Identifying Heroes: The Godfather and Pulp Fiction Essay

This paper was prepared for Introduction to Film History, Module 1 Homework Assignment, taught by Professor Stephanie Sandifer.

The way in which gangster figures are portrayed with consideration to gender roles and ethnicity within each film will be analysed. ‘The Godfather’, ‘Pulp Fiction’ and ‘Scarface’ are being explored because they are three movies known for being inspirational in establishing the gangster genre conventions at various points in film history. ‘Scarface’ was highly influential within this genre and when it was released there was not the same censorship as there is in the 21st century. The representation of gangster figures has been a controversial topic throughout the 20th and 21st century and Dr Fran Mason argued that ‘The gangster film has…been considered to be a subversive form of filmmaking’. Whether it was because of how Italians were portrayed

Looking back at Casablanca in 1941, it is shocking to know that Humphrey Bogarts famous words “hears looking at you kid” was improvised on the spot. While this type of improvising is common today, it was taboo compared the structured and generic Golden Age of film (“Sorry Russell”). The studio system of the 1930s to 1960s dramatically changed the methods of film production, the types of movies made, and eventually caused its own demise.

This is actually my first time watching this movie, I heard that this was really popular back then and I also noticed that this movie, The Godfather, is somehow like The Sopranos and Jersey Shore. As I was watching The Godfather, it gives of this intimidating vibe, maybe because it’s a mob saga, but I know it’s a story about family, power and of course business. After watching the whole movie, it had a big chunk amount of very important lessons in life, and honestly, I wrote them down (ha-ha). In my opinion I think one of the most important effect of The Godfather has had on our society would be about our families. As Don Vito Corleone put it, “A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man” and also “the only wealth in

Citizen Kane (1941) brought about change to the way Hollywood made movies. It is likely the most famous and highly-rated film due to the extraordinary innovative cinematic techniques used throughout this black and white film by its star, director, and producer, Orson Welles. This paper will discuss some of these techniques and provide a few examples from this remarkable movie. Orson Welles, in his film Citizen Kane (1941) challenged the traditional narrative and technical elements of classic Hollywood through innovation with techniques such as deep-focus, moving through objects, wiping, low angle shots, inventive use of light and shadow, and storytelling.

Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen explore the principles of genre in their book Film Theory and Criticism. Braudy and Cohen write that the most common criticism is that, ”Genre art… can never reach the heights of greatness because its creators are too tied to artistic precedents and are therefore not ‘original’”(607). Restrictions of genre destroy the individual artist or what is known as the “auteur” in film. Creativity and uniqueness is sacrificed for conformity in narrative, production, and societal issues. According to this criticism, genre films cannot be considered works of art and directors are not artists, but mere pawns of the studio system.

In 1972, Francis Ford Coppola amazed the world with his release of The Godfather. The Godfather, who is Vito Corleone, is a man with strong beliefs in family and loyalty and the head of his crime family business. Upon earning his reputation over many years, he is a very powerful and respected man. Don Corleone has three sons and a daughter. The oldest, Sonny, is a very quick-to-anger character and is well known as a rough and violent person. The second oldest, Fredo, is a weak and uninterested man who does not seem to be intrigued by his fathers work. The youngest son, Michael, who at the beginning of the film is just returning from war, is not offended by his fathers business but does not plan on getting involved. Vito’s daughter,

During the “golden age” from the early 1930s to the 1950s, the studio system employed a “producer-unit system” to make movies that would “value both profits and aesthetic value” (Barsam & Monahan, 2016, p. 469). With this manager and producer-heavy structure, standardization became possible in filmmaking which led to films with a “studio look,” meaning that movies, particularly from the major studios, had a “predictable technical quality, often at the cost of stylistic sameness” (Barsam & Monahan, 2016, p. 470).

I believe this is how the film industry transformed from classical Hollywood to New Hollywood. This drastic change was related to the downfall that the film industry took due to the events that occurred post war which was around the late 60s. During this time theater admissions began to decline and the demand for home entertainment began to arise. Living in the suburbs and making families seemed like the best thing for Americans to do during this period. Because of this filmmakers had to figure out what film is right for which audience. Another factor that caused the downfall of the film industry related to throwing the old out and embracing the new. Because American filmmakers began to see the high demand for the European art- films, they began to borrow some of the same tactics used in those films to create new films. Within these films there were new stylistic elements as well a more relatable narrative structure. Most films during this time began to cater to a newer, fresh younger

The beginning of the 20th century was a tumultuous time for all those involved in the process of American filmmaking. There was a massive disconnect between what filmmakers were creating, what exhibitors wanted to show, and what audiences wanted to see. This was exasperated by the introduction and transition from short serial films to the feature. Exhibitors imported assumptions that the public at large wished to see short, individual act films reminiscent of Vaudeville because they were primarily lower class and in the past enjoyed “low art.” In actuality, however, audiences of all socioeconomic backgrounds were wanting the more compelling stories explored in longer features.

In the beginning of the movie. The camera angle shows the wedding reception of Don Vito Corleone's daughter Connie and Carlo Rizzi. Vito, which is a big part of the Corleone Mafia family. Is referred as "Godfather." to people who knew them. He and Tom Hagen, the Corleone family lawyer, are hearing requests for favors because, according to Italian tradition, "no Sicilian can refuse a request on his daughter's wedding day." Amerigo Bonasera is a man that asks Don for a favor. an effective undertaker and colleague of the Don, whose little girl was severely beaten by two young fellows since she declined their advances; the men got insignificant discipline. The Don is frustrated in Bonasera, who'd kept away from most contact with the Don because

It is no doubt that the film industry has grown exponentially and changed drastically since Pittsburgh enjoyed its first theatre dedicated to motion pictures in 1905 (McNulty). Where graceful starlets and noble gentlemen once ruled the silver screen, we are now subjected to crude, juvenile humor, an endless pool of remakes, and as much action as writers can fit into a two-hour feature. +After having read excerpts from Roger Ebert’s “Great Movies” and Richard Corliss’s essay on films, I am going to analyze the current status quo of theatre going/film watching. *A good portion of filmgoers nowadays lack the awareness of “classic” films; dramas with male and female leads are almost extinct, seen as corny, old-fashioned, naïve or outdated; super hero or “frosh/frat house”/”bromance” type films (Hangover, et al) films dominate the marquis since the main target audience now seems to be teenage boys.

Films made since the dawn of cinema have predominantly been considered classical and have historically been the most popular. This means those films have followed traditional plot lines, clear-cut conclusions, and transparent moral or ethical dilemmas. In regards to the characters in the film, they are often stereotypical and maintain stable

Genre is an ambiguous term in movies, because the nature of genre has no restriction, a movie can be involved with numbers of features from multiple “genres”, however, Genre become accessible with criticism, consumption and production. As Schatz, T. (1981) notes that “the nature of film production and consumption, identifying film genres scarcely involves the subjective, interpretive effort that it does in literature. “

Film style refers to the technical practices employed within filmmaking, this includes the use of cinematography, mise-en-scene, dialogue, editing and narrative. Understanding the changes in film style is crucial to examining film in a historical, political and cultural context. In this essay I will be exploring how the coming of sound homogenised filmmaking which resulted in changes in film style. The coming of film sound, transformed an experience which was exclusively visual, to equally audible and “most filmmakers soon realized [...] that sound, used imaginatively, offered a valuable new stylistic resource” (Thompson and Bordwell, 2009)