Section 1 - genre (Crime)
Crime, the crime genre is one of the most beloved genres of film in the world today, with its countless sub genre's we have a library to choose from, we as viewers have curiosity in our heads, we wonder: how do these criminals operate? Linking in with our curious minds we have almost romanticised the idea of being a criminal, we often see it as the little man overthrowing the establishment. To some people the government are robbing us every day, so why is it a crime when the government lose a few dollars, they'll be fine, it's the normal people who often slave away and just barely scraping by. So the crime genre doesn't just offer us conversation, it offers us an 'anti-hero' to root for. By looking at the two most iconic films of this genre, the sub-genre of crime, mafia movies: The Godfather (1972) and Goodfellas (1990) we can clearly see what the crime genres characteristics are.
According to Steve Neale 'Genres are instances of repetition and difference.' We as audiences come to expect a certain theme when it comes to crime films however we don't want the exact same thing in each film, another quote from Neale 'Difference is absolutely essential to the economy of the genre', what this means is that we as the audience prefer having characters we can recognise but we also would want something different in the films. In both Godfather and Goodfellas, we see Neale's theory in action as both films have the same theme but are both still completely different in their own way through codes and conventions.
A great scene from the Godfather is the opening scene, when the undertaker, Bonasera goes to Don Corleone to seek revenge for his daughter who was taken advantage of by two men, this scene, in particular, follows the codes for a mafia movie. The beginning of the scene we see Bonasera explaining his case to the Don, but we don't actually see the Don whilst Bonasera is talking, the scene is also particularly dark which makes it hard to see the back of the Don. This shows that the Don is a mysterious figure and there's a sense of mystery as we wonder 'who actually is he?', but also he is a man who commands respect, as people instead of going to the police decide to come to him for what they consider 'real justice' where the police have failed (Bonasera himself notes he went to the police but they did nothing and his daughters attackers went free). We also see Bonasera from an over the shoulder point of view, we can see the Don but his back is turned. In reference 1 we can see how the Don is perceived, we see Bonasera giving him the kiss of respect which shows that Don Corleone is a man well liked by his community.
He's also standing tall above Bonasera (which has connotations which implies that he has more power, status and influence), which implies he has a high standing in his world. The use of respect is a convention of this genre, to these characters, without respect you are nothing. They want to be respected out of respect, not being respected out of fear (For example real life mafia-hitman Tommy Pitera was only respected by his crew because he was a murderous psycho). We as the audience know that Don Corleone has that genuine respect from his people. It also makes us as the audience appreciate these characters. We appreciate Don Corleone for his honour, even for a mafia boss, he could so easily kill the men who took advantage of Bonasera's daughter but he doesn't as he has a strict moral code and doesn't abuse the power he has. As he remarks: 'I want reliable people, people who aren’t going to be carried away. I mean, we’re not murderers, in spite of what this undertaker thinks.' The uses of overpowering shots and the mental weapon of respect show us what we can expect from the genre of crime. Another stylistic code that is used in crime films is that the main character is usually a male who has had a hard upbringing. This is evident in the Godfather as the main character, Vito Corleone did indeed have a tough life, when he was a young boy both of his parents, and brother were killed for insulting the local mafia boss which meant he had to flee his hometown of Sicily (His real second name is Andolini but immigration officials in the US renamed him by using his village for a surname) because the people who murdered his family didn't want Vito to return and extract his revenge once he was older. As an audience this makes us respect the character as we see he has made something of himself despite all the hard times he's had to endure, we admire that he doesn't pity himself, he just gets on with it and doesn't make excuses.
