One of the main formulas on the gangster genre was it’s muse in scene. The lighting was always dark. The costumes and props were also set to a specific formula, gangsters wore nice suits (usually black) and carried Tommy Guns. Police officers wore their uniforms and carried batons. Private detectives always wore a brown trench coat and a hat.
In the early 1930s, the Hays Production Code brought the curtain down on the days of glorifying the main role of gangsters as hero. The code brought us new gangster films, portraying the police or private detectives as the “Good Guys†on the right side of the law. Most of the films carried a moral of “Crime doesn’t payâ€. Gangster films kept to the same kind of till 1972.
"I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse."
Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather†reinvented the genre. The film was about the Corleone family, Sicilians who settled in New York and whose crime syndicate made them as powerful as the Government and Big Business.
The narrative structure remained focused on a single story throughout the course of the film. This is rare for a film with such a long approximate running time (Nearly 3 hours). The language in the film is also very important. One thing the audience might notice is the lack of the words “Mafia†and "Cosa Nostra". These were replaced with the euphemism of “The Familyâ€. This is quite the Juxta position, as such euphemisms are used; yet there are brutal murders which take place throughout the course of the film. There is also the use of both Italian and English. Coppola and Puzo were trying to make the film as authentic as possible. People who are of different ethnicities still speak their mother tongue, even though they have immigrated to another country.
The costume used in the film continues on with the gangster formula, with the Corleone males in expensive suits. The opening shot of the film is a close up a face of a man in the Don’s dark hone office; this opens up with intrigue, as the audience doesn’t know who this man is. Most of the camera angles used in the film are employed to make Don Vito Corleone look as powerful as possible, usually a high angle mid shot, to make him superior. There are also scenes where he has a light shining from above him, to make him look God like, despite his actions being more of reminiscent of the devil.
The Godfather laid the template for future films of the genre. It continues the representation of Italian-Americans being very family-orientated, complimented with a fiery temper. This is a double-edged stereotype, as it is positive that Italians are very close knit families, yet negative because of the short fuse.
The movie “Scarface†was loosely based on Al Capone, however, the lead role was that of Cuban immigrant Tony Montana “Scarface†has a different selling point to “The Godfather. There is one scene in the film which is reminiscent of a “Rocky†movie. There was a montage where Montana and his associates were committing many illegal activities, however, the music used was contrapuntal, and it had a very positive sound to it.
The language used was modern, with lots of expletives, showing that the gangsters are now starting to lose their class. Gangsters used to be like upper class businessmen, however, now the audience is starting to see gangsters as lower class people, who just happen to have money. The costume was a slight variation on the classic gangster attire.
They were still wearing suits, however, the style was modern. When Tony Montana first enters Florida crime world, he is wearing a cheap, pea-green polyester suit. However, towards the end of the film, his style becomes more and more expensive. Comparing this to “The Godfather†almost everyone is in a black suit, this could be due to Coppola wanting the audience to view the Corleone family as the “Bad Guys†and Brian LaPalma wanting the audience to root for Tony Montana. The movie plot had shown the genre was getting more brutal and there was blood in abundance. Tony cared for his friends and family, which is a positive social trait, however, this is sandwiched between the brutality and criminal activities.
â€Scarface†borrowed a lot from “The Godfatherâ€despite being made some eleven years later. The audience was still seeing big guns, luxury cars, suits and money. The camera angles were made to look Tony Montana look very powerful, with lots of close ups and high angle mid shows and back lighting. The film also kept with a single narrative structure. The genre of the gangster has evolved greatly since its primitive early beginnings and has been somewhat cyclical. In the beginning, the gangsters were glorified, then vilified, now we seem to be living in an era where gangsters are glorified again. We have also seen a shift from an Italian-American dominated genre to a more global genre. The films have also changed greatly concerning their plots and time: with “The Godfather†and â€Scarface†being long films with a single narrative structure with a definite ending to shorter multiple narrative films where things are constantly changing.
