Francis Ford Coppola, whose most recent film,Megalopolis, is a2024 flop movie that could become a cult hitin the future, has changed cinema with his seminal contributions to the art form.The director’s most impactful work will always be theGodfathertrilogy,an expansive, epic, and detailed exploration of the lives of mob bosses.
Coppola has made films in all genres,fromBram Stoker’s Dracula, ahorror movie with an incredible ensemble cast, and the war movie,Apocalypse Now, to the legal dramaThe Rainmaker, and the coming-of-age crime dramaThe Outsiders. However,The Godfather, featuring one of thebest Oscar-winning actor performances, will always be his most famous film.
While Marlon Brando’s Vito Corleone was later recast and portrayed by Robert De Niro, the protagonist of the trilogy, Michael Corleone, is played by Al Pacino in all three installments. However, Pacino’s most impactful gangster role might be in another mob movie,Donnie Brasco, which was released seven years afterThe Godfather Part III.
Al Pacino’s Donnie Brasco Is The Anti-Godfather
It Challenges Hollywood’s Typical Representation Of Gangsters
Regardless of his intentions, Coppola makes the mob seem cool and deserving of our sympathies as viewers in his timeless trilogy. Marlon Brando asVito Corleone is simply too understated, stoic, and charismatic for his presence not to be appealing.Similarly, Michael is so lively, rebellious, and striking that one finds oneself inevitably rooting for his success.
TheGodfathertrilogy is the first trilogy to receive Best Picture Oscar nominations for all three films.
By contrast, Al Pacino’s Lefty inDonnie Brascois nearly pathetic. He is needy, lonely, and wants someone to befriend him more than anything else. His desperation for true friendship makes him put his faith in the titular Donnie, played by Johnny Depp, who is an informant for the FBI. Lefty’s screen presence tells viewers that gangsters are uncool criminals.
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Donnie Brasco’s exploration of the humanity that becomes a haunting quality in gangsters,rendering them scared and desperate, instead of aloof and ruthless, makes it the anti-Godfather. TheGodfathertrilogy, aTV adaptation written by the authorof its source, Mario Puzo, paints a more captivating image while still staying wary of the characters' immoral nature.
Donnie Brasco’s Realism Gives It An Edge The Godfather & Other Gangster Movies Lack
It Doesn’t Glamorize Organized Crime
The mob subgenre, different from the crime thriller genre, often immortalizes and even celebrates its subjects as martyrs. AnR-rated 1980s movie worth rewatching forever,The Untouchables, explores Al Capone’s criminality, but through the eyes of the men tasked with catching him. Similarly,Donnie Brascois told through the eyes of an FBI agent moonlighting as a mob man.
However, what setsDonnie Brascoapart is the fact that it’s a gangster movie instead of a crime thriller. It focuses on the inner workings of the mob from within the mob, but still doesn’t glamorize the criminal behavior that Lefty participates in. Moreover,Lefty is Al Pacino’s softest gangster character,who almost doesn’t feel like a gangster at times.
It is able to reach a place of sincerity that the more cinematic depictions of the mob aren’t able to.
The lack of flattering representation imbues an element of realism inDonnie Brascothat makes it a poignant exploration of the main character’s lifestyle. Since it doesn’t celebrate rampant criminal behavior and apathetic ruthlessness, it is able to reach a place of sincerity that the more cinematic depictions of the mob aren’t able to.
Donnie Brasco
Donnie Brasco is a crime drama film directed by Mike Newell, featuring Johnny Depp as an undercover FBI agent who infiltrates the mafia. Al Pacino co-stars as a seasoned mobster who mentors him. Based on true events, the movie explores the agent’s struggle to balance his professional duties and personal identity.