(VC = Vito Corleone)
Martin Scorsese's gritty gangster drama Goodfellas is another film that uses the same codes and conventions but in a completely different way. In the opening to The Godfather, VC is in the shadows and we see him as a man of honour, Goodfellas is the polar opposite. In GF's opening, we see the 3 main characters, Henry Hill (Liotta), Jimmy Conway (De Niro) and Tommy DeVito (Pesci) driving and we can tell that they're key to the story as the opening scene wouldn't show us characters that aren't relevant to the film. And we can see they're in darkness but not for the same reasons as Godfather. Godfather used the darkness to create mystery, but GF uses darkness to show the type of men we're dealing with, in the opening we see that in the car was the still alive Billy Batts, who the 3 thought they killed but in fact was still somehow alive. This shows us that these men are genuine dark, sadistic psychopaths (We could consider Hill the 'sanest' out of the three) who take pleasure in murdering people, we see evidence of this as they realise Batts is still alive, DeVito stabs Batts countless times, showing the lack of empathy towards another human. This is another convention of the crime genre as there's 'grotesque' violence, something that criminals use to their advantage.
Referring to the Goodfellas opening again, we can see the use of props in full detail and how they describe the characters. With the weapons of choice being a gun and knife, this shows us the personality of the characters, this is a cliche prop used in gangster films, in the majority of gangster films there's at least one gun. We see DeVito using a knife to finish off Batts, which shows the audience DeVito is unhinged as stabbing someone to death is an inhumane way to murder someone compared to Conway's method of shooting his victim, this shows us that Conway has a little bit of emotion and puts Batts out of his misery whereas DeVito wanted to make Batts suffer as much as he possibly could.
Goodfellas uses realism to create disgust (because the film was based on real events written in the book 'Wiseguy' by Nicholas Pileggi, whereas the Godfather is a fictional story which gave the directors more creative freedom and it won't turn audiences' against the film as it's not real. Knowing Goodfellas is based on real-life events will shock the audience as they couldn't possibly believe that some of the things that happened actually did, for example: Tommy DeVito (Played by Pesci) shot and killed a bartender after the bartender said 'Why don't you go fuck yourself Tommy?', nobody likes being spoken too like that but Pesci had already shot the bartender in the foot in a previous scene and instead of just letting the bartender stand up for himself, he killed him, it shows DeVito's nature, his ego was that hurt he ended up killing a young innocent man. He has no remorse either, he remarks 'he'd probably become a rat' (in mafia terms rat means informant for the government) instead of having any sort of emotion for the young life he had ended. In this scene the use of sound shows the contrast in moods, before Spider (the bartender) is shot dead they're playing cards and laughing, but after Spider gets killed the mood changes DeVito goes silent because his ego is hurt because someone stood up to him. Then DeVito shoots Spider dead and then the mood changes, the guys are visibly shocked and angry with Tommy for losing his temper like that, Conway even remarks 'what the fuck is the matter with you?.' This use of sound shows us how easy it was for these mafia members to snap, this is evident as Tommy is only upset that he has to dig the hole to bury the person he just killed.
In crime movies, death is definitely a certainty. With the lifestyle criminals live it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when they'll die as criminal organizations constantly fight over territory, because at the end of the day these organizations want to make money, just like normal working people, the only difference? We earn money legally. In both Godfather and Goodfellas death will of course feature, in the infamous baptism scene we see the killings of the 4 New York Mafia dons and Moe Greene, all killed with guns which is the usual weapon of choice in the mafia when they want to kill someone, this is a convention of the genre as this is the generic weapon of choice used by gangsters, whether they're old school gangsters to modern day gangsters now. This scene especially is praised for its editing, cutting from Michael at his grandson's christening and cutting to another person being killed. This scene is powerful as it shows Michael Corleone's transition from innocent war hero to a ruthless mafia boss.
Both The Godfather and Goodfellas convey the codes and conventions for the crime genre (more specifically the mafia genre), it allows us the audience to recognize these two as clear constructs of this genre. But according to theorists, we as the audience prefer it if we see a similar plot to what we're used to because we recognize these films. In both films we use mise-en-scene, in both movies we see what the characters are wearing and that makes it clear that they're men of respect, because they can afford all the best suits whereas others can barely scrape enough together to live, we also use props to separate the mobsters from the normal law-abiding citizens, as the mobsters carry guns and weapons which separate them, in crime movies it's the law vs the bandits. The use of low-key lighting creates mystery, this is relevant as people in the mafia have to stay on the low as the police are trying to bring them to justice every single day. And it also represents that they're mysterious figures as there's not that much information known about them so they're almost a folk legend. Finally, speaking of cinematography, the Godfather uses darkness to emphasize that the men in this film are violent, morally bankrupt psychopaths (with the exception of Don Vito Corleone to an extent)
Section 2 - Narrative theory (Crime)
Films can be viewed also by the narrative theory. A theory which is often used is the equilibrium theory by the theorist Todorov:
1 = state of equilibrium. 2 = a disruption of the equilibrium. 3 = recognition that the disorder has occurred. 4 = attempt to repair the damage. 5 = return to new equilibrium.
