Tagarchief: Mafia

Classic Scenes #2: ‘Interrogation’ (Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

In Jim Jarmusch’s meditative hitman tale Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, a meticulously planned Mafia hit goes awry when an unexpected witness – a young girl – sees the murder. The assassin, a samurai-inspired Black hitman known as Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker), now finds himself in the crosshairs of the very men who hired him. His contractor, Louie, is forced to reveal everything he knows about the enigmatic killer to mob boss Ray Vargo and his two top lieutenants, who are determined to eliminate Ghost Dog before he becomes a threat. But Louie’s own life hangs in the balance for bringing Ghost Dog into their world in the first place.

What follows is a masterful interrogation scene – pure gold.

SONNY VALERIO: We got a really big problem here Louie, seems that you are directly responsible for it. Your mystery man fucked up.

LOUIE: Morini tells me she put the girl, Mr. Vargo’s daughter, on the bus.

SONNY VALERIO: He did, but she got off the bus and went to Handsome Frank’s house.

LOUIE: You wanted Handsome Frank whacked, so he got whacked. From outside. I set it all up. No traces, no nothing. Morini said she was on the bus, but Jesus, we’re lucky he didn’t do her too, right?

RAY VARGO: If he had, you would be fucking dead.

SONNY VALERIO: This is not a good situation, Louie.

LOUIE: Where is she now? Is she allright?

SONNY VALERIO: Don’t worry about Mr. Vargo’s daughter. What we need to do is eliminate the scumbag who whacked Frank. Frank was one of us. His killer needs to be neutralized. Erased from the face of the planet.

LOUIE: For the past four years, this guy did …maybe twelve perfect contracts. Perfect. Like a ghost. He is very valuable. Totally untraceable. I’m sure he didn’t realise that anyone was gonna be there when he whacked Handsome Frank or he would have backed off. He sure as hell didn’t know she was gonna be there.

SONNY VALERIO: Louie, unless you wanna buried next to Frank, now is the time to tell us everything you know about this mysterious ghost-like untraceable fucking button man.

LOUIE: Okay. Okay, let’s see. I don’t pay him by the job. He only works if I pay him once a year, always on the first day of autumn. That’s the way he wants it. Every first day of autumn, I pay him for all contracts he has done that past year, see?

SONNY VALERIO: The first day of autumn? Okay, let’s skip that part for now. Where does he live?

LOUIE: Fuck if I know. That’s the next strange thing. I can’t just call him up, cause he, you know, he only contacts me through …a bird. [amazed looks] You see since I first started contracting stuff out to this guy, the bird comes every single day.

SONNY VALERIO: Hold it. Hold it. Hold it. Did you say he contacts you through a fucking bird? Did I just hear you say that?

RAY VARGO: What particular species of bird?

LOUIE: It’s a pigeon. Must be like a carrier pigeon.

OLD CONSIGLIERE: Passenger pigeon. Passenger pigeon’s been in state since 1914.

SONNY VALERIO: Am I fucking dreaming here of what? Allright Louie, forget about the bird okay? Let me ask you this: what does this mysterious guy look like. Could you maybe tell me that much?

LOUIE: He’s a big guy, a big black guy.

SONNY VALERIO: He’s what?

OLD CONSIGLIERE: He said the guy’s a nigger.

LOUIE: Allright see around eight years ago, I saw a guy, this guy, he was more of a kid really, in a bad situation. So I straightened things out. Then about four years ago, this guy comes to my door, this big black guy, he got a fucking pigeon on his shoulder. Fuck if I know how he found me, but he said he owed me. I only saw him once after that and we made this arrangement.

SONNY VALERIO: That’s very touching Louie. Let me just backtrack here for just a second, you say this fucking bird comes to your house every day. Did he come today?

LOUIE: Yeah Sonny, the bird was here this morning.

SONNY VALERIO: Did he have a message?

LOUIE: Yeah, the usual ‘mission accomplished’ message.

SONNY VALERIO: Did you send a message back?

LOUIE: No. No, you called me in, so I figured it was best to leave things alone.

RAY VARGO: Did you try to follow this bird? Put a bug on it? Anything like that?

