are what I think really make this movie, they go in fuck shit up and never play by the rules.  I wish I could go through a day not playing by the rules, be a spy or something like that.

Anyway I think the cast of actors is what also really helped its positive reviews by many of the people in the media.  I mean there is Jack, Leo, Matt, and Martin Sheen the father of everyone’s favorite Charlie Sheen.  All 4 of them have those cool calm demeanor’s that is very appealing to people these days.  Especially Jack he does a great job in this movie as mob boss Frank Costello.  His smooth voice and many quotes is what got my attention when I watched, its only a shame they iced his ass before the end, he was great.

Setting the movie in modern day Boston was also a big boost I think.  The heart of Irish America where it all started back in the 1920s when bootlegging alcohol was the thing during prohibition.  Now that alcohol is legal again (thank god) the thing with these gangsters to do now is sell hard drugs like heroin and cocaine.  This movie truly has it all sex, drugs, money, guns, whatever you want its got it.  This idea of having the whole damn thing so to speak is what makes, I think, this the best mob movie since I would say GoodFellas back in 1990.

Martin Scorsese’s genius continues to amaze me because he has kept up through the times so much and honestly I think it surprises many others today.

The Departed

Recently I watched The Departed another film directed by Martin Scorsese.  The 2006 film garnered many Academy Award nominations and won a total of four Academy Awards including Best Director for Scorsese.

The film opens up with Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson)  saying, “I don’t want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.”  This right of the bat grabbed my attention.  What Costello is saying is that he wants to be the reason things happen good or bad.  He is not in the game of being some average follower that goes around being like everyone else, he wants to be somebody in life.

Costello then meets a young Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) and asks him to work for him if he needs cash.  The movie then flashes forward to present day where Colin graduates from the Police Academy along with Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio). The two then get assigned to certain positions by Staff Sergent Sean Dignam (Mark Wahlberg) and Captain Queenan (Martin Sheen).  Colin gets a job to watch and monitor Costello behind the scenes and Billy is asked to go undercover to infiltrate Costello.  Scorsese is simply setting the stage at this point by putting Colin, already associated with Costello, into the police unit and putting Billy into the mix with Costello.  By doing this Scorsese is now able to set up a unique cat and mouse battle between the two units because they have no idea who each others “rat” is at this point, but the audience does which is dramatic irony.

After serving fake time and having his resume built up Billy gets in with Costello and all plans go into effect.  This movie is unlike any other mob movie I have seen so far because of the amount of time it spends revolving around the police.  By doing this Scorsese is able to do more than the traditional mob movies where you have gangs rivaling each other and acts of vengeance taking place.  He ups the ante so to speak to create a modern day classic that really appeals to his new 21st century audience  Billy then has a conversation about “lying” with a police psychologist which is significant because all Billy is doing is living a lie so to speak.  He has a fake record and is constantly lying to his peers to keep his cover.  Billy then begins to get worried about his cover and fears Costello will find out and kill him, so he petitions Captain Queenan to nail Costello on the felonies they know of.  Queenan says no because he wants to build a huge case and find out more about Costello.  Costello is later doing a transaction with the Chinese and he escapes without being caught and both sides now know their are “rats” but not who they are.  A brilliant job by Scorsese because he is now able to build suspense because both sides are now on edge trying to find the “rat” but not get burned at the same time.

Billy later learns that Costello is a protected FBI informant and that he is nearly untouchable.  This is an ultimate twist of irony that Scorsese is able to provide.  He has this great big bad mob boss that is all smoke but no fire.  Everything Costello does is to get other people into trouble while he collects and lives his high risk lifestyle where nothing can go wrong unless of course someone finds out.  As with all of these mob movies the high power is always cut short.  Captain Queenan is later murdered by Costello’s men because they follow him and he won’t tell who his “rat” is.  This leaves Sergeant Dignam upset and he takes a leave of absence.

