The gangster is an iconic American symbol, especially in film. When a film’s story involves a crime, more often than not, gangsters are involved. This brings credibility to the story line, because without this figure, the audience would not believe a crime could be committed without veterans. We are progressively demanding more and more realism for our movies. In other words, we are waiting for credibility. Hands down, the best gangster film we have seen so far has been Scarface. And I can’t help but compare this classic gangster film with a more modern crime classic, Reservoir Dogs. I chose this comparison to show how gangster portrayals have not changed in sixty years. Their look may change, or the way they talk, but their overall motivation, suspicion, and moral code have swayed very little in over six decades. A gangster’s motivation is created by greed, the need to get ahead, roughly a skewed idea of the American dream. Tony, in Scarface, follows this pattern, so much so that he takes his boss’s job, and girl. In Reservoir Dogs greed is represented in numerous ways. One being the need to live. I remember one scene when they are discussing taking lives. They something along the lines of “I’m no maniac, but one way or the other, you’re getting out of my way. The choice between doing ten years, and taking out some stupid m*****f****r, ain’t no choice at all”. They are willing to kill whoever, cop, civilian, friend, in order to see their own survival through. As the quote says, there is no honor among thieves. What I also noticed in both films was how they spoke to each other. They talk about girls, stories they have heard, and joke around. It is possible to have comedy in a drama, it just has to be placed in at the right time, and flow organically. Now, because of 1930’s motion picture production code, in order for a film to be released it has to adhere to somewhat interpretable guidelines (does anybody remember the scene from Aviator?). Because of this code films could show deaths in limited ways. Because of this code Scarface had to be shot the way it was; with silhouette killing, shot on either killer or victim, never both. This reminded me greatly of Reservoir Dogs. To those who have seen it, when I say “The Ear Scene”, you know what I am talking about. You never see the ear cut off, the camera pans to the side as if not wanting to witness what is happening. I also remember when Mr. Orange, and Mr. White steal a car, the lady inside shoots Mr. Orange in the gut, but we don’t see gun and belly in the same shot. Overall the endings are similar also. The greed and suspicion that choked them led to their untimely deaths, showing little change in gangster demeanor, motivation, and morals that have been instilled in American society since the first gangster flick, way back when.
That's an interesting comparison, Rand, and you're right about the cutting away from scenes of violence. I like what you said about the ordinary moments of conversation, too, since we often tend to focus on the violent moments instead.
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