Both Godfather and Goodfellas follow the equilibrium structure, as the films both have a high point of the characters which eventually turns into trouble for them and they have to fix their problem as soon as possible.
For Godfather and Goodfellas:
Godfather - 1. Vito Corleone is the boss of the Corleone mafia family, they're one of the most powerful criminal organization in the US. 2 - Vito Corleone is shot by assassins sent by Virgil 'The The Turk' Sollozzo after Corleone refuses to give Sollozzo protection for his drug operations. 3 - Michael Corleone gets involved with the family business by killing Sollozzo and becomes in charge of Corleone business. 5 - Michael Corleone has the other New York mafia bosses killed so there's no threat to the Corleone family, Michael then officially becomes the new Don of the family.
Goodfellas - 1. Henry Hill becomes an associate of the Vario Crew who are apart of the Lucchese crime family. 2 - Henry is busted dealing drugs. 3 - Henry realizes that now that he's been caught dealing drugs the Vario crew will want to get rid of him because of the knowledge Hill has of their criminal operations (including a heist they did at an airport). 4 = Henry becomes the one thing the people in his life hate, a rat (a derogatory word for an informant). 5 = Hill goes into witness protection, leaving his old mafia life behind.
Both films have what we call a 'closed ending', this means that loose ends are taken care of. In The Godfather Michael kills the people who are a threat to him, and in Goodfellas Henry turns on his former friends who'll take the first chance they can to kill him. These both fit in with the story as now Michael has no enemies, he can rule the underworld with an iron fist if you will, as there's nobody that will try to/can overthrow him. In Goodfellas Henry escapes death by turning on 'the family', Hill leaves New York for a new, less violent and happier life, although Hill will still be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life in case one of his old mafia associates catches up to him, but for now Henry can sigh a breath of relief. And in both cases, the characters are free from any danger.
However, Godfather still takes a different turn, as they don't 'kill off' the main character but they do have him out of the story for a while (Vito Corleone is the character I am referring too). This is strange as we were introduced to him in the very first scene as a man of power and respect so naturally, we would think he is the main protagonist of the film but it's not meant to be, with his son Michael becoming the protagonist which we thought Vito would be.
Referring to the characters themselves we as the audience have to decide if they're the heroes, anti-heroes or antagonist. We use the theory of Vladimir Propp to decide what we think of the characters by separating them into 7 'types' of characters:
The villain: locked in a constant struggle with the hero, often trying to harm the princess.
The donor gives the hero an object or a piece of information that helps them prepare for what is to come.
The helper: assists the hero with their quest, often referred to as their 'sidekick'.
The princess: Needs assistance from the hero, usually because they are in some form of danger, typically the princess is the victim within the narrative.
The dispatcher: Is the character who sends that hero on their mission or quest.
Hero: Reacts to the donor and saves the princess, often resulting in them falling in love with the princess.
False hero: May appear good but has an ulterior motive, or attempts to take credit for the hero's actions.
