The Godfatheris multifaceted in its legacy. Popular culture hails the film for its contribution to the craft of filmmaking with several video essays, and film academics studying its cinematography, characterization, and composition. The film has continued to have a ripple effect, it’s in its contribution to film culture, especially in the genre of gangster films. As a result, several films in Hollywood and around the world pay homage to Francis Ford Coppola’s work through films that respond towhatThe Godfatherachieved cinematically.
Several of these films are based on real life and many have been adapted from semi-autobiographical books, just likeThe Godfather.Here are 10 films that keep the saga ofThe Godfatheralive in the gangster genre and tell a bigger story of poverty, survival, and immigrant lives in criminal organizations.
10Gomorrah
Gomorrahis based in Italy and follows the Camorra crime syndicatein the slums of Campania. The film is based on the book of the same name written by Roberto Saviano, an investigative journalistic collection documenting the writer’s infiltration and investigation of the real-life traditional crime organization.
The film follows thewars within the cartel, which bases its business on cocaine, corruption, and chemical waste. Teens Ciro and Marco try to take the matter into their own hands by stealing weapons. On the other hand, a tailor named Pasquale plays his own game to get his hands around the protection fee. However, just like inThe Godfather,the organization is too powerful for one person to assume control and there is always an impending doom in the air. The film was directed by Matteo Garrone and was critically acclaimed and won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.
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9Goodfellas
Goodfellasis known to be one of Martin Scorsese’s most coveted works, especially in the director’s filmography of portraying the Italian American Crime organizations. The film was based on the bookWiseguyby Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote thescreenplay for the movie along with Scorsese. The film chronicles the life of the mob associate Henry Hill from the 1950s to the 1980s, but most importantly, the film shed light on the familial structures and relationships within the mafia. The latter echoes the ethos ofThe Godfatheras the film focused on the transactional nature of the crime family where family, business, and corruption collide. The film shows how Hill, played by Ray Liotta, as a young member aspired to climb the ladder and manages to achieve it. However, drug abuse brings out the worst in him and pushes him to the bottom.
The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, and Joe Pesci won the Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the erratic Tomy Devito.
8Gangs of Wasseypur
Gangs of Wasseypuris theIndian Film Industry’s homage to Coppola’sThe GodfatherandMartin Scorsese’s gangster films. Aptly titled,Gangs of Wasseypur,paying homage to Scorsese’sGangs of New York,the film is based on the coal mafia in Dhanbad in the state of Jamshedpur. The two-part film follows several generations of the Khan family, in particular Shahid Khan, his son Sardar Khan and Sardar’s son Faizal.
The film focuses on the gang wars within the coal-mining kingpin and how the patriarchs avenge the deaths of their loved ones.The film was directed by Anurag Kashyapand was responsible for launching several careers in the film industry namely Nazazzudin Siddique, Pankaj Tripathi, Jaideep Ahlawat, Rajkumar Rao, and Vineet Kumar Singh who later become household names. The film won the Jury Grand Prize at the Asia Pacific Film Festival and was ranked 59th on the list of 100 greatest movies of the 21st century byThe Guardian.
7The Irishman
Many critics considerThe Irishmanas the last of its kind, as this Martin Scorsese directorial casts the ensemble cast known as popular in Scorsese’s gangster film. The film stars Joe Pesci as the mobster Russell Buffalino who recruits a war veteran and a truck driver Frank Sheeran into his cartel. Frank befriends Teamster Jimmy Hoffa, played by Al Pacino, who was tied to organized crime but was also at loggerheads with them.
The Irishmanis based on the bookI Heard You Paint Housesby Charles Brandt, which is anaccount of Frank’s life in the cartel and his infamous confessionabout the murder of a high-profile American figure. The film thrives within the shadow ofThe Godfatherfor the themes of loyalty and friendship within the cartel and the cost involved in crossing the heads of the mafia. Scorsese also diverts his own acclaimed gangster movies by having characters who suffer out of guilt and confront morality in an aging Frank, portrayed by De Niro with a great amount of sensitivity.
6Once Upon a Time in America
Once Upon a Time in Americais another gangster filmthat is a great addition to the Gangster genre erected byThe Godfather. The film was directed by Sergio Leone and stars Robert De Niro as David Aaronson and is told in flashback as he returns to New York where he thrived as a criminal within the Jewish mob as a young man to resolve his unresolved matters from the past.
