Issue Date: March 19, 2006
This isn't business. It's personal.
A wise guy on the operatic mob movie "The Godfather"
THE PLOT: Ailing mob boss Don Corleone (Marlon Brando) transfers power to his college-educated son, Michael (Al Pacino), who is tested by an intra-Mafia gang war. The first two parts of director Francis Ford Coppola's family saga are considered to be among the greatest films ever made. The DVD box set has been repackaged with a bonus disc about the new "Godfather" video game (Electronic Arts).
The Corleone family saga will be reissued Tuesday with bonus materials on the new "Godfather" video game.
|
INSIDER'S CREDENTIALS: Jerry Capeci is the former organized crime columnist for the "New York Daily News" and the founder of ganglandnews.com, a website devoted to and closely followed by the Mafia. He grew up around wiseguys in Bensonhurst, a section of Brooklyn famous for its tightknit Italian-American community, and has authored six books, including The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia.
OVERVIEW: "All the wiseguys I've spoken to love "The Godfather" because it makes them out to be men of honor, men who kill only when they need to or take only the things that are rightfully theirs. The films made gangsters look much more glamorous and benevolent than they really are. Yes, they have a code, lots of rules, but they break those rules all the time."
Scene 1: I Believe in America -- Crime family patriarch Don Corleone takes time out from his daughter's wedding to grant the wishes of a few supplicants who know he can refuse no favor asked of him on this day.
"I remember when the film first came out, more and more wiseguys were talking with raspy voices, just like Marlon Brando."
Scene 7: Luca Brasi Sleeps with the Fishes -- A rival mobster sends a message to the Corleones: a fish wrapped in brown paper and a bulletproof vest. Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana), the family's scary enforcer, has been clipped.
"I got a kick out of the phrases from the movie that have become standard among wiseguys. It came out in court last year that 'Vinny Gorgeous' Basciano, acting boss of the Bonanno family, told an associate -- who was wearing a wire at the time -- that one of his gangsters was a Luca Brasi. That meant he was the guy who killed people. Life often imitates art."
Scene 9: It's Strictly Business -- After Don Corleone is shot, the family discusses the best way to deal with its enemies. Hot-headed son Santino (James Caan) favors violence, but the consigliere, Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), advises that they not let emotions dictate action: "This is business, not personal."
"That's a phrase used by gangsters when they kill people. John Gotti is said to have used it with Tommy Gambino, when Gotti orchestrated the murder of mob boss Paul Castellano. Another phrase is to 'make them an offer they can't refuse.' That's used all the time."
Scene 10: How's the Italian Food in this Restaurant? -- Michael takes revenge for the hit on his father by shooting a rival gangster and a crooked cop over a pasta dinner.
"Lots of wiseguys have been whacked at New York restaurants: Paul Castellano was killed at Sparks Steak House; Joey Gallo was killed at Umberto's Clam House in Little Italy. A restaurant is a place where people generally have their guard down. You don't kill someone in their house. You kill them out in the street somewhere. Plus, you usually try to get them sitting down."
-- Reed Tucker
|
