Nontraditional Gangster Films

What’s your favorite gangster film? Goodfellas? Carlito’s Way? The Godfather Part II?

The release of Michael Mann’s Public Enemies this past summer got me thinking about American culture and our fascination with gangster films.

Not to discredit the movies above. They are all in my top 100 list of favorites. My issue is that so many other gangster films have gone unnoticed by the American public. Films like In Bruges and City of God are still widely unknown. Other recent movies include:

Elite Squad, directed by José Padilha



A History of Violence and Eastern Promises, both starring Viggo Mortenson and directed by David Cronenberg






You could equate Elite Squad with City of God because of its gritty style of shooting and the similarities in the story, thanks to John Kaylin who also wrote City of God.

I’m pretty sure more people have seen Cronenberg’s A History of Violence and Eastern Promises, which had a combined domestic gross of almost $49 million, but that is still a low amount when you consider that other films like American Gangster and The Departed combine for a total domestic gross of over $260 million.

The reason I think American audiences aren’t attuned to embrace the movies above is because the nontraditional films don’t attempt to idolize the gangsters within. Scarface, Casino, etc., all feature gangsters as the prominent anti-hero; whereas, the gangsters suggested in the films above are the antagonist, or villain.

Gangster film fans love to embrace antiheroes centered in a rags-to-riches story. Even if those characters end up dead or in jail, it is still a story of triumph because the hero experienced success for a time.

With the success of Slumdog Millionaire, which seemed like a Disney version of City of God, I know American audiences would take an interest in nontraditional gangster films.

Next up I’ll be reviewing horror films released throughout the month of October 2009 in preparation for Halloween. I was hoping to review Scorsese’s Shutter Island, but that has been pushed back to February 2010.

First up, Zombieland: