I have something of a guilty pleasure in gangster movies, recently I watched some older classic gangster films and began wondering why they were so popular, why they resonated with people, specifically in America where they were most popular so here is another short essay of some of the reasons I think these films have stood the test of time. The films I talk about are The Godfather, Scarface and Mean Streets.
Introductions
Brian DePalma’s Scarface, Francis Ford-Coppola’s The Godfather and Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets are some of the most famous mafia/mob films from the 70’s and 80’s and as such the idea of the gangster is central to them, the gangster is an aspect of American crime fiction that has endured for decades, the gangster seems to have an inexplicable fascination and pull on audiences. What are some of the possible reasons and explanations as to why the gangster has built up such notoriety as a symbol of American crime fiction?
I’ll try to deconstruct it a little through three themes that are present in each of these films and many other mob/mafia/gangster films from the 70’s ad 80’s: the idea of the American dream, a value held important to American culture and something which is explored and questioned in these films, specifically the immigrant’s relationship with the American dream. The idea of individuality, as important to American society, and something Sonny and Michael in the godfather, Tony Montana in Scarface and Charlie and Johnny boy in Mean Streets struggle to reconcile themselves with. And finally the idea of family, as a central theme family is pivotal to The Godfather and Scarface in that the characters struggle to hold together a coherent family unit.
The American dream
The first point of fascination for American society regarding the gangster is the idea of the American dream; obviously the American dream holds serious significance in American culture, as a bastion of meritocracy and symbol of the idea of a classless society. The gangster film often suggests that the American dream is an unattainable myth, that in order to be successful one must turn to some kind of illegality. In classic gangster films the gangster is often condemned for their criminality, but in the godfather the Corleone’s are celebrated for their criminality, they are a successful gang family, that have attained some form of the American dream with Vito in charge, but certainly not by legal means and it is by no means a happily ever after. Alfio Leotta writes of the godfather trilogy ‘Coppola’s films also indulge in the celebration of the mythology of the Mafioso, the mafia man who after all pursues the old American dream through illegal methods’ In Scarface, The Godfather and Mean Streets the protagonists are often a first or second generation immigrant family, they are Italian -American or Cuban-American and so the American dream takes on a whole new guise, America becomes a place in which these individuals can visualise themselves being successful, it takes on the role of almost being a holy land.
There has however been a certain amount of backlash aimed at The Godfather, as it has been seen to be responsible for some of the negative stereotypes that Italian Americans have faced Carlos E. Cortes writes ‘The Godfather epitomised Hollywood’s relentless ionisation of film Italian Americans not only as popular cultural embodiments of their ethnic groups but also as symbols for the ethnic experience in general, particularly for the extra-legal quest for the American dream.’ The Corleone’s represent the quest for the ethnic idea of the American dream. That it is impossible to reach legally but is attainable through criminality. Perhaps the film which most neatly sums up the way these 70’s and 80’s mafia films represent ideology of the American dream and therefore fascinates American audiences is Scarface, the entire opening of the film is about Cuban refugees that are coming to America in search of the American dream, in the opening sequence there is a shot of a boy in his father’s arms pointing at the American flag from the boat, this image epitomises the American dream in one succinct tableau. However Tony ends up working in a diner, it is not quite the ideal American dream he was anticipating.
This is suggestive that the American dream and honesty cannot go hand in hand the way the mainstream idea of the American dream postulates. The way Tony makes his money and becomes a success, in his eyes at least is through his dealings with the mob and working his way up the hierarchy. While he’s working in the diner he says ‘I work 8, 10 hours and still own nothing’ he is not achieving the American dream in the diner but finds a type of America dream in the criminal ventures he pursues. The American dream and everything it entails is such an enormous part of the values held by American citizens, that someone can come from nothing and become successful is something held very dearly in the American nations heart, and the exploration of the American dream and the controversial notion that the American dream is unattainable that some of these films suggest is the reality is a huge source of fascination and intrigue for audiences of these 70’ and 80’s gangster films.
Individuality
Secondly the idea of individuality, in some ways similar to the idea of the American dream the image of America as a melting pot brimming with people of every race and religion, the notion that America is all about freedom and liberty goes hand in hand with the idea of individuality, in America one is supposed to be able to practice any religion, reach any goal, and truly be individual this is a value held close by American citizens. However these films suggest that individuality is difficult to find first of all and then maintain in America. Lots of these characters are lost, they are seeking meaning and in many cases copying the people above them in the hierarchy of the mafia. And these choices to follow those above them and rise through the hierarchy and get involved with criminality often leads to a very desperate place for these characters.
Tony in Scarface, in one of the first scenes he is being interviewed on his entry into the U.S. and gets angry when he is labelled as a refugee or immigrant and especially at one point when he is called a dishwasher that hits a nerve, he does not want to be defined by this and replies ‘Don’t be calling me no dishwasher.’ He wants a sense of his own self separate from the stereotype he is afforded by his nationality. He also speaks of the communism he has left behind him saying to one of the officers ‘how you like it? They tell you all the time what to do, what to think, what to feel’ he is trying to escape this control and taste the freedom that America symbolises, he calls the Cuban people sheep at one point, he wants his own identity it is painfully obvious and his quest for individuality is followed throughout the film. When he first becomes involved in the mafia one of the senior members tells him ‘I’m going to get you new clothes’ he is being taken into the life of a gangster but it is not giving him freedom, instead it is a different style of control, he is being turned into the gangsters, he begins to act like them and dress like them, he is not being an individual but merely a sheep of the gangsters when before he was a sheep to the Cuban government.
