Tagarchief: Gangster Films

Blood In, Blood Out (1993)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


‘An epic story of three brothers. Bound by blood. Divided by fate. Driven by destiny.’

Directed by:
Taylor Hackford

Written by:
Ross Thomas (story)
Jimmy Santiago Baca (screenplay)
Jeremy Lacone (screenplay)
Floyd Mutrux (screenplay)

Cast:
Damian Chapa (Miklo), Jesse Borrego (Cruz), Benjamin Bratt (Paco), Enrique Castillo (Montana), Victor Rivers (Magic Mike), Delroy Lindo (Bonafide), Tom Towles (Red Ryder), Carlos Carrasco (Popeye), Teddy Wilson (Wallace), Billy Bob Thornton (Lightning), Lanny Flaherty (Big Al)

Blood In, Blood Out explores the brutal initiation ritual of Latino gangs: to join, one must kill or risk being killed.

Miklo, a half-blatino outsider with white skin and blue eyes, returns to East L.A.’s barrios after a falling out with his Caucasian father. Reuniting with his cousins Paco and Cruz – members of the ‘Vatos Locos’ gang – he faces constant ridicule for his appearance. But when Miklo proves his loyalty by confronting the rival ‘Tres Puntos’ gang, he earns his place with a ‘VL’ tattoo on his hand.

Tragedy strikes soon after: a violent clash with ‘Tres Puntos’ leaves Cruz permanently disabled and Miklo imprisoned for murder. The film’s second act splits into three powerful narratives: Miklo’s harrowing first stint in San Quentin, Cruz’s descent into drug addiction, and Paco’s unexpected career as a narcotics agent.

Director Taylor Hackford delivers a gripping, if slightly overlong (nearly three hours), portrait of Latino life, where crime and poverty loom large, yet family bonds remain unbreakable. Inspired by poet Jimmy Santiago Baca’s real-life experiences, the intertwined stories are compelling and well-crafted, with Miklo’s prison arc standing out as the most gripping.

Jesse Borrego shines as Cruz, delivering a performance that is both heartbreaking and authentic. The film’s rich supporting cast – including standout turns from Danny Trejo and Billy Bob Thornton – adds depth to this intense, entertaining saga. Despite its length, Blood In, Blood Out offers enough raw emotion and drama to hold your attention until the end.

Rating:

Quote:
POPEYE: “Hey, Cinderella, go find yourself a fella, you’re on the clock bitch and midnight is coming, you got the wrong man.”

Trivia:
The original cut for this film lasted five and a half hours.

American Gangster (2007)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


‘There are two sides to the American dream.’

Directed by:
Ridley Scott

Written by:
Steven Zaillian (screenplay)
Mark Jacobson (article)

Cast:
Denzel Washington (Frank Lucas), Russell Crowe (Richie Roberts), Josh Brolin (Detective Trupo), Lymari Nadal (Eva), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Huey Lucas), Ted Levine (Lou Toback), John Hawkes (Freddy Spearman), RZA (Moses Jones), Armand Assante (Dominic Cattano), Cuba Gooding Jr. (Nicky Barnes)

Ridley Scott has worked in a lot of different genres, including science fiction (Alien, Blade Runner), historic epic (Gladiator), road movie (Thelma and Louise) and thriller (Hannibal). With American Gangster he added another genre to his very impressive resume.

As with many of the great gangster films, the basis of American Gangster is a true story. Frank Lucas (Washington) is a special kind of incarnation of the American dream. When his mentor, drugs kingpin Bumpy Johnson dies, Lucas replaces him as Harlem’s number one drug lord. His power quickly spreads throughout the whole of New York and New Jersey and he even becomes bigger than the Italian Mafia. He is opposed by Richie Roberts (Crowe). An honest cops who fights corruption and injustice while all of his colleagues are on the take.

So far nothing new. Scott attracted many great talents for his movie, but what makes Lucas’ story special? When viewing this, it is hard not to think of other films that have preceded American Gangster. The cop Vs. the gangster story reminds of Heat, and Lucas buying drugs in the Southeast Asian jungle is reminiscent of Blow. And when observing black dealers and users in the streets, countless of Blaxploitation films come to mind. Not in the least place because Scott uses the all-familiar song Across 110th Street, like Tarantino did in Jackie Brown.

Well, one of the things that makes the story special, is the way Lucas smuggles his dope into the USA. Namely in body bags of killed US soldiers that served in Vietnam. The fact that Lucas profits from his country’s pointless struggle against communism and narcotics has a great taste of irony. That aside, we have seen most of this before. But it doesn’t really matter. The film is so entertaining that one can easily forgive it for its little original premise. The great casting, production design and visual style alone make this a totally enjoyable experience. Washington is very convincing in his first gangster portrayal and Crowe also turns in another excellent performance as law enforcer.

The supporting cast features many great familiar faces such as Josh Brolin, Armand Assante, Jon Polito, RZA and Idris Elba, who have all played gangster types before. The cast, Scott’s visual style and the detailed seventies settings ensure that there is not a boring moment in the whole movie. Kudos to Scott who was already seventy years old when making this. He definitely made the grade.

Rating: 

Quote
FRANK LUCAS: “Nobody owns me though. That’s because I own my own company, and my company sells a product that’s better than the competition. At a lower price than the competition.”

Trivia
James Gandolfini was offered the role of detective Trupo, but turned it down.

