Mafia Movies

Dana Renga is an associate professor of Italian at The Ohio State University. She is the author of Unfinished Business: Screening the Italian Mafia in the New Millennium (2013) and Watching Sympathetic Perpetrators on Italian Television: Gomorrah and Beyond (2019) and has published extensively on Italian cinema and television.

Acknowledgments

Part One. Setting the Scene

1. The Corleones at Home and Abroad
Dana Renga, Ohio State University



2. Gender and Violence: Four Themes in the Everyday World of Mafia Wives
Jane Schneider, Graduate Center, CUNY (Emeritus) and Peter Schneider, Fordham University(Emeritus)

Part Two. American Mafia Movies and Television: The Corleones at Home and Abroad

3. Wallace McCutcheon’s The Black Hand: A Different Version of a Biograph Kidnapping
Vincenzo Maggitti, University of Stockholm



4 ‘Most Thrilling Subjects’: D.W. Griffith and the Biograph Revenge Films
JoAnne Ruvoli, Ball State University



5. Ethnicity and the Classical Gangster Film: Mervyn LeRoy’s Little Caesar and Howard Hawks’s Scarface
Norma Bouchard, San Diego State University

6. Playing Good Italian/Bad Italian on ABC’s The Untouchables
Jonathan J. Cavallero, Bates College



7 Prelude to The Godfather: Martin Ritt’s The Brotherhood
Robert Casillo, University of Miami



8. Michael Corleone’s Tie: Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather
Anthony Julian Tamburri, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College/CUNY



9. Nihilism and Mafiosita in Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets
Pellegrino D’Acierno, Hofstra University



10. Thematic Patterns in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather: Part II
John Paul Russo, University of Miami

11. The Sexual Politics of Loyalty in John Huston’s Prizzi’s Honor
Rebecca Bauman, Fashion Institute of Technology

12. Between Postmodern Parody and Generic Hybridization: The Gangsters of Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables
Norma Bouchard, San Diego State University

13. The Bandit, the Gangster, and the American Army Shorts: Michael Cimino’s The Sicilian
Chiara Mazzucchelli, The University of Central Florida

14. Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas: Hybrid Storytelling between Realism and Formalism
Fulvio Orsitto, California State University

15. Redemption in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather: Part III
John Paul Russo, University of Miami

16. Narrating the Mafia, Las Vegas, and Ethnicity in Martin Scorsese’s Casino
Claudio Bisoni, University of Bologna

17. ‘Nothing Romantic about It’: Gender and the Legacy of Crime in Abel Ferrara’s The Funeral
Lara Santoro, Drew University

18. Inside the Mafia: Mike Newell’s Donnie Brasco
Robert Casillo, University of Miami

19. Family Therapy: Harold Ramis’s Analyze This and the Evolution of the Gangster Genre
Louis Bayman, University of Southampton

20. Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, or the Quest for a Departed (Ethnic) Identity
Margherita Heyer-Caput, University of California

21. When Words Can Kill: David Chase’s The Sopranos
Franco Ricci, The University of Ottawa

22. ‘Don’t Stop Believin’, Don’t Stop …’: (De)Structuring Expectations in the Final Season of The Sopranos
Giancarlo Lombardi, College of Staten Island & CUNY Graduate Center

23. ‘History Doesn’t Repeat Itself, but It Does Rhyme’: Fictionalizing History in Boardwalk Empire
Paolo Russo, Oxford Brookes University

24. Mob Wives: Exploitation or Empowerment?
Jacqueline Reich, Fordham University and Fatima Karin, Fordham University

Part Three. Italian Mafia Movies and Television: Resistance and Myth

25. Which Law Is the Father’s? Gender and Generic Oscillation in Pietro Germi’s In the Name of the Law
Danielle Hipkins, University of Exeter, University of Exeter



26. The Visible, Unexposed: Francesco Rosi’s Salvatore Giuliano
Laura Wittman, Stanford University



27. Modernity, Mafia Style: Alberto Lattuada’s Mafioso
Nelson Moe, Barnard College, Columbia University



28. Francesco Rosi’s Hands over the City: A Contemporary Perspective on the Camorra
Anna Paparcone, Bucknell University



29. Prototypes of the Mafia: Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard
Elizabeth Leake, Columbia University



30. The Failure of the Intellectual: Elio Petri’s Filming of Leonardo Sciascia’s To Each His Own
Daniela Bini, University of Texas



31. Damiano Damiani’s The Day of the Owl: A Western Flirtation
Piero Garofalo, University of New Hampshire



32. Smaller and Larger Families: Lina Wertmüller’s The Seduction of Mimi
Thomas Harrison, University of California, Los Angeles



33. Deconstructing the Enigma: Logical Investigations in Francesco Rosi’s Lucky Luciano
Gaetana Marrone, Princeton University



34. Power as Such: The Idea of the Mafia in Francesco Rosi’s Illustrious Corpses
Alan O’Leary, University of Leeds



35. Marco Risi’s Forever Mary: Desperate Lives Converge in Sicilia ‘Non Bedda’
George De Stefano, Author and Critic



36. Threads of Political Violence in Italy’s Spiderweb: Giorgio Ambrosoli’s Murder in Michele Placido’s A Bourgeois Hero
Carlo Testa, University of British Columbia