LOUIE: Uhm, no. I never had a reason to do anything like that. Look, like I said, I realise the arrangement I made with this guy is pretty weird, but he has always shown me complete respect.

SONNY VALERIO: Well, a whole new century is coming Louie and Mr. Vargo wants every member of this family to make it a priority to erase this weirdo.

LOUIE: This guy is a professional. Going after him could be very dangerous.

SONNY VALERIO: Handsome Frank was one of us, so now we’re gonna peel this nigger’s cap back. Better him than you right Louie? Now what the fuck is his name?

LOUIE: Ghost Dog.

SONNY VALERIO: What?

LOUIE: Ghost Dog.

RAY VARGO: Ghost Dog?

OLD CONSIGLIERE: He said Ghost Dog.

LOUIE: Yeah, he calls himself Ghost Dog. I don’t know, a lot of these Black guys today, these gangster-type guys, they all make up names like that for themselves.

RAY VARGO: Is that true?

SONNY VALERIO: Sure. He means like the rappers, you know, all the rappers, they got names like that: Snoop Doggy Dog, Ice Cube, Q-Tip, Method Man. My favorite was always Flavor Flav from Public Enemy. You got the funky fresh fly flavor.

RAY VARGO: I don’t know anything about that, but it makes me think of Indians. They got name like, uhh, Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, Running Bear, Black Elk [Imitates Indian].

SONNY VALERIO: Yeah. That kind of shit.

OLD CONSIGLIERE: Yeah. Indians, Niggers, Same thing.

SONNY VALERIO: Johnny!

JOHNNY: Sonny? Mr. Vargo?

SONNY VALERIO: Go outside; get Sammy the Snake, Joe Rags, Big Angie. Get them in here will you?

JOHNNY: Right away.

Fans of American Popular Culture Really Can’t Refuse This Show

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

How did I almost miss this show? It is fantastic. The Offer is about the making of The Godfather, which is still considered to be one of the greatest movies ever made. I had some knowledge about its troubled production history, but the movie still offers new insights. Especially about the involvement of the real Mafia in the production.

The limited series is based on the experiences of Albert S. Ruddy, the producer of the film. Ruddy (Miles Teller from Top Gun: Maverick) started his career as a television writer-producer and he wanted to make the transition to the more alluring (especially in those days!) big screen. He pleads for a job with Bob Evans, the brilliant head of Paramount Studios, who sees something in the passionate young man and decides to give him his shot at the title.

The mini-series then follows the typical film’s development process, which starts with the hiring of a screenplay writer (Ruddy hires the author of the book Mario Puzo and immediately breaks a golden rule in Hollywood) and a director (Coppola, who was supposed to be able to bring in the film low budget). At the same time, he gets Joe Colombo to deal with. Apart from being the boss of one of the five New York mob families, Colombo was leader of the Italian-American Civil Rights League and he thought The Godfather was a complete insult.

Then starts the casting process which is even more troubling. Coppola is in love with Al Pacino (“the shortest unknown actor in the world”), whom Bob Evens absolutely hates. And both Ruddy, Coppola and Puzo are dead set on Marlon Brando for the role of the Don, but he is known to be a major troublemaker by the studio’s.

Another storyline of The Offer revolves around Evans’ marriage with actress Ali McGraw. Due to the pressures of his work, he can’t go with her to Texas where she is to shoot The Getaway with womanizer Steve McQueen. When he loses her, the studio boss cannot bring himself to return to work, but The Godfather cannot succeed without him, as number cruncher Barry Lapidus (Colin Hanks) threatens to destroy all creativity in his absence.

It is a lot of fun watching Ruddy & Co deal with all these insurmountable challenges, and seeing the masterpiece that is to be The Godfather slowly emerging. The main cast members are all great. What was always gonna be impossible is to find suitable actors to play The Godfather’s cast members: Brando, Pacino, Caan, Duvall… Talking about insurmountable challenges, but they managed to at least not screw it up.

The Offer can best be compared with Mad Men: another show about the creative process mixed with business. But since this is the story about a fantastic period in American cinema, it is even more enjoyable for movie lovers such as myself. Also, seeing the dozen ways The Godfather could have gone off the rails, will make you appreciate this movie even more as the miracle that it is.