Later on during a drug exchange Costello is gunned down along with most of his crew.  Shortly after Colin and Billy figure out that they are the “rats.”  Scorsese then sets us up with an epic finish were Billy confronts Colin on a rooftop arrests him then to only be shot dead by another “rat” of Costello’s when reaching the bottom floor.  Colin then regroups to kill everyone off and he then looks like they hero to everyone but the audience, again dramatic irony.

Then at the very end Sergeant Dignam kills Colin out of vengeance for Captain Queenan and the movie ends with a rat crossing the outside arm rail.  This very twisted ending is what I think makes the movie and it left a lasting affect on me because it had everything a great ending does irony, vengeance, and good prevailing over evil.  Overall this was a great movie and was well deserving of its accolades.

GoodFellas

The movie GoodFellas is 1990 Academy Award winning film based on a true story and directed by Martin Scorsese.  It is often considered one of Scorsese’s better works and it follows many of his other films in the Mobster/Crime Drama movie genre.  It stars Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, and Joe Pesci.

The movie starts of in 1970 in New York city with a car swerving down a dark unlit road.  The three main characters Henry Hill (Liotta), Tommy DeVito (Pesci), and Jimmy Conway (De Niro) are all in the car when they hear  the trunk making noises.  They then pull over to find that their victim isn’t dead then Tommy stabs him several times with a butcher knife and Conway finishes the job by shooting him 3 times.  Then Hill says in narration “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.”  This line is probably the most famous line in the movie and I think Scorsese uses it to catch the viewers attention because right after that he goes into a flashback scene of a young Henry Hill growing up.  He cites the reason for wanting to be a gangster because he wanted that unlimited freedom they all possessed.  He goes to work for Paul Cicero a local mob capo.  Through Paulie he meets Jimmy and then through Jimmy, Henry meets Tommy.

They later get a bootleg cigarette business going until Henry gets “pinched” aka arrested.  Jimmy then congratulates Henry for not ratting on everyone.  This is a unique bit of foreshadowing done by Scorsese because in most mob movies somebody always squeals and gets everyone else into trouble.   The movie then flashes forward to 1967 when they all rob the airport of incoming goods.  That is the motto for most of the mobsters in this movie they steal rather than kill, but if anyone crosses them they paid with their lives.

Henry later begins dating a women named Karen.  They later get married and nothing could be happier at that point and then Scorsese quickly shows the downfalls of Mafia life when Karen learns how the men live.  They are always out late and it aged the wives a lot which Karen notices at the beauty salon.  Karen later notes that the families always did things together with no outsiders.  This is what the ideal Italian family was like back in the 1960s everyone was all about family because they especially mobsters knew family could be trusted.

Tommy later kills a “made” man which is not good in the Mafia.  A “made” man is someone who is untouchable and the consequence for killing a “made” man is death.  Scorsese is really able to show the ups and downs through his portrayal of Tommy because Tommy starts from nothing rises to the elite and because of his hot hotheadedness he winds up in trouble.  The man they killed is also the guy from the start of the movie so now the movie takes off from the very beginning and the flashback is now complete.  Henry and Karen’s marriage begins to fall apart as well as the rest of the crews lives to a point where Jimmy and Henry get caught and receive 10 years in prison.  To get through their tough prison times they kept everything family oriented with everything and their time was easy because of the perks.  This was how wealthy people served their prison time behind bars.  They would get all the perks they wanted with no questions asked.

After Henry gets out he goes against Paulie’s wishes and starts selling cocaine with Jimmy and Tommy cause of the money it makes.  After going against Paulie’s wishes everything goes downhill for Henry, Tommy, and Jimmy.  Tommy gets killed because of his involvement in killing a “made” man.  Henry gets caught for selling the drugs and knowing Jimmy will kill him he decides to rat everyone out and enters witness protection.  Scorsese really does a great job at the end of showing his viewers just how quick life for a mobster can go from being great to being awful by showing what happens to Henry.  Henry is higher then life until he gets caught then at the end he becomes just “an average nobody.”  The film then ends telling the rest of the story how everyone goes to jail.

Overall this is an absolutely fantastic movie and is a highly recommended.

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