I got very into movies again at the end of the month so I have an exceptional amount to talk about this time around! A bunch were crime pieces which I really enjoyed, mostly classics of the genre that I just never got around to: The Godfather, Goodfellas and Heat, plus, I watched The Room (spoilers: I had a fuckton of fun watching it), All About Lily Chou Chou (I had much less fun watching it) and Sacco And Vanzetti (which catapulted itself into being an all time favourite). Much to speak of, so I'll waste no further time.

The Godfather

The Movie, really. It is The Movie, the one. One of those timeless classics everyone knows even if they haven't watched it in full that has infiltrated the very fabric of our contemporary social existence.. and the reason it has done this is because it is very, very good. I am not about to be a contrarian here, it really is as good as they say.

The aspects, as tends to be the case with crime fiction, that I found most interesting, were the moral negations, the ways in which the rules of the game fundamentally alter as far as it relates to people in the game, people fundamentally being unable to maintain any sort of peace regardless of the rules, regardless of how "civilians" aren't meant to get caught up. Michael Corleone was never supposed to be part of the mob, and yet he was, driven to the lengths that he was because people wanted to hurt his father and he felt offended and like he had an obligation towards something greater. It is evident, really, that Michael always had it in him, and it is especially evident that he took to things well, eventually developing the cold ruthless inclination required of a don, avenging his brother and the attempted murder of his father but losing out on any chance to remain innocent or kind in the process. It is grim.

The Godfather readily describes the moral decay and the fact that, really, the mob is not that much different from capitalism. The social critique is rather prevalent considering the fact that quite a few mob members express racist sentiments throughout, and in the end, what that life represents is a more honest formulation of what capitalism already is, brutal and requiring the complete destruction of all conscience in the name of power consolidation. Michael Corleone, probably after the death of his first wife, understood this perfectly and was hardened as can be and the final shot of him and Kay ultimately being separated by the veneer of business further still adds to the continuing allegory of what this all means.

Besides all that.. The Godfather is really good! Like.. really, really good. Like, it's a fantastic very compelling watch front to back that manages to keep you hooked to the action and the suspense all throughout. I also loved the depictions of violence and how unforgiving they all are, the way Luca Brasi gets choked, Sonny getting shot, etc, and it has a timeless aesthetic. There's very little new that could really be said about The Godfather, so I'll cut it here by saying I really liked it.

Heat

GIMME ALL YOU GOT!!!

Al Pacino as Vincent in this movie is the best. He is the absolute best. Heat is the perfect action thriller front to back, a movie that is driven towards a sort of similar moral destruction as The Godfather, but what it takes on is a more modernistic stylised lens, one that is captivating because of the writing, the characters, it looks so good and it flows so good, it is a marvel of cinema. De Niro gives a sort of opposite performance as Neil to Pacino's Vincent, he is calm where Vincent tends to be a lot more erratic and eccentric, and it works quite well because they are at a perpetual equal playing field. It, of course, equalizes these two and their struggles, presenting them both as madmen who don't know how to do anything but be mad, finding a sort of Homeric glory in their ability to pursue the end of catching the crew or pulling off the score. They like each other but they are kindred spirits, two sides of one all destructive coin that cannot fathom the existence of other coins.

The complete destruction of the social lives of all these men is riveting. Chris' marriage falls apart and he escapes capture but he is forever separated from his wife, Michael flat out dies in one of the most shocking scenes of the entire movie for me after picking up a child as effectively as a body shield and even more than both of these things, one of my favourite parts of the movie was the subplot of Don Breedan, a perfect encapsulation of how much of an ouroboros the entire enterprise of crime and punishment is, one that never allows anyone to move on because Don was on the up and up, as is reflected by the fact that in the amazing back-to-back-to-back scene of first Vincent, then him, then Neil all engaging with their particular partners, his relationship is by far the most healthy, and yet he throws it all away because he feels completely disrespected by the system. Neil knew him in prison and treated him as a partner and as an equal and this was all it took for him to be willing to plunge himself to his doom.

Every aspect of Heat is a marvel down to how every plot threat is resolved and everything connects back together into a beautiful crescendo wherein Neil ends up dying in the pursuit of the primal life that he'd always wanted to lead. It has a sort of beautiful fatalism to it that really captured my imagination. Much love.

Goodfellas

Henry Hill meets the ultimate demise that comes at the end of living a putrid way of life, one that made him overlook and partake in the debauchery and cruelty of evil men, ones who he always saw as more affluent and successful than the bum of a father he had, one who beat him continuously because he could not cope with modernity and his son's lack of respect for it and for the vanity of conventional values, instead finding in Paulie and Jimmy infinitely more substance, the sort that validates him and his wants for a better life that doesn't involve mopping the floor. Nevertheless, the path ventured is one that costs him much, the lives of his friends (either killed or in prison), his marriage and his chance at ever living the sort of life he initially wanted.

People who argue this movie glorifies crime don't understand what it's getting at because the terror is everpresent, it just so happens to be the case that the movie is presented in a sort of montage-way that is immensely satisfying to watch in that Hollywood way, somewhat similar to City Of God, a similarly brilliant crime-centric film. Excited to see what else Scorcese has to offer!

All About Lily Chou-Chou

I do not like this movie. It irritates me quite greatly for many reasons. Chief among them is the general insistence