Godfather
In the Godfather the two main characters Vito and Michael Corleone are most definitely 'false heroes' (or as I call them: anti-heroes) as they're men of respect in their respective business but despite this 'respect', they're still murders and extortionists, committing all sorts of crimes. Although the other characters in the Godfather are exactly the same, what makes the Corleone's different is that they have a moral code, they don't hurt innocents whereas other mob figures probably wouldn't care who got hurt unless it hurt their business interests. Although you can consider the other members of the Corleone family helpers, for example in the final scene of the Godfather, the 'helpers' go to work for Michael. The infamous baptism scene:
Peter Clemenza kills Victor Stracci
Moe Greene is shot through the eye
Willie Cicci kills Carmine Cuneo
Rocco Lampone kills Phillip Tattaglia
Al Neri kills Emilio Barzini
Goodfellas
Like the Godfather, the majority of the characters in Goodfellas are false heroes, although I would say that the characters in Goodfellas are a lot worse than the Godfather. So I consider the characters in Goodfellas more as villains because in comparison to the Godfather the characters in GF are a lot more sadistic and violent in comparison to the Godfather where violence is only used as a last resort, for Goodfellas, it's often used as a first resort.
To conclude: both films follow Todorov's equilibrium theorem. Both movies have all the features of it, both films have low and high points but in both, the problems are fixed. And Propp's character types are prevalent in this genre of movies. In crime films there are only really false heroes as criminals obviously aren't saints but in some cases criminals are seen as a Robin Hood type figure (For real-life context: the mafia was 'founded' in Sicily to protect the people of Sicily from foreign invaders) as many people see the governments as the real criminals, although it's each to their own.
Section 1 - genre (action)
The action genre has evolved over the years, from the 20's-30's action movies were usually adventure films, but as the years progressed action involved into war and cowboy movies and in modern times there are quite a lot of sub-genres within the main genre itself. There are now: action-comedy, action-drama the list goes on. The two action films I will be analysing are John Wick (2014) and 21 Jump Street (2012).
A scene from John Wick is a perfect representation of the stereotypical action movie. The main character, John Wick (played by Keanu Reeves) stops at a gas station to fill up his 69 Mustang (this is important later) with gas. Also at the gas station, the car comes to the attention of a Russian gangster (who just so happens to be the son of the Russian mafia boss in New York) who takes a liking to the car and asks Wick how much he wants for the car. Wick declines his offer and says the car isn't for sale, now a normal person who wanted the car would've ended it at that, he doesn't want to sell the car and that's the end of it. But not the gangster, he then proceeds to comment on Wick's dog and slyly implies that if he doesn't sell him the car he'll kidnap/kill the dog. The gangster then says (in Russian) 'Everything's got a price, bitch' and to his surprise, Wick can understand and speak Russian and then replies 'Not this bitch', the gangster then is restrained by the other two men with him. This scene conveys the codes and conventions of an action film, it establishes who the eventful main villain of the film will be, in this case, it's a criminal, this is one of the most used types of an antagonist. This creates the 'good v bad' trope that hundreds of films have used in the past, this will later come in the film when Wick takes on the Russian mob. We see that this criminal is unhinged and is most probably violent judging by his over-the-top reaction when told the car wasn't for sale. Also, it establishes the protagonist being: Wick. He was a former hitman but before being a hitman he had a career in the US marines, this is another code and convention as usually the hero of an action film has a past either in the military, or some other organization such as the CIA etc (The character of Bryan Mills from the Taken trilogy is ex-CIA).
Referring to costumes, the clothes the characters are wearing saying a lot about their 'profession'. The Russian gangster (Whos name is Iosef) is wearing a hoodie underneath a leather jacket, this is key as hoodies are often used by criminals whilst committing crimes to conceal their faces so they won't appear on security cameras (even though a hoodie won't fully conceal your face it still makes it harder to identify), the look makes Iosef look like a shady figure. Referring back to the aforementioned leather jacket, the real-life Russian mafia are known for wearing leather jackets as a fashion symbol, so for viewers who know their culture, this immediately says to them Iosef is apart of the mob. Referring to Iosef, the other two men he was with were dressed more like the stereotypical gangsters, they were dressed in suits which have almost become a symbol for mobsters all around the world, the Italian, Russian and Japanese mafia wear suits as they consider themselves businessmen, they just make their money illegally, this also ties in with the 'criminals like to show off their wealth' stereotype.
