My first ever Martin Scrosese movie was The Taxi Driver. Bad choice for somebody who had no clue. The movie disturbed me to no end.Since then I have consciously kept away from his movies. Until now.
If you can cross the first three scenes in this movie without barfing.. then congratulations..you have passed the litmus test to handle the rest. I think what is most disturbing is the gore and blood is so matter of fact. No loud background scores, no close-up shots, no nothing. Three guys on a road, a banging noise from the boot, loads of profanities and before you realise it, the guys get down, check the boot, realise that the half-dead man is throbbing, one of them pulls out a knife and whack, whack,whack.
Now for the not-so-faint hearted.. the story.The movie is through the eyes of Henry (Ray Liotta) who has 'as far as he can remember, always wanted to be a gangster'. He takes us through his growth from a teen flunkie of the gang to one of its 3 very powerful members. This 3-some also includes his one-time idol Jimmy (Robert De Niro). Paul - the head guy keeps warning them to keep of the drugs business but they just dont. In the end it destroys their friendship, themselves and their families. The movie draws you in and leaves you with regret as though you have been part of the gang and all that they have been through. I have seen Ray Liotta perform better though his scope in this movie is quite huge despite the other talented cast. De Niro is understated and just right for his part. I personally found the head guy Paul funny though he is meant to intimidate. He has what Sidney Lumet calls 'Search light' eyes that take aeons to pass from one person to the other! Karen (Lorraine Braco) Henry's wife - seems the smartest of the lot - except for her loose possessiveness for her husband. You keep an eye out for her in the movie and you realise she is more rational and shrewd than the whole gang put together!
My Rating : 7/10
2 comments:
Some resommendations from Martin:
The Departed
Raging Bull
And if you do not like gore, definitely keep away from Gangs of NY.
Aviator is ok, not highly recommended.
Would watch Good Fellas this weekend.
Watched it finally after 3 weeks of having the DVD.
Frankly speaking - it was a let down. I have more expectations from the movie.
I wished that there was more of the on-screen movie and less of narration. 70% of the movie seems to be in narration!!!
For Henry's character - I think he has been portrayed as a guy who always wanted to be a gangster but was not cut out to be one. Thats why he is not very comfortable killing people. Thats why he laughs the way he does. He is trying hard to fit in but is not one of them actually. When I consider that to be an understated point (I am not sure if the director wanted to say that), I find his performance good.
But overall, I had more expectations from the movie.
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