Genre Theory and Hollywood Cinema - Essay Example

DEFINATION OF GENRE by Student’s name Code+ course name Professor’s name University name City, State Date Introduction Since the early 1800s, films have been significant cultural artifacts. Since then, the different film styles have been analyzed by both critics and audience. . Nearly all move a major Hollywood studio release be categorized into a definite genre (Watson, 2007). Most films are classified as science fiction, comedy, drama, adventure, gangster or western. The classification of films in these genres supports the studio to sell the movies to particular people based their genre of preference. If a cluster of movies shares a certain convention like plot, setting, themes, iconography, as well as leitmotifs, then the film may grouping particular genre dispit the fact that they have minimal disctinition between them (Neale, 2000). This paper will examine gangster film genre. The gangster film has been extensively recognized since the earliest movies that characterized the genre to historic point movies that reexamined the genre to cutting edge movies that constantly reshape the genre. The paper will analyze the meaning of the genre with the fundamental spotlight on gangster character to clarify the apparent transition in genres. Definition of genre There is an incessant desire for people to classify an item that exist in their surroundings. This classification avails understanding through organization and allows for people to analyze and comprehend the elements that objects are comprised of faster and with greater certainty. Therefore, as more films are produced over the year, the critics begin to understand similarities and distinction among certain groups of films (Watson, 2007). Films genres have certain themes, certain typical actions, and particular characteristics mannerisms. Film genres are borne out of these conventions and allow for critics and audience alike to identify what it is they are watching through a comparison of experiences with similar film content. As views become more familiar with the elements that make up a given film genre, a certain amount of pleasure can be found in the knowledge that one is watching a certain kind of film. Film genres avail recurring visual, character and narrative elements that provide comfort to the audience. There has been extensive debate on how film genres should be defined and how to go about discovering the elements that make up different genres (Watson, 2007). the western was one of the first film genre to garner critical attention and develop some debate on how to define the characteristics that demarcate its existence. The western genres existed under the elements of themes, history, archetypes and icons. These elements are also seen in other film genres. Also, another debatable issue is the classification of films into certain genres. Many films borrow from conventions of several different genres, thus complicating their genre classification. For instance, Goodfellas draws from the gangster and romantic genres. However, it is necessary to classify a film according to the genre that it mostly represents. Although Goodfellas has elements of two genres, it mostly gangster. The story in the Goodfellas is a typical gangster genre fashion highlighting the rise and fall of its main existence. The story is founded on true events of Henry Hill’s life in the mob much like Scarface was inspired by real life gangster, Al Capone. The end of the protagonist happens during one of the most joyful days the lives of Tommy, Jimmy, and Herny. Tommy eventually becomes a member of the Cicero crime family and cannot be harmed in a way without serious consequences. He is untouchable among the ranks of the gangsters, and those men closest to him are offered nearly the same rights. However, a tragic turn of event happens when the men supposed to welcome him to the family murder him. The gangster films have been entering movie audience for many years. The rise and fall of the protagonists of this genre constitutes a master plot that has been instilled in American lore since the urban expansion of the U.S at the turn of the twentieth century. The eventual fall of a gangster protagonists signifies the failure of reconciling with an identity that they have yet to discover. Gangsters either choose to or cannot comply with the norms of legitimate society. They seek to establish an anarchy or defiance that can result in one of two things; death and confinement. The gangster narrative is one of the enterprises that ends in failure. The tendencies of gangsters are to improve their life at any costs that dictate by a necessary means. The exact means of success are not always clear but are implied. This insatiable need to become powerful results in solitary confinement amongst the public and friends. Gangsters die at the end of a film because they have provided themselves with any options. They mean which they attain their destiny is a product of dishonesty and contempt for all things that are virtuous. The lack of decency and loveless cruelty eventual leads to disaster. Henry becomes both a drug dealer and drug smuggler. He begins to conduct business with people who are not in organized crime and do not understand the consequence of making subtle mistakes. In another incidence, Herny uses his sister, Lois, to transport cocaine by airplane from one state to another so as to make an illegal transaction. At the end of the film, Henry realizes a helicopter following him as he runs his errands around the town. Realizing this, he suspects the police following him. After completing drug deals, he alerts his sister, who is at home, not to use the house calls to make calls related to the drug business. However, the sister uses the bugged phone line in the house which lead to Henry’s arrest. He is forced to turn in Jimmy and Pauly so as to prevent himself from going to prison. After his betray, he escapes into hiding with his family to avoid a murder hit placed on him. The setting of criminality in gangster film demands a stagnant seediness that can be found in the bowels of the inner city (Langford, 2005). The fast-paced, dirty, and dishonest confines of an urban environment provide a breeding ground for a gangster’s illegitimate endeavors. In this environment, the criminals, especially a methodical kingpin, can control their environment as any other professionals would in a setting associated with their craft. The government laws and those who seek to uphold those laws carry little weight with a Hollywood gangster. The gangster films focus on breaking the set rules. A city is a place of death and decay in the gangster films as opposed to a place of hope and prosperity. The dark and damp street, which have various places to hide and escape provides a perfect setting for the characters of gangster films to carry out their unlawful deed. Just