The buddy cop action film 21 Jump Street is another film (I will also be referring to 22 Jump Street, the sequel) that uses the same codes and conventions of the action genre but they use it in a completely different way, as it and John Wick are two completely different action films. 21 Jump Street is like the stereotypical buddy action film, as the two main characters are complete opposites, Jenko (played by Channing Tatum) is a jock like character, he is physically fit, has the looks but is one the dumb witted side, whereas his partner Schmidt (played by Jonah Hill) is the out of shape, socially awkward but smarter of the two. This is one of the tropes of a buddy cop, as these two men who are opposites have to get over their differences and work together to achieve a common goal. And we as the audience enjoy when the two characters' relationship gets closer and they build up a close bond. Another famous example of this trope is Hot Fuzz, where Angel the strong, good cop builds a relationship with the incompetent Danny and by the end of the film, they're good friends.
Referring to 21 Jump Street again, it still has similarities to John Wick. like John Wick they have a goal, it's another good v evil story but in a more comedic manner. Whereas Wick has a serious plot, 21 Jump Street's plot is absurd, they need to take down a drug dealer whos drug makes people 'trip' and imagine themselves in wacky situations. When the two characters take it they're in a weird situation, Jenko is in a world where he's surrounded by a rainbow and football with googly eyes, an example of the wacky situations that this drug causes. Finally, 21 Jump Street uses 'culture' to make its plot more accurate, as apart of their mission is to infiltrate a high school so they can stop the drug, to do so they need to blend in, this is where the stereotypes come in, the use the American stereotypes of jocks and nerds to get a laugh from the audience as the majority of the audience will relate and will have had real-life experiences with so-called jocks and nerds.
Section 2 - narrative theory (action)
I've looked at both of these films through codes and conventions, now we can look at them through the narrative theory, more specifically the equilibrium theory and Vladimir Propp's character theory.
The equilibrium for John Wick: state of equilibrium - after finishing his final job for Russian mobster Viggo Tarasov, John Wick is free to live a peaceful life. Disruption of equilibrium - after a confrontation at a gas station over Wick's car, Russian mobsters follow Wick home, knock him out, steal the car and kill his dog. Recognition - John seeks refuge in the Continental, a hotel that caters to the criminal underworld, people cannot be killed in the hotel, those who ignore this rule are killed. Attempt to repair - Wick kills Iosef and Viggo. Return - after killing those who pose a threat to him, Wick takes a dog who was about to be euthanized and returns back to his peaceful life, he takes the dog to the place where he had his last date with his late wife.
For 21 Jump Street: state of equilibrium - Schmidt and Jenko are two police officers who came out of the academy. Disruption - after arresting a drug dealer named Domingo, they have to let him go after they forget to read him his Miranda rights. Recognition - after the failed arrest, Schmidt and Jenko are assigned to an undercover police operation in which cops go undercover in schools after a new drug sweeps the school, this undercover programme is called: Jump Street. Attempt - after gaining the trust of the dealer, Eric, the two cops develop relationships with their new found school friends, they overhear Eric is having a meeting with his supplier, they follow him and they have a shootout, killing the biker gang and drug suppliers. Return - after the success of the high-school operation, both cops are given a new task, infiltrating a college.
Both films use a lot of Propp's character theory, both films fitting into it.
John Wick: considering the film's characters are criminals, you would be right in thinking that there are no heroes, but I would say Wick is the hero, as despite him being a villain before (because of his past as a hitman) he left that life but now has an enemy that he needs to defeat so he can avenge all the damage that the Russian's did to Wick both physically and mentally, and after seeing Wick suffer we feel for him and now we can consider him a hero. The main villains are the Russian mafia, with Wick killing the boss and the bosses son after they killed his dog, they're quite clearly the villains as they're killers and have no remorse for any damage that they cause to people. Although John Wick has a lot of 'helpers', he has the people at the hotel who help him and keeps him alive (Winston, Aurelio), the villains have their helpers too, with their lawyer Avi, and their countless henchmen.
21 Jump Street: although the character types in John Wick are unclear, some still consider Wick the villain, 21 JS character roles are clear. We have the two heroes, Schmidt and Jenko who's main goal is to stop the outbreak of a drug which caused the death of a student. But also we can consider Schmidt and Jenko 'helpers' because they're helping the police stop the drug epidemic. The main villain is the character of Eric, who is the main dealer on the school campus, although as part of their work, the character of Schmidt had to get close to Eric to build his trust. Also the 'geeky' characters that Jenko meets are helpers as they helped Schmidt and Jenko tap Eric's phone which allowed them to get information on where Eric was meeting his dealer.