37. Sacrifice, Sacrament, and the Body in Ricky Tognazzi’s La scorta
Myriam Swennen Ruthenberg, Florida Atlantic University



38. Pasquale Scimeca’s Placido Rizzotto: A Different View of Corleone
Amy Boylan, The University of New Hampshire



39. Marco Tullio Giordana’s The Hundred Steps: The Biopic as Political Cinema
George De Stefano, Author and Critic



40. Roberta Torre’s Angela: The Mafia and the ‘Woman’s Film’
Catherine O’Rawe, University of Bristol



41. Organized Crime and Unfulfilled Promises in Gabriele Salvatores’ I’m Not Scared
Michael O’Riley, Colorado College



42. Growing Up Camorrista: Antonio and Andrea Frazzi’s Certi bambini
Allison Cooper, Bowdoin College



43. Lipstick and Chocolate: Paolo Sorrentino’s The Consequences of Love
Mary P Wood, Birkbeck, University of London



44. The In(di)visibility of the Mafia, Politics, and Ethics in Bianchi and Nerazzini’s The Mafia Is White
Robin Pickering-Iazzi, The University of Wisconsin



45. Marco Turco’s Excellent Cadavers: An Italian Tragedy
Maddalena Spazzini, Richmond College



46. Dispatches from Hell: Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah
Pierpaolo Antonello, The University of Cambridge



47. From Comedy to Commemoration: Pierfrancesco Diliberto’s La mafia uccide solo d’estate
Millicent Marcus, Yale University



48. Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza’s Salvo: The Sound of Redemption in an Infernal Landscape
Amy Boylan, The University of New Hampshire



49. Of Renegades and Game Players: Shifting Sympathies in Gomorra: la serie
Giancarlo Lombardi, College of Staten Island & CUNY Graduate Center

Part Four. Italy’s Other Mafias in Film and on Television: A Roundtable

50. Introduction – The Banda della Magliana, the Camorra, the ’Ndrangheta, and the Sacra Corona Unita: The Mafia On Screen beyond the Cosa Nostra
Dana Renga, Ohio State University



51. Historicizing Italy’s Other Mafias: Some Considerations
John Dickie, University College London



52. Romanzo criminale: Roma Caput Violandi
Allison Cooper, Bowdoin College



53. Romanzo criminale: la serie
Catherine O’Rawe, University of Bristol



54. Toxic Tables: The Representation of Food in Camorra Films
Amy Boylan, The University of New Hampshire



55. The New Mafia in Una vita tranquilla
Giovanna De Luca, College of Charleston



56. Soap Operas
Giancarlo Lombardi, College of Staten Island & CUNY Graduate Center



57. Response #1
Robert Gordon, The University of Cambridge



58. Response #2
Danielle Hipkins, University of Exeter



59. Response #3
Robin Pickering-Iazzi, The University of Wisconsin



60. Conclusion
Allison Cooper, Bowdoin College

Part Five. Double Takes

The Godfather



61. The Godfather: Performance and Stardom
Dominic Holdaway, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuor



62. The Godfather: Adaptation
Alberto Zambenedetti, University of Toronto



63. The Godfather: Gender
Dana Renga, Ohio State University



64. The Godfather: Scene Analysis – Don Vito’s Office
Alberto Zambenedetti, University of Toronto



65. The Godfather: Scene Analysis – The Baptism/Murder
Alberto Zambenedetti, University of Toronto



66. The Godfather: Scene Analysis – The Finale
Daniel Paul, The Ohio State University



The Sopranos



67. The Sopranos: Antiheroic Masculinity
Dana Renga, Ohio State University



68. The Sopranos: Gender
Dominic Holdaway, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuor



69. The Sopranos: (Sub)Urban Space
Alberto Zambenedetti, University of Toronto



70. The Sopranos: Episode 1.01, ‘The Sopranos’
Dominic Holdaway, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuor



71 The Sopranos: Episode 1.05, ‘College’
Sean O’Sullivan, The Ohio State University



72. The Sopranos: Episode 2.04, ‘Commendatori’
Sean O’Sullivan, The Ohio State University



Romanzo criminale



73. Romanzo criminale: Performance and Stardom
Catherine O’Rawe, University of Bristol



74. Romanzo criminale: Adaptation/Transmedia
Dominic Holdaway, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuor



75. Romanzo criminale: Gender
Danielle Hipkins, University of Exeter



76. Romanzo criminale: Politics and Terrorism
Dominic Holdaway, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuor



77. Romanzo criminale: Scene Analysis – The Aldo Moro Kidnapping
Catherine O’Rawe, University of Bristol



78. Romanzo criminale: Scene Analysis – The Bologna Bombing
Alan O’Leary, University of Leeds



Gomorrah



79. Gomorrah: Gender
Elena Past, Wayne State University



80. Gomorrah: Metacinematic References
Alberto Zambenedetti, University of Toronto



81. Gomorrah: Urban Space
Monica Seger, William and Mary University



82. Gomorrah: Scene Analysis – Opening Sequence
Alberto Zambenedetti, University of Toronto



83. Gomorrah: Scene Analysis – The Initiation of Totò
Alberto Zambenedetti, University of Toronto



84. Gomorrah: Scene Analysis – The Finale
Monica Seger, William and Mary University



Filmography

Selected Bibliography

Contributors