TV Dungeon: The Sopranos

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


‘Meet Tony Soprano. If one family doesn’t kill him… the other family will.’

(1999 – 2007, USA)

6 Seasons (86 Episodes)

Creator: David Chase

Cast: James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Robert Iler, Dominic Chianese, Tony Sirico, Steve Van Zandt, Aida Turturro

For a period of eight blissful years, The Sopranos answered the TV-prayers of me and millions of other TV-maniacs. As a huge fan of GoodFellas, a quality series about a New Jersey mob family sounded like music to my ears. It delivered on its high expectations. No, it exceeded them by far.

Tony Soprano, family matriarch, mob boss and psychiatric patients. The perfect characteristics for a leading man of a drama show. This complex character is wonderfully portrayed by the now legendary James Gandolfini. He is a fat, bald ladykiller, He’s a murderer. You just couldn’t ask for a more captivating main character.

But it isn’t just Tony who delivers. The supporting cast is delicious as well. We all have our favorites (mine is Silvio Dante), but I give praise to all; the hilarious psycho Paulie Walnuts, shrink Melfi, money-grabbing Carmela, crazy uncle June. Too many to mention, but all marvelous indeed!

So, what gives this show its ridiculous appeal? The guns, the girls, the gabagool? I guess this I just one of those very rare productions in which everything fits in perfectly; the screenplays, the actors, the soundtrack, the look and feel…it is perfect. Brilliant even.

When talking about classic mob movies, The Godfather and GoodFellas always come up first. The Sopranos can now be added to the mix. Mind you, this isn’t some ordinary rip-off. Since the pilot episode it has stood on its own feet. It is a highly original and modern take on mobsters and the gangster genre. It placed mobsters with old values in the 21th century with all of its problems: depression, terrorism, capitalism, you name it.

For 86 episodes you are watching killers, who lack any form of empathy for their victims. Most of the time they are still a lovable bunch though. But very often the audience is reminded of who these people really are. So how does one cope with all these horrible crimes on his conscience? Being a sociopath helps, but otherwise there is therapy (Tony), the catholic church (Carmela) or drug abuse (Christopher). High concept TV at its best.

Creator David Chase, who in the past worked on shows such as Northern Exposure and The Rockford Files, has created a cultural phenomenon. The Sopranos must be viewed, loved and treasured. Seriously, you’d be a douchebag to miss it.

Donnie Brasco (1997)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


‘In 1978, the US government waged a war against organized crime. One man was left behind the lines.’

Directed by:
Mike Newell

Written by:
Joseph D. Pistone (book ‘Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia’)
Richard Woodley (book ‘Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia’)
Paul Attanasio (screenplay)

Cast:
Johnny Depp (Donnie Brasco / Joseph D. Pistone), Al Pacino (Benjamin ‘Lefty Two-guns’ Ruggiero), Michael Madsen (Sonny Black), Bruno Kirby (Nicky), Anne Heche (Maggie Pistone), James Russo (Paulie), Zeljko Ivanek (Tim Curley), Gerry Becker (Dean Blandford), Robert Miano (Sonny Red), Brian Tarantina (Bruno)

The imposing but low-ranking mobster Lefty (Pacino) meets Don the Jeweller (Depp). Donnie’s connections check out, so Lefty takes him in as a friend and associate. It turns out to be a mistake of historical proportions. Donnie is really an undercover FBI-agent named Joe Pistone, whose mission is to infiltrate the Mafia.

This movie is based on a true story. Joe Pistone managed to infiltrate a fraction of the New York Bonanno family in the late seventies and wrote a book about his experiences. The happenings in the book have been somewhat altered to create a more tense mob thriller. A choice that has turned out well. There are certainly moments of great tension, such as the scene where Donnie has to take his boots off in a Japanese restaurant in which he has hidden a microphone. Or the jail scene in which Donnie’s pals are discussing the way ‘the rat’ should be murdered when discovered.

The acting in this film is especially well performed. It is truly amazing how much sympathy Pacino arouses as the hapless mobster Lefty. We know he’s a cold-blooded killer (26 hits under his belt), but we almost cry for him when we see his desperate schemes tragically fail. Depp certainly holds his ground as Pacino’s partner in crime. It’s intriguing to see how he becomes more and more like a wiseguy, which is especially apparent when he acts alpha male around his wife and threatens a fellow undercover agent.

The film moves with great speed. In reality it took Donnie years to come close to the crew of Sonny Black (Madsen), but in the film this is done within two scenes. Some things have been dramatised such as Donnie’s relation with his wife Maggie (Heche), who understandably can’t deal with her husband’s absence. Also the ending in which Lefty is sent for (to get whacked), is done to dramatise the movie. In reality it was Sonny Black who got killed when Donnie’s identity was discovered. Mind you, these are only observations. All film making choices are well justified and every scene altered from reality gets the impact that it is aiming for.

The art-direction is another achievement that deserves mention. The New York scenery looks great, as well as all the terrible outfits that the wiseguys dress in. Altogether, Donnie Brasco is a remarkable movie that lost none of its impact over the years. It’s certainly not easy to just fuhgetaboutit.

Rating:

Quote:
LEFTY: “Sit down there. You were gonna walk out on me? You don’t walk out on me. I walk out on you.”

Trivia:
The newspaper picture of the murdered boss is the famous picture of murdered mob boss Carmine Galente, who was killed in a Brooklyn restaurant in 1979.