The film follows the lives of immigrants in the 1930s as they survived at the bottom of the American melting pot,which is also integral toThe Godfathersaga. Both films show the perils of the American dream shared by the thriving mobsters in New York as America become the haven for war-stricken refugees in the earlier half of the 20th century.Once Upon a Time in Americais titled as a footnote from American history as David takes a trip down memory lane, confronting his troubled past and the loved ones he lost along the way.
5City of God
City of Godis considered one of the best filmsmade in the 21st century for its depiction of brutality, in particular to the young children involved in organized crime in the Cidade de Deus in Rio de Janiero. The film is based on the novel of the same name written by Paulo Lins which was a semi-autobiographical novel following thedrug wars in the favelas of Rio de Janirofrom the 1960s to the 1980s. The film follows bloodshed between the drug dealer Li’l Zé and vigilante-turned-criminal Knockout Ned, which shares a similar theme toThe Godfather. The film follows the friendship between Zé and his friend Rocket who aspires to become a photographer whose photographs are used by Zé to increase his power as the bad blood between his rival increases. The film was nominated for Academy Award nominations including Best Director for Fernando Meirelles and was made on 16 mm film stock in 2002.
4A Bronx Tale
A Bronx Talewas the directorial debut of Robert De Nio, which was an adaptation of the one-man play of the same name written by Chazz Palmentiri, which was based on his personal life. The film follows the coming-of-age story of Calogero, played by Lilo Brancato, who is recruited by mobster Sonny played by Palmenteri who shows him the way of life in the mafia which is in contrast to the values taught by his hardworking father Lorenzo,played by Robert De Niro. When Calogero falls in love with his African American classmate, hell breaks loose in the entire neighborhood. The film sheds light on how the mob boss becomes a father figure to most young Italian American men growing up in the vicinity of the mafia. The film was later adapted as a musical play, which was originally co-directed by Robert De Niro and Jerry Zaks.
3Donnie Brasco
Donnie Brascois loosely based on the true story of Joseph Pistone who was an FBI undercover agent and successfully infiltrated the Bonanno family in the 1970s. The film was directed by Mike Newell and starred Johney Depp as Pistone who wasundercover under the name Donnie Brasco. Pistone earns the trust and friendship of the mob hitman Benjamin Lefty Ruggiero, played by Al Pacino. The film explores the friendship between the two and the upper hand enjoyed by Pistone at the beginning, but a moral conflict doubts him when he has to betray his trust with the hitman and give him away to the FBI.
The film is adapted from Pistone’s bookDonnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia.The values of loyalty are highly regarded within the mod and even an FBI agent feels uncomfortable diverting it LikeThe Godfather,the film humanizes the mafia and depicts the authentic friendship that can develop between two individuals who are ethically opposite to each other.
No conversation about gangster films in incomplete withoutScarface.The film is based on the book of the same name written by Armitage Trail, who based the story inspired by Al Capone, who fascinated the writer. The film is not only an adaptation of the book, but also the film that was made in 1932 of the same name and produced by Howard Hughes.Al Pacino played Tony Montana, who is based on Al Capone, who was also nicknamed Scarface. The film follows how Montana takes over the illegal alcohol business in Chicago after killing mob leader Al Springola.
The film has become a cult classic and has been referenced several times in films, television shows, and rap songs. However, the film was criticized for negatively stereotyping Cuban immigrants and the casting of a non-Cuban actor to play Montana offended active Cuban actors in Hollywood at the time. Nevertheless,Scarfacehas enjoyed a sustained space in pop culture and is known to be one of Al Pacino’s most memorable performances. In hindsight,The Godfatherindeed set the mark for representation in Italian American cinema, as the film mostly comprised Italian Americans in the cast and crew.
Related:10 Facts About The Godfather You Never Knew
Casinoalmost feels like it is set in thesame universe asGoodfellas.Here, Robert De Niro plays Sam Rothstein who is a low-level mobster in Las Vegas and heads the Tangiers Casino. What was a smooth operation, in the beginning, gets haywire due to his enforcer Nicky Santaro, played by Joe Pesci, who is impulsive and a troublemaker. However, the film is known for the noteworthy performance bySharon Stone, who plays Ginger Sam’s hustler wifelosing control as a woman in a man’s world robbed of her agency. The film won her a Golden Globe Award for her performance, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. The gangster genre definitely lacked strong female characters, including inThe Godfather,andCasinochanged the dialogue with a dramatic performance by Stone.
