Vito Rizzuto

Week 11 French New Wave Breathless 90 mins, 1960, French Directed By: Jean-Luc Godard Written By: Jean-Luc Godard Synopsis: Paying homage to the numerous crime thrillers of Hollywood’s Golden era, this film charts the relationship between Michel, a stylish but unpredictable criminal, and his estranged American girlfriend. Again, the notion of escapism through the cinema is key to this most famous of the new wave pictures. Essential Readings: Hart Cohen, Juan Francisco Salazar and Iqbal Barkat.…

The film ends up with Ka Michael’s rudeness, which would develop into the sequel films, which are have many difference from the novel. Vito Corleone's back story appeared in the second film, with his character acted by Robert De Niro. Another main difference is that the the subplot of relatively unimportant minor characters. In the novel, these characters and subplots include Johnny Fontane…

Any lover of film will almost invariably link this quote by Don Corleone to The Godfather (1972). Even an eight-year-old me could identify the name of the film, even though I had not yet been able to enjoy the masterpiece. I vaguely knew what the film was about: violence, crime, something about family and business, and mafioso culture. However, apart from the most iconic scenes, I probably would not have been able to watch a clip and decisively state, “Oh, I know this movie—isn’t it like called…

Carl is a young boy is growing up in the projects of New York City, but it is a cover up. His dad is a part of the Italian Mafia, one of the most dangerous and well known gangs of all time. That is their families biggest secret, and they must live like poor people so no one gets suspicious of the boys father. He lives in a family of him, his younger brother, and his mom and dad. Since his dad is part of the Mob, he is rarely home, this is discouraging to the family but they know that it must be…

I read about the movie Serpico on a list of 125 must-see movies on the net. The movie is about a real-life NYPD (New York City Police Department) officer Frank Serpico who went undercover to expose the corruption in the police system. The great Al Pacino plays the titular character, who is an honest police officer in a completely corrupt police force. The movie tells the story of Serpico’s life from the time he joined the force in 1960 to the time he resigned in 1972. The movie starts in 1972…

The Film “Serpico” starring Al Pacino, Follows the career of a fresh face rookie cop from his graduation at the academy to the unfortunate end of his career. Based on a true story, Serpcio discovers that he is one of the very few officers within the New York City Police Department who has no interest in accepting under the table money or participating in unethical and illegal behavior. This film highlights many errors of the NYPD in the 1960’s. It shows that at this time the police were not held…

The 1972 film, The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is a perfect example of feudalism. With Vito Corleone as the king pin and the rest of his family as major players in the New York mafia. The Godfather is not the normal gangster film or a film about Italian immigrants. Two social movements occur in The Godfather, the aristocratic court, and the coup. While the film takes place mainly in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s, there are no democratic institutions seen. There are no…

No matter how artful the literary work appears in print, the transition from page to screen is something many of us look forward to. Finally, we get to see our favorite characters and their stories play out before our eyes. It is that direct link and appeal to our senses that often makes the movement to film worth our while. More often than not though, when a novel is put to film there is something to be gained and something to be lost. The transition of The Godfather was no different. Though…

Once again, director, Danny Boyle has combined drama and crime with a pinch of romance and created a British film called Slumdog Millionaire. The film is written by Simon Beaufoy and produced by Christian Colson. The movie is yet another example of rags-to-riches, it is about a Muslim boy named Jamal Malik, who grew up on the streets of Mumbai, India with his older brother Salim Malik, as they lost their mother in an anti-Muslim riot. Jamal and Salim met a little pretty girl of their age called…

Frank Lopez – Vito Corleone - Boss to his underling/ Son (Tony/Michael). Elvira Hancock – Kay Adams – Lover to the main characters (Tony/Michael). Omar Suarez – Peter Clemenza – A friend and second-man to the boss (Frank/Vito). Alejandro Sosa – Virgil Sollozo – Rival to the boss and later the main character. ERA The Cheesy 80’s Miami on Scarface The prevailing era of…