Martin Scorsese

Director

Goodfellas

This is one of the movies directed by Martin Scorsese. It follows a group of friends working their way up through a gang mob, attempting to be the top hierarchy. This introduced a sense of warfare between gangs and within gangs, showing that just because a individual is part of a group, they don't necessarily all get along. This will also allow audiences to identify with certain individuals rather than certain groups.

Adding this sentence will allow viewers that may of heard of the events within Goodfellas to identify with characters further but also builds tension and excitement for all the viewers as they can relate the film to the real world. Goodfellas also have a clear definitive title like ‘Scarface’.

One character is more clear within this shot, and as part of the film opening would suggest he is the current boss of the hierarchy or is a character of some importance.

Goodfellas also contained a strong amount of gore in comparison to older films in the gangster genre. This is good at it allows producers to go more in depth with the actual life of gangtsers and the reality of the crimes they commit, the blood shown in the scene will be the same blood the character sees allowing viewers to identify with each character more.

The DepartedThis is another film directed by Martin Scorsese and won 4 Oscars, it had a very unique story showing the point of view from the gangsters but also the police. Plot: An undercover state cop who has infiltrated an Irish gang and a mole in the police force working for the same mob race to track down and identify each other before being exposed to the enemy, after both sides realize their outfit has a rat. (Sourced from Idmb) This adds undercover development into the gangster genre and shows how gangs can work silently instead of the general ‘all guns blazing’ routine, it also allows the viewers to identify with both sides of the law, we can see the obstacles cops have to face in attempting to destroy gang activity, as well as seeing how gangs work to keep the cops away. This split display of the law has made a massive impact on the gangster genre and will allow further progress and development to be made so more identification can be made into all departments of crime and law.

The character we mainly see within the opening has diegetic dialogue with a scene of him walking, he then enters a store yet we only see the back and side of him. He is basically a silhouette which connotes he is undercover and gives a sense of mystery to viewers. This is unique to the gangster genre as the people at the top of a hierarchy or of importance are generally seen the most and as a character like to be seen.

This supposedly dark character is shown giving money to a child which could be seen as an act of generosity by some viewers, some may see him currently as a ‘Robin Hood’ character. However this could also be seen as bribery, or a form of recruitment for when he is of an age to join a gang. This split personality adds mystery to the story and is more complex than older movies in the gangster genre, it appears to make it harder for the viewers to identify with this character.

Conclusion

To conclude, Martin Scorsese has made a huge impact on the gangster genre. He has developed the genre so that we can identify with individuals within groups adding multiple new options for characters but still allowing a focus to be maintained on a gang. He has also opened up a whole new section within the genre, adding the law and police side, effectively showing two sides of a story, or in this case the other side, this will allow viewers to identify with cops and they may possibly value the gangsters over the cops which would be interesting as one is clearly labelled bad due to criminal activity. By directing these two films (Goodfellas & The Departed) Martin has opened up the genre more so it can be adapted and developed more in the future, so better films can be created for the industry.