The Mafia in Movies - 2021 Documentary about Mafia Movies

The Mafia in Movies is a documentary produced in 2021 about Mafia movies. The Mafia is one of those criminal organizations that over the years has managed to expand its power and have a profound international impact. Its rules, its modus operandi and its characters have impressed and fascinated many directors, producers and screenwriters, who have brought to the cinema a series of movies that would later become real cults, inaugurating the golden age of the gangster movies. The Godfather, Scarface, Goodfellas and Casino, not to mention Italian productions such as The Day of the Owl, Romanzo Criminale and the recent Gomorrah, have greatly influenced audiences around the world, helping to create a stereotype in the common imagination of the Mafia and mobsters of a certain type. But how strong is the impact of the movies and what does it entail? Does it create a false and dangerous image that does not allow us to see criminal organizations for what they are, or does it provide the opportunity to deepen certain themes and to establish interesting debates? What’s the reason for the success of the gangster genre in the movie industry? The cinematographic genre known as gangster movies originated in the period between the two great wars, more precisely in the 30s. For a decade, the organized underworld, especially the one of Italian origin, had made its way thanks to Prohibition and had increased its power so much so that it appeared frequently in the newspapers. Events and personalities far from the common way of life had influenced Hollywood, which began to churn out a series of interesting and successful films. In particular, it was Warner Bros. that set up a precise structure that was then reproposed by many other movie producers. Charismatic and talented criminals of the slums who managed to make the social climb in the world of crime, turning themselves into "businessmen" who live in luxury. Usually, the movies end with the sudden and dizzying fall of the main character, who ends up killed or disappears into oblivion. This type of narrative immediately struck not only the American public but also the viewers in every corner of the world, which appreciated a series of elements that have decreed the success of this movie genre. We always start with the main character who, despite being a negative figure, thanks to his charm, his intelligence, his sense of honor and his taste, manages to conquer the viewers. Since the 1970s, then, the various characters in these films have been played by famous and brilliant actors, who have contributed to creating this myth. The expressions, the language and the same clothes used to shoot these cult movies have become over time elements capable of creating a stereotype of the mobster that has survived a long time. In a nutshell, the gangster movie managed to shake up the American and international film world, offering a fresh and different narrative from the one proposed in the previous decades, and this has ensured the triumph of this type of movies. Today, things have changed, especially in the United States. The genre has lost much of its luster because audiences are more aware of the injustices reported by the films. In fact, if at one time organized crime was thought of as something distant and films were considered for their fictional elements, the recognition by institutions of certain types of crime and the birth of numerous associations that fight injustice have helped to see things with a more critical eye. The progress of society has then led to give greater value to female figures, of course always very passive characters in gangster movies, and to condemn the patriarchal mentality present in such films. Perhaps it is precisely these reasons that have decreed the slow decline of this type of fiction, as evidenced by the recent feature film "The Irishman", which was not very successful among the broad public. The same cannot be said of the Italian filmography nowadays, which seems to have followed an inverse process, both in terms of characterization and audience appreciation. In fact, in recent years in Italy there has been an increasing demand for Mafia-themed films and TV series. It is a sort of golden age of the crime stories. Hollywood has, since the beginning, decided to represent a "glamorous" version of the Italian-American mafia, made of luxury, expensive cars, designer clothes, beautiful women and, in general, a very over the top lifestyle. Even the main characters, criminals and therefore essentially negative figures, were always very warm figures that the audience were led to sympathise with and, of course, like. The story of the man was told as well as that of the mafioso. #mafia #mafiamovie #mafiamovies