Referring to 21 Jump Street again, it still has similarities to John Wick. like John Wick they have a goal, it's another good v evil story but in a more comedic manner. Whereas Wick has a serious plot, 21 Jump Street's plot is absurd, they need to take down a drug dealer whos drug makes people 'trip' and imagine themselves in wacky situations. When the two characters take it they're in a weird situation, Jenko is in a world where he's surrounded by a rainbow and football with googly eyes, an example of the wacky situations that this drug causes. Finally, 21 Jump Street uses 'culture' to make its plot more accurate, as apart of their mission is to infiltrate a high school so they can stop the drug, to do so they need to blend in, this is where the stereotypes come in, the use the American stereotypes of jocks and nerds to get a laugh from the audience as the majority of the audience will relate and will have had real-life experiences with so-called jocks and nerds.
Section 2 - narrative theory (action)
I've looked at both of these films through codes and conventions, now we can look at them through the narrative theory, more specifically the equilibrium theory and Vladimir Propp's character theory.
The equilibrium for John Wick: state of equilibrium - after finishing his final job for Russian mobster Viggo Tarasov, John Wick is free to live a peaceful life. Disruption of equilibrium - after a confrontation at a gas station over Wick's car, Russian mobsters follow Wick home, knock him out, steal the car and kill his dog. Recognition - John seeks refuge in the Continental, a hotel that caters to the criminal underworld, people cannot be killed in the hotel, those who ignore this rule are killed. Attempt to repair - Wick kills Iosef and Viggo. Return - after killing those who pose a threat to him, Wick takes a dog who was about to be euthanized and returns back to his peaceful life, he takes the dog to the place where he had his last date with his late wife.
For 21 Jump Street: state of equilibrium - Schmidt and Jenko are two police officers who came out of the academy. Disruption - after arresting a drug dealer named Domingo, they have to let him go after they forget to read him his Miranda rights. Recognition - after the failed arrest, Schmidt and Jenko are assigned to an undercover police operation in which cops go undercover in schools after a new drug sweeps the school, this undercover programme is called: Jump Street. Attempt - after gaining the trust of the dealer, Eric, the two cops develop relationships with their new found school friends, they overhear Eric is having a meeting with his supplier, they follow him and they have a shootout, killing the biker gang and drug suppliers. Return - after the success of the high-school operation, both cops are given a new task, infiltrating a college.
Both films use a lot of Propp's character theory, both films fitting into it.
John Wick: considering the film's characters are criminals, you would be right in thinking that there are no heroes, but I would say Wick is the hero, as despite him being a villain before (because of his past as a hitman) he left that life but now has an enemy that he needs to defeat so he can avenge all the damage that the Russian's did to Wick both physically and mentally, and after seeing Wick suffer we feel for him and now we can consider him a hero. The main villains are the Russian mafia, with Wick killing the boss and the bosses son after they killed his dog, they're quite clearly the villains as they're killers and have no remorse for any damage that they cause to people. Although John Wick has a lot of 'helpers', he has the people at the hotel who help him and keeps him alive (Winston, Aurelio), the villains have their helpers too, with their lawyer Avi, and their countless henchmen.
21 Jump Street: although the character types in John Wick are unclear, some still consider Wick the villain, 21 JS character roles are clear. We have the two heroes, Schmidt and Jenko who's main goal is to stop the outbreak of a drug which caused the death of a student. But also we can consider Schmidt and Jenko 'helpers' because they're helping the police stop the drug epidemic. The main villain is the character of Eric, who is the main dealer on the school campus, although as part of their work, the character of Schmidt had to get close to Eric to build his trust. Also the 'geeky' characters that Jenko meets are helpers as they helped Schmidt and Jenko tap Eric's phone which allowed them to get information on where Eric was meeting his dealer.
