Scene Stealer: The Godfather

“Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.” This line is so wonderful in its cavalier utterance. The scene in which the don’s caporegime, Clemenza, utters it is one of the best in The Godfather. He’s on the road with the don’s ex-driver and he’s under orders that the driver is not supposed to make the ride back alive. When Clemenza asks the driver to pull over so that he can take a leak, you just know something’s about to happen.

As Clemenza does his business on the side of the highway, the other man sitting in the backseat shoots the driver three times in the back of the head. The murder is all in a day’s work for Clemenza, and along with a strict devotion to his don is an equal sense of responsibility to his family. Clemenza takes a moment out of his routine to remember that he promised his wife that he would bring home dessert and has cannoli in the car.

When Clemenza tells the shooter to leave the gun and take the cannoli, it illustrates that the murder is not an act on which he dwells. The deed is done and Clemenza is ready to take dessert back home to his wife. Amidst the crime and the violence is a strong devotion to both the Godfather and to family, and this scene shows fierce loyalty to the don and love and consideration of family, and how the two exist side by side.

Heist Week: Thief Breaks Into a Familiar Routine

Thief

It is interesting to look back on a director’s first cinematic offering when you have followed their career over the years. While I have been a fan of Michael Mann’s work since his days on Miami Vice, the television show not the movie, somehow his big screen debut, Thief, slipped by me.

Based on the novel The Home Invaders, Thief follows an expert jewel thief who finds himself in a tough situation when he agrees to do a one-time jewelry heist for a Chicago mob boss, Leo (Robert Prosky). An ex-convict, Frank (James Caan) finally seems to have everything going his way. By day he owns both a car dealership and a bar, and by night he steals high end jewelry from the toughest safes in town with the help of his friend Barry (James Belushi). However the one thing that is missing from Frank’s life is a family, which he hopes to start with Jessie (Tuesday Weld). Unfortunately Leo has other plans for Frank and sees their one-time partnership more as a life time arrangement.

If you have encountered any of Michael Mann’s other crime films than you know what to expect from Thief. While interesting at times, it often feels like a paint-by-numbers production. The film follows several genre clichés including the corrupt cops looking to extort Frank and the one last job scenario. Being a Mann film, Thief does have some nice tension sprinkled throughout. In one particular theme Mann draws out a sequence where Frank is returning to his car dealership unaware he his about to be ambushed by Leo’s men. The scene really does keep the audience on the edge as there are several outcomes that can occur in those few moments.

It was also nice to see that the big heist is not shown in detail. Mann displays how Frank conducts his robberies at the very beginning of the film but never goes into that level of detail during the main heist he commits for Leo. In many ways the heist Leo orchestrates is not really important at all. The film is more about the honor, or lack there of, amongst thieves. Frank sees himself as a man with nothing to lose, yet Leo is quick to point out that his family responsibilities no longer allow him to have that prison mentality.

The back and forth between Frank and Leo is great, however not enough of it is featured in the film. More moments like that would have helped to elevate the film. What really hurts the film are the elements that do not directly relate to Frank’s burglaries, mainly his relationship with Jessie. The love arc between Frank and Jessie feels rushed and unfocused. The film would have been better served had Jessie’s character been developed further.

The saving grace for this film is the performances. Caan is enjoyable as he carries that same level of swagger that he had in The Godfather. Frank comes off a little too invincible for my liking in the last twenty minutes, but that has more to do with Mann’s script rather than Caan’s performance. It should also be noted that both James Belushi and Willie Nelson give pleasantly surprising performances in their supporting roles. In the end, despite some tense moments, Thief is not a film that will leave a lasting impression. It recycles themes that have already been covered far better in other films of this genre.

"The Sun’ll Come Out Gomorrah, Bet Your Bottom Dollar..."

Gomorrah (Gomorra)

As much as I enjoy films like The Godfather and Goodfellas, I admit that they have skewed my image of the Mafia. Those films have glamorized the mafia lifestyle to a point where it is easy to forget the average folks who end up suffering the most. Which is why a film like Matteo Garrone’s Golden Globe nominated work, Gomorrah, is so refreshing. It is a startling reminder of how so many innocent, and at times misguided, lives are destroyed by organized crime.

Gomorrah is a film that looks at five individual stories and how they are all intertwined with the Camorra, the ruling Mafia in Naples, Italy. There is the tale of Don Ciro (Gianfelice Imparato), a middleman, who distributes money to the families of imprisoned Camorra members. Totò (Nicolo Manta) a 13-year-old grocery delivery boy who wishes to initiated into the gang. Marco (Marco Macor) and Ciro (Ciro Petrone), two cocky low rent thugs who steal weapons from the Camorra’s secret stash. Pasquale (Salvatore Cantalupo) a haute couture tailor who is offered money to train Chinese garment workers at a rival factory. And finally, Roberto (Carmine Paternoster), a graduate who discovers that the toxic waste management company he works for may not be as upstanding as he initially thought.

The film is based on Roberto Saviano tell all book about the Camorra. Saviano himself was forced to go into hiding after the book was published and, after seeing Gomorrah, I understand why. The Camorra have killed more people than any other organization over the last 30 years. They literally has its hands in every aspect of society. There is nothing that they do not own, and there is not a place where they cannot find you. The fascinating, and equally unsettling, thing about the Camorra is that they essentially are a high powered corporation. Besides dealing in the drug and weapons trade, they own various companies, in numerous industries, that do business with upstanding companies on a daily basis.

This fact is highlighted in the two most compelling stories in Gomorrah, the ones revolving around Pasquale and Roberto. Both men are good natured individuals looking to make an honest name for themselves. Yet they realize, the hard way, just how far the arms of the Camorra reach. Pasquale's arc is by far the saddest of the two, especially when you see how it plays out. The scene in the car with the Chinese, and the bittersweet truck stop moment, stayed with me for a while after the film. Same goes for the scene where Roberto watches the kids driving the trucks filled with toxic waste. While these scenes are not flashy, okay, maybe the car scene, they are shocking and subtly heartbreaking.

Compelling, without being excessively violent, Gomorrah offers much needed realism to an often romanticized gangster genre. Considering how well executed this film is, I am surprised that Gomorrah did not get an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language, especially after receiving nominations at both this year's Golden Globes and BAFTA Awards. Regardless, Gomorrah is a film that should be on your "must see" short list the next time you visit your local DVD store.