Clash of the Gangster Flicks: groep D
Ja, ligt er een beetje aan hoe breed je het begrip gangsterfilm interpreteert. In de klassieke zin van het woord voldoet On The Waterfront daar inderdaad minder aan als Miller's Crossing. Maar Kazan's film schuurt er natuurlijk wel tegen aan. En de film maakte op mij zoveel indruk dat hij gewoon mijn stem krijgt ('echte' gangsterfilm of niet). 
Bound (1996)
”Either pull the trigger or get that fucking thing out of my face.”
Allmovie.com
A schlocky, B-movie concept given a stylish, undeniably exciting twist, this auspicious first feature from Andy and Larry Wachowski, (whose most notable previous screen credit was scripting the silly Sylvester Stallone-Antonio Banderas thriller Assassins) gives neo-noir a cheeky new life. It has the standard good guys-bad guys storyline, but the freshness of the film lies not in making our protagonists sexy lesbian women (though that creates much interest), but in the fact that the directors allow sufficient character development. The film is sexy without being smutty, visually innovative without being too in-your-face, and acted to perfection by a highly intuitive cast of performers. It received much notice for its admittedly steamy bedroom scenes between the lead females, but equal notice should be given to the taut, fiercely enjoyable storytelling which, despite the lurid subject matter, never feels exploitive or gives the impression of appealing only to the lowest common denominator. Bound's evocative visual style and color schemes would later present themselves in the Wachowski's 1999 mega-hit The Matrix.
VS
Casino (1995)
”Back home, they put me in jail for what I'm doing. Here, they give me awards.”
Allmovie.com
The explosive beginning of Saul Bass' customarily brilliant opening credits sequence seems to bode well for Martin Scorsese's epic portrait of 1970s Las Vegas, Casino (1995). Weaving a tale about the town, as well as ill-fated mobsters "Ace" Rothstein (based on actual Vegas-ite Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal) and Nicky Santoro, the first hour merges documentary-style detail (including copious narration) with Scorsese's signature technical flair to depict how the Mob skimmed millions from the casinos. As Rothstein's success unravels, Scorsese unstintingly reveals the viciousness of the old school Vegas powerbrokers (including more gruesome violence than any previous Scorsese work), yet the virtuoso final montage and unsettling coda suggest that the new Disney-fied Vegas robbed the city of its success-fantasy soul. Notwithstanding the bravura visuals and attention to 1970s period detail, and despite a career-best performance from Sharon Stone as Rothstein's hustler-drug addict wife, most reviews noted that the reunion of director Scorsese with writer Nicholas Pileggi and stars Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci paled in comparison to 1990's Goodfellas. The De Niro-Pesci opposition was too familiar, as was the overlong story of Rothstein's rise and fall. Stone scored the film's sole Oscar nomination and won the Golden Globe for Best Actress.
Stemmen mag tot 8 april 21.00 uur!
”Either pull the trigger or get that fucking thing out of my face.”
Allmovie.com
A schlocky, B-movie concept given a stylish, undeniably exciting twist, this auspicious first feature from Andy and Larry Wachowski, (whose most notable previous screen credit was scripting the silly Sylvester Stallone-Antonio Banderas thriller Assassins) gives neo-noir a cheeky new life. It has the standard good guys-bad guys storyline, but the freshness of the film lies not in making our protagonists sexy lesbian women (though that creates much interest), but in the fact that the directors allow sufficient character development. The film is sexy without being smutty, visually innovative without being too in-your-face, and acted to perfection by a highly intuitive cast of performers. It received much notice for its admittedly steamy bedroom scenes between the lead females, but equal notice should be given to the taut, fiercely enjoyable storytelling which, despite the lurid subject matter, never feels exploitive or gives the impression of appealing only to the lowest common denominator. Bound's evocative visual style and color schemes would later present themselves in the Wachowski's 1999 mega-hit The Matrix.
VS
Casino (1995)
”Back home, they put me in jail for what I'm doing. Here, they give me awards.”
Allmovie.com
The explosive beginning of Saul Bass' customarily brilliant opening credits sequence seems to bode well for Martin Scorsese's epic portrait of 1970s Las Vegas, Casino (1995). Weaving a tale about the town, as well as ill-fated mobsters "Ace" Rothstein (based on actual Vegas-ite Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal) and Nicky Santoro, the first hour merges documentary-style detail (including copious narration) with Scorsese's signature technical flair to depict how the Mob skimmed millions from the casinos. As Rothstein's success unravels, Scorsese unstintingly reveals the viciousness of the old school Vegas powerbrokers (including more gruesome violence than any previous Scorsese work), yet the virtuoso final montage and unsettling coda suggest that the new Disney-fied Vegas robbed the city of its success-fantasy soul. Notwithstanding the bravura visuals and attention to 1970s period detail, and despite a career-best performance from Sharon Stone as Rothstein's hustler-drug addict wife, most reviews noted that the reunion of director Scorsese with writer Nicholas Pileggi and stars Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci paled in comparison to 1990's Goodfellas. The De Niro-Pesci opposition was too familiar, as was the overlong story of Rothstein's rise and fall. Stone scored the film's sole Oscar nomination and won the Golden Globe for Best Actress.
Stemmen mag tot 8 april 21.00 uur!
-
Travis Bickle
- Filmster
- Berichten: 651
- Lid geworden op: 02 sep 2003 16:56
Casino was de film waarmee mijn voorliefde voor film begon. Maar dat terzijde. Het criminele milieu is zelden zo levendig, haast aantrekkelijk geportretteerd als in het eerste deel van Casino, terwijl datzelfde geldt voor de mate van kilheid en onaantrekkelijkheid in het tweede deel. Dit gaat van de eerste tot de laatste minuut om het leven binnen de georganiseerde misdaad. Bound is verrassend sterk, maar niet zo zeer als portret van het gangstermilieu.