A film which often glorifies the criminal activities of gangsters, elevating them to almost hero status. These anti-heroes sometimes reach the conclusion that crime does pay but often carries moral, psychological, and physical repercussion. These films, along with westerns, melodramas, epics and horror films, have been around since the beginnings of cinema. Often associated with the social-problem film, these early examples like Underground, Little Caesar, Scarface, and Public Enemy presented organized crime as the only way out of Great Depression poverty. They present the criminal's rise to power and subsequent fall, when he overreaches and becomes too ambitious. Criticized for glamorizing violence, these types of films lead directly to the implementation of the Hayes Code, which forbade sympathetic portraits of criminals. Still, throughout the ‘30s, films like G-Men and Angels With Dirty Faces continued to examine the criminal mindset. Film noir of the ‘40s and ‘50s turned these examinations increasingly more pessimistic and cynical, with criminals often trapped by fate. After the war, crime films turned increasingly violent and menacing, such as Underworld USA and The Killers. Internationally, the French New Wave took the early conventions of the crime film and subverted them as commentaries on film genre, with Breathless acting as the prime example. In other countries, such as Japan where yakuza films (Sonatine) gained popularity, the conventions of the Hollywood crime film were adopted and twisted to match the society which is examined. From the ‘70s onward, especially after the success of The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, the gangster film continued to flourish, becoming more complex. Mean Streets, Scarface, Goodfellas, Once Upon a Time in America and Casino are all fascinating models of the contemporary gangster film.

Featured Films:

Rating	MPAA	Year	Title
	R	2008	Bangkok Dangerous
		2008	Sarkar Raj
	R	2007	Smokin' Aces
	R	2007	American Gangster
	NR	2006	Payback: Straight Up
	R	2006	Running Scared
	R	2006	10th & Wolf
	R	2006	Waist Deep
	R	2006	Exiled
	R	2006	The Departed
	R	2006	Idlewild
	R	2005	Carlito's Way: Rise to Power
	PG	2005	Mobsters and Mormons
	R	2005	Revolver
		2005	Election
	R	2004	Layer Cake
	PG13	2004	The Whole Ten Yards
		2004	Baby Juice Express
		2003	Bumer
	R	2002	Wisegirls
	R	2002	Road to Perdition
	R	2002	Capone's Boys
	R	2002	Infernal Affairs
		2002	This Thing of Ours
	PG13	2002	The Adventures of Pluto Nash
		2002	Shottas
	R	2002	Analyze That
		2002	Random Acts of Violence
	R	2002	Ash Wednesday
	R	2002	Dirty Deeds
		2002	Suckers
	R	2001	Knockaround Guys
	PG13	2001	Corky Romano
		2000	The City of Lost Souls
	R	2000	Borough of Kings
	R	2000	Circus
	R	2000	Gangster No.1
	R	2000	Get Carter
	R	2000	Beautiful Joe
		2000	Last Call
		2000	Luck of the Draw
	R	2000	Sexy Beast
	R	1999	Gloria
	R	1999	Payback
		1999	Blood Money
		1999	Youngest Godfather
	PG13	1999	Mickey Blue Eyes
		1999	Hebi no Michi
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