Wiseguy Guide for Rookies

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Terminology

Agita: Stress
A good earner: What wiseguys are supposed to be.
Associate: Involved with Mafia but not yet a made guy.
Bada Bing!: Stripclub owned by Silvio Dante (in The Sopranos).
Busting someone’s balls: Bothering somebody with sh*t.
Bust Out: Ordering on a company’s account till it runs out of credit and goes bankrupt.
Capo / Captain: Crew boss. Leads a number of soldiers. Reports to underboss.
Consigliere: Counselor of the Don. For example Tom Hagen in The Godfather and Silvio Dante in The Sopranos.
Contract: Someone needs to disappear by means of a hitman.
Don: Boss of organised crime family.
Fanook: Gay
Goomar: Steady girlfriend on the side. Of course most wiseguys are married like good Catholics ought to be.
Illegal gambling: A wiseguy’s main source of income
La Cosa Nostra (LCN): Literally ‘our thing’. Mafia. Organised crime families.
Made Guy: Connected to the mob by blood-oath.
Making one’s bones: Performing a first kill for the mob.
Mustache Pete: An old-fashioned mob boss.
OC: Short for Organised Crime. Term used by the FBI.
Omerta: Bow of silence. Never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut.
Opening the books: New members (made guys) are accepted by the mob commission.
Outstanding loan: It’s time for a weekly visit to collect or bust some skulls in.
Points: Interest over debt. Average mob rate is two points weekly.
Pop someone: To shoot someone.
Rat/stoolie/turncoat: Wiseguy that betrays his friends. Usually because he fears a lengthy prison sentence or getting whacked (or both).
RICO Laws: Main government tool for prosecuting members of the Mafia. Stands for ‘Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations’. According to the federal statutes, RICO can be applied to anyone who is involved in the ‘operation or management’ of a ‘pattern of racketeering activity’ designed to acquire or maintain an interest in an ‘enterprise’.
Sit down: Conversation between the Don and two conflicting made members.
Soldier: Lowest rank under made guys.
To eat: To be allowed to earn.
To flip: To turn FBI informant.
Vig: Amount charged by bookmakers for services. Short for Vigorish. Also known as juice.
Whack someone: To kill someone.
Wiseguy, Goodfella: Made member of the mob.

Expressions from The Godfather

Moe Green Special: Gunshot clean through the eye because someone’s eyes became bigger than his stomach.
Going to the mattresses: Going to war.
‘Take the gun, leave the Cannoli’: What you say after you have popped a guy.
An offer you can’t refuse: Either your brains or signature will be on the contract.

Rules

Never insult, threaten or hit another made guy. (*GoodFellas, The Sopranos, Gotti)

Stick to the omerta (never rat out your friends). (*GoodFellas, The Sopranos, Gotti)

Money should be carried in a bundle. Not in a wallet. (*Donnie Brasco)

Mustaches are not acceptable. (*Donnie Brasco)

Who kills a don can never become a don. (*Mobsters, Gotti)

A made guy is untouchable for anyone except of course the bosses. (*GoodFellas)

A soldier kicks up money to his capo who gives a piece to the (under)boss. Never keep income secret from the bosses. (The Sopranos)

Never start an affair with another member’s wife. (Casino)

* Examples of movies in which those rules were broken.

Read also: The Sopranos – 100 Greatest Moments

The Sopranos Features: Introduction

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

By Jeppe Kleijngeld

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 patient. 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, A charismatic sociopath. And also a family man and 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 favourites (mine is consigliere Silvio Dante), but I give praise to all; the hilarious psycho Paulie Walnuts, self-absorbed Christopher, ethically conscious Dr. Melfi, money-grabbing Carmela, crazy uncle June. Too many to mention, but all marvellous indeed!

So, what gives this show its ridiculous appeal? The guns, the girls, the gabagool? I guess this is just one of those very rare productions in which everything fits in perfectly; the teleplays, 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 the ‘been there, done that’ gangster genre. It placed mobsters with old values in the 21th century with all of its problems: depression, terrorism, failing capitalism and addiction.

For 86 episodes you are watching killers, who lack any form of empathy for their victims. Still, you love to spend time with them because they are so entertaining and their behaviour is so funny (when it’s not off-putting and disgusting). Often, the writers remind the audience 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.