The Gangster Genre of Films

'The Godfather' is the most revolutionary gangster film of all time,

it rewrote the gangster genre in such a stylized way that all latter

gangster films have conformed to this genre but also evolved it as

films have progressed.

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola 'The Godfather' re-invented the

gangster genre elevating it to a Hollywood status and making it

commercially profitable. It looks into the life of the 'Corleone'

family and represents America at that point in time. It portrays the

violence and power, corruption and justice, honour and obligation

apparent at that time.

Previous to 'The Godfather's' release the 'American Dream' was born,

to idealists America was the country of opportunity, you found your

destiny here and you were successful and prosperous. The streets were

thought to be paved with gold. As this dream became ever increasingly

harder to achieve people looked to alternative ways to reach it. When

'The Godfather' was aired it portrayed how to reach the 'American

Dream' illegally. The government became increasingly worried and so in

the film the gangster's must get their 'come-uppance' it could not be

seen for the gangster's to be prosperous, they must have their fall.

'The Godfather' was made in 1972 and at that point President Nixon was

re-elected after defeating George Mc Govern. At this time the Black

September group hijacked a Lufthansa Boeing 727 as it flew over Turkey

and demanded the release of three colleagues still held for the

massacre of Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games. All of this

violence and especially corruption influenced 'The Godfather',

throughout the film we see corruption of the ju...

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...e and a bunch of his

buddies sitting around, each one elaborating on the story while being

fairly inebriated. It just builds and builds and builds until it hits

the 1 hour 30 minute mark and some punch-lines need to be supplied.

What we are left with is a mishmash film in which substance takes a

backseat to style. All we take with us from the movie is memories of

cool split-screen shots and beautiful freeze frames but we can't

outline the story if our lives depended on it. And hell if we're not

fine with that. I mean "Here is Snatch...and Why Not?" Coming out of

Snatch, we are jazzed and ready to get into some bareknuckled fights.

It has provided a not wholly unpleasant 2 hours of enjoyment. Make no

mistake, Snatch is an empty experience. But, to quote the Wood-man, as

far as empty experiences go, it's one of the best.