as the executive owns the day in the big city, the gangsters own the night, operating in the shadowy underworld of their urban stronghold. Besides the setting of the city, other dimensions of iconography are seen in the gangster genre (Neale, 2000). They way in which the characters are dressed is common across the gangster genre. The rise of gangsters is symbolized through their clothes because the burgeoning gangsters are dressed in street clothes worn by the common person, but as gangsters rise to wealth and prosperity, so does their propensity for fashionable attire. The use of suits to project wealth and stature in Goodfellas also signifies wealth in gangster films. The suits represent professionalism with the group of criminals, everything for the audience that they are watching men who take their jobs very seriously. These men are not hoodlums picking pockets; they are after the huge score, which demand intelligence and careful planning. Besides, the opposing group of police detectives wear suits, signifying their expertise within the crime prevention field. Whether a professional law enforcer or professional criminal, these characters want to be considered legitimately successful at their jobs and the proper attire exemplifies this. Film genres allow an easy escape for filmmakers when tackling a project (Neale, 2000). The filmmakers become complacent with repeatedly released formula by depending on previously established conventions. Although most of these films achieve financial success, they lack originality (Watson, 2007). Many filmmakers, as well as the studio they work for, prefers stories and plots that have shown box office profitability in the past. The producers and directors will take this approach rather than deviating from the preconditioned narrative and visual form that has been created by a specific genre. New publications of old storylines usually adjust the plot to refresh the story. The twists that these stories take are often trite and require minimal adjustments in conjunction with the original material. However, the most successful films find a way to present old formulas in ways that reinvent a genre without completely deviating from it. The godfather in the Goodfellas is base in the best-selling book on 1969 published by Mario Puzo. The popularity of the book manifested in a record-breaking film industry. By 1972, The Godfather had turned into the most noteworthy netting film of the century with an overall income of $160 million. The success of Godfather’s revitalized the genre as well as transitioning Hollywood, which had in financial meltdown for some years. Goodfellas owes much to the gangster films that were produced in 1930s. First, 1093s films were remarkable landmark gangster films. Second, the film trails a similar strategy and structure that the greater part of the criminal movies of the period took after, being the ascent and fall story. Finally, the Goodfellas are about an immigrant in search of the so-called American Dream. The acculturation of the hoodlum that led the audience to identify with them hhas proceeded with the Goodfellas (Watson, 2007). However, the American criminal of fiction at last turned out to be more adjusted and less slanted to demonstration of roughness in Goodfellas. Although realistic savagery was still pervasive in the movies, the criminals now had a gentler edge to them. They had the capacity to show empathy, and they could likewise be entirely comical on occasion. These are the kind of qualities that the audiences could distinguish. Although it is complex to figure out how to define film genres and whether or not they benefit the evolution of the film industry from a creative standpoint, film genres continue to be a staple in the relationship between culture and cinema. Film genres evolve with cultural changes; the cultural issues and narrative elements that once made up a given film genre transform as society develops (Watson, 2007). Besides, the conventions that exist within a genre are always present, but the cultural events that are happening at that particular moment may change the actual content of a film. The access to advanced technology is also a necessity to both antagonist and protagonist (Langford, 2005). The gangster film has applied advanced tools to propagate violence in Hollywood. Some of the most gruesome depictions of brutality have come from gangster pictures, whether during the classical period or in the contemporary films. The fall of the production code ushered in the current era of extreme violence, which is now a necessity in the gangster genre. Perhaps most interesting is the use of archaic objects to bludgeon one’s enemies in a gangster film. Barbarity in this kind commonly occurs even now, during a period in history when the characters can easily obtain weapons that are more advanced (Langford, 2005). The dramatic effect of slow, tortuous violence is a necessity in gangster film to vilify the criminals in the eyes of the audience. In Goodfellas, Jimmy and Tommy beat Bill mercilessly with their feets, fists, and a pistol instead of just ending his life quickly by shooting him. Then later, Tommy proceeds to stab Batts with a kitchen knife when he realizes Batt is still alive in the trunk of the car, before eventually shooting him several times. The savagery of these men is what drives this story to their conclusion: the death or incarceration of the gangsters. Conclusion The success of film genres can be attributed to their ability to conform to the cultural environment within which they reside (Langford, 2005). Whether in the past or future, genre movies are always about the time and place in which they are made. Film genres provide a stable and lasting platform for film writers, director, and producers to create movies that appeal to the emotions of audiences no matter their age, class, race, or gender. Film researchers as well as critics are able to make sense of shifts in cultural trends through genres due to their long history and evolution, although the stories that make up a given genre can become stagnant, repetitive, and lack of originality, they offer a basis for writers to appeal to established thematic conventions through the lens of their cultural experience. A genre with the proper amount of ingenuity can be revised and take the shape of new and exciting cinematic experience. Reference list Winkler, I. (Producer). & Scorsese, M. (Director) 1990, Goodfellas, Warner Bros, Pictures. Neale, S. 2000, Genre and Hollywood, London, Routledge Watson, P. 2007, Genre theory and Hollywood cinema, in Nelmes, J. (ed) Introduction to film studies, 4th edition. Abingdon: Routledge, pp.109-127. Langford, B. 2005, Film genre: Hollywood and beyond. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, Ltd. Clarens, C. 1980, Crime movies: From Griffith to The Godfather and beyond, New York, W.W. Norton & Company Read More

