Main Genre: Crime and Gangster Films
The crime film genre focuses on the sneaky lives of gangsters, criminals, those characters in society who like to get their hands dirty, and their clashes with each other and the law. They are often set in large cities, where the seedy bars and alleys of the hoodlum contrast the rest of the population's lifestyle. The characters are usually street-smart, selfish, ambitious, and tough, with a touch of tenderness. There is also a certain gangster language that adds to the realism of these tales. As the story is told from the criminal's view point, sometimes, they are portrayed as poor victims, outcasts of a merciless society which does not understand their way of life.
The first movies of this genre were one-reelers made in the silent era of the 1900s, like The Black Hand (1906) by Wallace McCutcheon, about a hold-up in a butcher's shop, and Biograph's The Moonshiners (1904), a classic shoot-out. But, the first significant crime movie is The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) by D.W. Griffith, about a robbery and a mob fight. Another famous crime film from that period, involving a hold-up, is The Great Train Robbery (1903) by Edwin S. Porter. In 1927, Underworld by Josef von Sternberg, in which the story is seen through the gangster's eyes, won the first Oscar for best original screenplay. However, this genre didn't become popular until the 1930s when sound entered the film industry. The end of prohibition and the rise of actual gangsters, most famously Al Capone, also contributed to the movement. Through the movies, the public was able to experience what it would be like to be the criminal and to taste the wild side of life. The audience could finally hear the exciting sounds of the gunshots, screeching tires, and screams that distinguish crime films from other genres. The Lights of New York (1928), directed by Bryan Foy, was the first all-talking crime movie.
On the other side of the Atlantic, German Fritz Lang's Das Testament das Dr. Mabuse (1933) helped spur on the gangster genre. It tells the story of an imprisoned crime boss who wrecks havoc on a city, while a policeman tries to stop him. Complete with murders and car chases, the German government saw the film as anti-Nazi, and Lang fled to America, where the first three defining movies of the genre had just been released. Mervyn LeRoy's Little Caesar (1930), William Wellman's The Public Enemy (1931), and Howard Hawk's Scarface: The Shame of a Nation (1932) all glorified a criminal from the prohibition period who eventually falls. Scarface, starring Paul Muni as an Italian-American gangster, contained 28 deaths and struggled to be released due to allegations that it was too brutal. After 1934, the Hays Production Codes came into effect, ending the films that positively portrayed the gangster lifestyle, lifted up crime and were too violent. These codes moved the focus from the gangster to the justice-seeking cops and detectives hunting the criminals. G-Men (1935) by William Keighley and Bullets or Ballots (1936) were the first of such films to glorify the "good-guys".
In the 1930's, the trio of actors James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, and director Raoul Walsh made a quite a few big gangster pictures, namely The Roaring Twenties (1939), They Drive By Night (1940) and High Sierra (1941).After World War II, the crime genre became more negative, dark, and merged with film-noir. The first of these was I Walk Alone (1948) by Byron Haskin, in which the gangster is a representative of a large, corrupt business as opposed to just a robber or a hit-man. The 50s films of this genre focused on organized crime, realism, very developed characters and showed the world as doomed.
Two famous directors of crime films are Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese. Coppola's fame came with The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather , Part II (1974), which tell the story of the Sicilian Mafia family, the Corleones, and their violent, vengeful business in New York. In 1990, he made The Godfather, Part III , but it did not earn the same level of respect as the previous two. Scorsese enjoyed looking at broken families of violence and loneliness, often starring Robert DeNiro. His first three were Mean Streets (1973), GoodFellas (1990), and Casino (1995), followed by Raging Bull (1980).
Crime movies continue to be made in the industry today, taking their audiences on a wild ride down shady side streets, seedy bars and into the midst of violent shootouts. They give them the chance to experience what life is like on the other side of the fence.
Sub Genre: Biopics
A combination of the words "biography" and "pictures", biopics tell the story of a real-life person or group in history. They span all the main genres depending on the central character.The first biopic was Jeanne D'Arc (1899) by Frenchman Georges Melies. Napoleon Bonaparte is the most common subject for biographical films, followed by others such as Abraham Lincoln, Jesus, Hitler and Queen Elizabeth I. In the 1930s, Warner Bros. released 3 biopics, all directed by William Dieterle and starring Paul Muni: The Story of Louis Pastor (1936), about the French scientist, The Life of Emile Zola (1937) about the French writer, and Juarez (1939) about the Mexican president Benito Juarez. The winner of 10 Oscars, David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (1962) is a renowned film about British T.E. Lawrence's journey in the Arabian desert. Famous for its' cinematography, it was 222 minutes at its' release, but cut down to 187 minutes. Other famous biopics include Amadeus (1984) by Milos Foreman, about Mozart, Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind (2001), the story of the Nobel mathematician schizophrenic John Forbes Nash Jr, and Milk (2008) about Chris Milk, the San Francisco gay rights leader, by Gus Van Sant. Biographical films inspire and educate the audience, telling them the true stories of people who actually exist(ed). They bring those individuals back to life and give insight into what it might have been like to be in their shoes.
Mini Sub Genre: Dark Comedy
Dark or 'black' comedy usually focuses on the insanity of the world, death, or the futility of life. It mocks what society takes seriously. The father of black comedy is Charlie Chaplin whose films center around humanity as opposed to his contemporary Buster Keaton who focused on battles. In The Great Dictator (1940), he teases Hitler and his Monsiuer Verdoux (1947), he plays a man who makes a living by marrying and murdering old women. Many dark comedies involve suicide, like Igby Goes Down (2002) about some teen brothers who help their mother kill herself or Reuben, Reuben (1983), in which a writer accidentally commits suicide. Movies of this genre aim to shock the viewer and to make them wonder if they should be laughing or hiding their face. Music is used as a paradox of the visual, where as in most other genres, it complements it. One of the most famous black comedies is Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb(1964). Playing off the Cold War, it tells of an apocalyptic nuclear war. There are also many sexual references, such as the characters' names and other images, which add to the humour. Black comedy is definitely an acquired taste; some people find it absolutely hilarious while others see it as revolting, cruel and just cannot see the joke. To each his own, but dark comedies will continue to be made whether you like it or not.
