{"id":480207,"date":"2015-10-28T13:14:25","date_gmt":"2015-10-28T13:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/?p=480207"},"modified":"2015-10-28T13:14:25","modified_gmt":"2015-10-28T13:14:25","slug":"mafia-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/mafia-films\/","title":{"rendered":"Mafia Films"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Screenshot from The Great Train Robbery (1903)<\/p><\/div>\n

From the dawn of film to the present day, there is very little that has not been written about. Stories about cowboys, stories about aliens\u2026 Hell, stories about cowboys AND aliens; and, love it or leave it, there is one genre of films that has always been adored by aficionados and so- so movie fans alike: mafia films. And they. Are. Everywhere. Look up any list of \u201cmovies you should watch\u201d or \u201ctop 100 films,\u201d and all throughout every one of those, you will find them by the dozen, and for good reason!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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What is it about mafia films that entrenches us, immerses us so deeply that we idolize everything about them: the good, the bad, and the (often really) ugly? This is such a multi- faceted question that the only way to answer it is to take examples from several cornerstone movies and break them apart. So, where then do we begin? I hope you know that this is rhetorical; there is only one place we could start when dissecting mafia movies.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Godfather<\/em>. Wow. What a classic! Utter the words, and often the first response you will get is a poor imitation of Don Corleone (as portrayed by Marlon Brando) uttering his famous line of \u201cI\u2019m going to make him an offer he can\u2019t refuse.\u201d And I couldn\u2019t tell you how many references have been made to that single line alone, which merely serves to show how much that film has seeped into our pop culture. But, I digress. Let\u2019s turn our attention to the aspects of this movie that make it number two on the IMDB\u2019s top 250 movies of all time (followed immediately by it\u2019s sequel!). (http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/chart\/top<\/a>) One of the overriding themes that is spun into this tale of crime, deceit, and passion for power. The Don has it, and everyone who isn\u2019t the Don seems to want it\u2014often bad enough to kill for it. Another recurring pervasive theme is violence, which is not portrayed in its typical glamorous light, but is rather shown as the disgusting, dark thing that it really is. So, maybe perhaps it is the gritty realism that makes this famous (or infamous) trilogy so awe- inspiring. Maybe the next examples will serve to shed light on this belief. Let\u2019s see!<\/p>\n

So, I know a lot of times people say that it is best to start strong and end stronger. Or, in this case, to put a good movie first and put a GREAT movie last. While I think that is a strong format, I think that all three of my choices are of a high caliber and each are just as impressive as the next. That being said, I definitely chose a perhaps lesser- known film for my second choice of dissection: Vitaly Sumin<\/a>\u2019s Shades of Day<\/em>,<\/a> which is based on the classic novella White Nights <\/em>by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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While Dostoevsky\u2019s tale encapsulates an unrequited love that the nameless narrator has for a woman, and is often considered one of the most profound love stories of all time. While keeping the underlying theme alive, director Sumin was able to spin it into a much more grandiose tale that definitely resonates with the modern world in a way that I think Dostoevsky himself would appreciate.<\/p>\n