Also, another debatable issue is the classification of films into certain genres. Many films borrow from conventions of several different genres, thus complicating their genre classification. For instance, Goodfellas draws from the gangster and romantic genres. However, it is necessary to classify a film according to the genre that it mostly represents. Although Goodfellas has elements of two genres, it mostly gangster. The story in the Goodfellas is a typical gangster genre fashion highlighting the rise and fall of its main existence.

The story is founded on true events of Henry Hill’s life in the mob much like Scarface was inspired by real life gangster, Al Capone. The end of the protagonist happens during one of the most joyful days the lives of Tommy, Jimmy, and Herny. Tommy eventually becomes a member of the Cicero crime family and cannot be harmed in a way without serious consequences. He is untouchable among the ranks of the gangsters, and those men closest to him are offered nearly the same rights. However, a tragic turn of event happens when the men supposed to welcome him to the family murder him.

The gangster films have been entering movie audience for many years. The rise and fall of the protagonists of this genre constitutes a master plot that has been instilled in American lore since the urban expansion of the U.S at the turn of the twentieth century. The eventual fall of a gangster protagonists signifies the failure of reconciling with an identity that they have yet to discover. Gangsters either choose to or cannot comply with the norms of legitimate society. They seek to establish an anarchy or defiance that can result in one of two things; death and confinement.

The gangster narrative is one of the enterprises that ends in failure. The tendencies of gangsters are to improve their life at any costs that dictate by a necessary means. The exact means of success are not always clear but are implied. This insatiable need to become powerful results in solitary confinement amongst the public and friends. Gangsters die at the end of a film because they have provided themselves with any options. They mean which they attain their destiny is a product of dishonesty and contempt for all things that are virtuous.

The lack of decency and loveless cruelty eventual leads to disaster. Henry becomes both a drug dealer and drug smuggler. He begins to conduct business with people who are not in organized crime and do not understand the consequence of making subtle mistakes. In another incidence, Herny uses his sister, Lois, to transport cocaine by airplane from one state to another so as to make an illegal transaction. At the end of the film, Henry realizes a helicopter following him as he runs his errands around the town.

Realizing this, he suspects the police following him. After completing drug deals, he alerts his sister, who is at home, not to use the house calls to make calls related to the drug business. However, the sister uses the bugged phone line in the house which lead to Henry’s arrest. He is forced to turn in Jimmy and Pauly so as to prevent himself from going to prison. After his betray, he escapes into hiding with his family to avoid a murder hit placed on him. The setting of criminality in gangster film demands a stagnant seediness that can be found in the bowels of the inner city (Langford, 2005).

The fast-paced, dirty, and dishonest confines of an urban environment provide a breeding ground for a gangster’s illegitimate endeavors. In this environment, the criminals, especially a methodical kingpin, can control their environment as any other professionals would in a setting associated with their craft. The government laws and those who seek to uphold those laws carry little weight with a Hollywood gangster. The gangster films focus on breaking the set rules. A city is a place of death and decay in the gangster films as opposed to a place of hope and prosperity.

The dark and damp street, which have various places to hide and escape provides a perfect setting for the characters of gangster films to carry out their unlawful deed.

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