Formal Film Studies

This time around for my formal film study instead of watching a certain director’s movies I watched movies that all had a mafia gangster theme. The movies that I watched were The untouchables, The Godfather, and Scarface. All of these movies fit really well into the Gangster/Crime genre because they all had the characteristics of one of those movies. The major themes throughout the three movies were Violence, blood, sex, drugs, crime, and respect. The first movie that I watched was the movie The Untouchables. This movie was different than the other two movies because it was told from the police side of things. It was an F.B.I. agent whose mission was to take down Al Capone. Al Capone incase you didn’t know was a famous gangster that lived in Chicago during the prohibition. He made a lot of money from transporting alcohol and killed people that got in his way. The movie was shorter than the other two movies but I still liked it. This movie had a lot of shooting in it and that makes sense because it is also categorized as an action movie. The main character in it was a man that was not afraid of going after Al Capone while everyone else was scared. Everyone else was scared because they all knew that if they tried to mess with him too much he would kill them but this guy was not afraid because he knew what was the right thing to do. In this movie there was a long continuous shot like the one that was talked about in class with The Children of men. When Al Capone’s men go to assassinate one of the police officers the camera makes it look like a first person and you feel that you are the guy’s eyes seeing everything and you remain the guy’s eyes for a while. You follow him looking through the window and then you walk into the house and I think it is an interesting way to film because as you could hear the guy breathing you became nervous yourself wondering what would happen next. The next movie that I watched was The Godfather. This movie was one that I saw part of it in class but I had not seen it all and so I was very curious to see what I missed because it seemed very good and after watching it I think it was very good. Unlike the movie The Untouchables this movie is from the Mafia’s point of view. This movie did a lot of work with the shadows and camera work. An example that I can think about right off the top of my head is when Michael shoots the police chief and the other guy. After he gets his gun he holds it and the camera slowly zooms into his face really close to him and you can tell that he is thinking and is very “Powerful” at that moment. Unlike the other movie this one also makes you think after you watch it since it is mainly talking and not that much action. The Untouchable was fun to watch but there is no really deep thinking to be done while on the other hand the Godfather is mainly talking and making deals. It is like a huge chess game that all the families play with each other. An interesting thing about the movie that I learned after researching it online was that the horse head that was in the guys bed was real. That must make that scene just that much more scary.  The last movie that I watched was Scarface. This movie was nothing like I imagined it to be. All I knew about this movie when I started watching was that one famous Scene from it was the whole Say hello to my little friend thing. I was surprised when I found out that it was basically a movie about an american dream and starting from the bottom and making your way to the top. And once you are at the top you still want more because enough is never enough. Scarface follows the story of a guy from cuba and who does work for gangsters to get a greencard and to get some money to live. The second “job” that he has to do is to pick up some cocaine from a guy but it turns ugly really fast and his friend gets tied to a shower and gets cut up by a chain saw. after some luck and shooting they makes it out in one piece and meets Frank for who he will work but then he kills him and takes his place. Fast forward a bit and he makes a lot of money by selling lots of cocaine and he runs his entire operation and goes crazy with power and does whatever he wants. An interesting quote that I thought was funny was when Bernstein says “Everyday above earth is a good day”. I found this quote very interesting and it basically means just enjoy yourself you're not dead yet. This movie was much more of an action movie than a talking movie like The Godfather. It was a movie that had a clear message of enough is enough and don’t get greedy. All these movies were good and if I could choose again I would probably pick the same topic again. Each movie had its similarities and differences but they all had family in common. In each movie the main guy protects his family in every way possible. All three of these movies had the same main idea but each were told from a different point of view which I thought was interesting. For example in the Godfather the story is from someone already in power but leading the mafia and in Scarface the guy starts from the bottom and works his way up to leading the mafia and then the Untouchables was from the police’s point of view. All these films should be watched by everyone. If you are bored and want to see a film I suggest watching one of these films

http://www.billdamon.com/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-godfather-including-the-horses-head-was-real/