Genre Theory

The Godfather is the quintessential example of the gangster genre, which includes “films that deal with organized crime, often with mob families,” (Chapter 4). In fact, The Godfather also fits squarely within the gangster genre because it is nostalgic and romanticized, offering “recreations of past eras” in which Italian-American mafia families like the Corleones did dominate both licit and illicit business activities and politics in American cities.

A sub-genre of the crime film, gangster movies like The Godfather are unique because the audience is rooting for the bad guys, not the cops. Even when the protagonists of the film kill people, they are still tragic heroes. “Many gangster characters then had a certain mystique that made them appealing, almost heroic, in their ability to overcome youthful poverty and oppression to rise in power and wealth,” (Chapter 4).

In The Godfather, Michael Corleone did not necessarily overcome poverty, because he was born into the biggest family in New York. This is evident immediately from the opening scene of the film that shows the great wealth and power his family amassed (For example, the opening scene shows the Don Corleone seated in his position of power (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i96VS_z8y7g).

What makes Michael a hero is his willingness to do his duty as the son, taking over reluctantly after his father dies to become the new Godfather. Michael’s brothers are incapable of leading the family, but he also recognizes that if he does not rise to the occasion, the consequences would be far worse for his community. Therefore, The Godfather shows that family ties and loyalty create different and equally as important ethical frameworks than the prevailing norms of behavior and criminality in the dominant culture.

For example, the opening scene shows the Don Corleone seated in his position of power telling the petitioner that he will not do him a favor because he has failed to show himself to be a true friend of the family (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i96VS_z8y7g). Mis-en-Scene Mis-en-scene refers to the entire visual array on screen in any given scene in the film.

When viewing a cinematic masterpiece like Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, paying attention to mis-en-scene helps deepen understanding of effective cinematography. In one scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwBmPiOmEGQ), Hal will not let Poole back onto the station. Poole is floating in orbit in the tiny pod. To enhance the dramatic effect of this scene, Kubrick uses mis-en-scene techniques. In this scene, the background is entirely black—the black infinity of space.

On this black background, the audience sees the sperm-shaped space station that Hal controls, and the tiny egg-shaped pod in which Poole sits. Hal is a computer, but one that has been imbued with human emotional and cognitive states, and therefore Hal has a great degree of power (Nofz & Vendy, 2002). Furthermore, the space station controlled by Hal is many times larger than Poole’s pod.

The way Kubrick places these objects on the screen is symbolic in nature, with the dominant space station shaped deliberately like a sperm to refer to patriarchal control over the symbolic little egg-shaped pod. One interesting feature in this scene visually is the placement of light on the space station. The audience does not question what the source of this light is; we only know that as viewers, we are privy to insight into what is taking place in space even though theoretically there is no source of light whatsoever.

Kubrick also cuts to the inside of the pod and space station.