Over the past 6 months, i'd watched a few really good gangsta movies, namely The Godfather I(1972), II(1974), and III(1990); Pulp Fiction(1994); Goodfellas(2000); and Cicade de Deus (2003)... I'm deeply influenced by all these 4 greatest movies of all time, (of course i do not mean i'm a big fuckin gangta now), but they made me understand more about the real life of gangsters, the organisation, the principles they hold, and more importantly, how the world actually runs... (Well, this is supposed to be a movies review about gangters, and please pardon me for uses of harsh languages)
The Godfather Trilogy (Francis Copolla) - Mario Brando, Al Pacino, Robert De Nero
This classic trilogy tells about the highest 'heirachy' of the Mafia organisation - the Mafia Head, or they call the Godfather... For people who do not know about Mafia: They are an organisation originated from Sicily, Italy, who moved to US and slowly and powerfully rulled over the cities, the banks, the churches and politics, all by selling 'services' and gain respect...
The stories tells about a young man, Michael Corleone, who'd never like to get involved in his dark family bussiness, after his father and brother died, slowly hold down the family bussiness and become a man who is most respected and feared.. Copolla did an artistic and awesome job in patiently guiding us through the whole life of this man who tried all he can to protect his family by killing anyone who pose a slightest threat on the Corleone's family and he got so strong politically and financially, but ended up losing the his family...This is a very dark and tragedic movie but at the same time deeply moving.. Here, we see that the Big Boss never get too much involved in laying his hand on dead people; all they need to build up their fame and respect is by killing someone else who's most feared, respected and hated, and after that there'll be many 'brothers' who'll voluntarily do the dirty jobs for them... All he need is a smart but evil mind, being cool but brutal, and at the same time loving but strict... Their main objective is to gain friendship, gain respect, and once you won over people's heart, money, fame, political power will follow. A fact i truly believe after watching the movie is that behind every GREAT successes, there's an unfold crime, say politician, big tycoon, bussinessman... you can't buy success with only certificate and knowledge, but with illegitimate ways most the time.
Favourite quotes: Michael Corleone:"My father made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Luca Brasi held a gun to his head, and my father assured the bandleader, that either his signiture or his brains would be on the contract."
Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino) - John Travolta, Samuel L Jackson, Bruce Willis, Uma Thurman
This is kind of a crappy film actually, a fucked up story line, but with perfect actings, beautifully taken shots and accompanied with superb srcipt... Imagine a film with biggest names in Hollywood, how bad can it be.. This tells about the life of few really cool gangsters... Though they're gangters, Tarantino showed us that besides killing and taking drugs, they still have a simple life just like all of us... Imagine them talking most of the time about what Big Mac is called in French, how to do a foot massage, and about a 5 bucks milk shake( what the hell?!) Even the big boss may be one day fall into suckers hands and got fucked from behind (:O) This is how it is- real and totally entertaining...
Favourite quote: "I will strike down on you with great vengeance and furious wrath, and you will know i am the Lord, when i put my vengeance unto you.. Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese) - Lay Liotta, Robert De Nero, Joe Pesci
This is something like the modern version of Godfather... This tells about the life of a guy, Henry Hill, who'd always wanted to be a gangster since he's young- how he got himself into the gangster group, gained great respect and good money at a very young age; got a pretty bitch as wife; hooked up with 2 good friends (one of them smart and one of them crazy) and had a successful and fun life together robbing, hijacking, selling drugs, killing people, fucking around etc; Howver, among the gangsters, there's no real friendship. If your best friend has a propability of 'ratting' you when he's caught, you'll do nothing but 'whack' them off.. So, the gang ended up screwed by another gang and finally, Henry 'ratted' the whole family in order to safe his(though it sounds real uncool)... There's no other film that has ever made mob life look so real and feel so tangible the way this movie does.
Favourite quote: "One day the kids from the neighborhood carried my mother's groceries all the way home. You know why? It was outta respect. "
"And when the cops, when they assigned a whole army to stop Jimmy, what'd he do? He made 'em partners"
"Whenever we needed money, we'd rob the airport. To us, it was better than Citibank."
Cicade de Deus (Fernando Meirelles) - kid actors and actresses whom you'd never heard of
This is the first foreign independent film that i'd watched, based on a true story (it's Brazilian).. When you think about Brazil, you should first think about Football, and second about poverty, and third about crime, full of crimes... This amazing film tells about the lives of the children in a small city in Brazil called Rio de Janeiro... It's saddening and haunting to see the real life of the people living in the worst scenario of poverty, and the only way to survive through it is by holding a gun around killing, robbing, selling drugs, doping, fucking... It's not shocking to see in this movie children aged 4-5 holding a 9mm around killing and robbing and gain great money and respect... The town folks actually live their life on these robbers and killers cause they're the one who provide them money, and there's no hope depending on the government anyway...
The filming and the music are fantastic, a very well told story about this god-forsaken city...
Favourite quote: "Listen man, I smoke, I snort... I've been begging on the street since I was just a baby. I've cleaned windshields at stop lights. I've polished shoes, I've robbed, I've killed... I ain't no kid, no way. I'm a real man. "