He has not escaped the control but merely entered a different sphere of control in the form of the mafia, he almost has a uniform in the clothes he wears. He is also told by one of the other gangster that he can find ‘another Tony to take your place’ he is eternally replaceable; there is nothing special or individual about him. This quest for individuality takes Tony the entire film, he is searching and never quite finding his own individuality. He follows these other gangsters and even begins to lead others himself into this criminality and in the end he has almost painted himself into a corner, he has no choices left to make he has failed to find his individuality and he becomes irrational in his decision making, J. Madison Davies writes of the final scene ‘when Tony Montana says ‘Say hello to my little friend’ we delight in their irrational, joyous, defiance’ he has failed in his quest for individuality and is killed.
This search for individuality is also something seen in Mean Streets , Karen A Szczeponski writes of the characters in Mean Streets ‘An interesting aspect of the film was the psychological depth with which the characters were drawn. Michael the main character has doubts about many things, Life is complex and puzzling, he is still groping for meaning and purpose’ Michael is torn between the mob and his Catholicism, he is trying to become a gangster but is unsure about his morals, he wants desperately to fit in but he is also conflicted and occasionally selfish, he wants individuality and also to be camouflage in the mob. The characters are all very self-centred men in Mean Streets, when asked why lions are purchased; the answer is ‘I really wanted to get a tiger’ with little regard for the other characters safety or the lion’s well-being. These characters are constantly torn on the status of their individuality, between faith and the mob, what is defining Tony most and what does he want to define him? Between selfishness and selflessness these characters struggle to find their own selves and as a result they seem to follow whoever seems to be in control. This search for individuality and the ability to embody ones individuality is something America values highly and thus its inclusion in these films provides a sense of fascination for the American people, questions of what individuality is, how it manifests itself in the U.S. and why it is such an important concept for the American people.
Family
The idea of the family unit is an important aspect of U.S. society, the nuclear family is what the majority of Americans aim for and the idea of the family is also important in The Godfather, family traditions are all around The Godfather film, it opens on a wedding scene. The Godfather is really the story of one family, the Corleone’s and its evolution over many years including the death of its patriarch Vito and the ascension of Michael.#
The domestic sphere is dominated by men, the protection of family and women is linked to men Vito says ‘A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man’ The baptism scene is very powerful; on the one hand we have a quiet family oriented scene of a baptism in which Michael renounces Satan and the love for his family is illustrated but it is cut with these brutal murders that we as the audience know Michael has ordered, there is a juxtaposition of these two sides of Michael. We know he has ordered these killings in order to protect his family but it does not make them any less brutal, we see the lengths Michael will go to protect those he holds as family. The Corleone’s almost become a family/business/gang it embodies all of these things at once for those involved with the Corleone’s, it is a source of familial love but also treachery and violence, the idea of the family is not necessarily represented as a wholly good thing. There is rivalries and deceit even within the family, The rivalry between Sonny and Michael. There is no doubt the family is an important theme to The Godfather.
Family is also essential in Scarface; the whole opening credits is about reuniting families that had been separated in the U.S. and Cuba. Tony has a very difficult relationship with his family, he wants to impress them with his extravagance and money when he first sees them again but his mother knows the money does not come legally and throws him out of her house and begs her daughter not to get involved in the criminal underworld Tony is a part of. Towards the end of the film when Tony realises his sister has been sleeping with Manny he kills his friend and leaves his sister heartbroken, he wants to keep his sister pure and safe but he fails and ends up harming her more. Even his own relationships seem doomed to fail, his relationship with Elvira is deeply unhealthy, he sleeps with her while she is with Frank and when they are married he publicly embarrasses her on her infertility in a restaurant, he says she cannot have a child because ‘Her womb is so polluted.’ He gets very frustrated and she gets incredibly upset to and fires back at him ‘you want a kid what kind of a father do you think you’d make?’ Tony seems incapable of having any healthy familial relationship. Tricia Welsch writes ‘Although he longs for family life Tony Montana cannot keep his reconvened family together, neither his mother not his sister nor his wife will stay with him long’ Tony Montana struggles for a family unit and in the end fails.
Conclusions
Overall it is clear that through these three themes in the these three films, though they are a small section of gangster films from the 70’s and 80’s that America clearly has a fascination with the gangster and the gangster holds a fierce reputation in the cinematic landscape of America.
Sources
Alfio Leotta, ‘Do not underestimate the consequences of love: The representation of the new mafia in contemporary Italian cinema, Italica, 88 (2011), 286-296. P 289.
Carlos E. Cortez, Italian Americans in film: From immigrants to icons, Italian-American Literature, 14 (1987), 107-126. P.108.
Scarface, Brian DePalma (1983)
J. Madison Davies, Scarface, Al and his pals: not much for books but magic on the screen, World Literature today, 85 (2011), 9-11. P 10.
Karen A Szczeponski, The scalding plot: stereotyping of Italian-Americans in Hollywood films, Italian Americana,5 (1979) 196-204. P. 200.
Mean Streets, Martin Scorsese (1973)
The Godfather, Francis Ford-Coppola (1972)
Tricia Welsch, At work in the genre laboratory: Brian DePalma’s Scarface, Journal of film and video, 49 (1997), 39-51. P. 44.
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