Brain Food: Why the mafia study gangster movies (29 September 2009):
Bada-bing. For some people, The Godfather is no mere movie but a manual – a guide to living the gangster's life. They lap up all that stuff about going to the mattresses and sleeping with the fishes. The famous scene in which a mafia refusenik wakes up next to a horse's head may be macabre make-believe, but in some quarters it's treated like a tutorial.
So who are these apparent innocents taking their cues from Hollywood? None other than the mafia themselves, writes Diego Gambetta in his new book, Codes of the Underworld: How Criminals Communicate. The Oxford sociologist offers example upon example of gangsters apeing Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece – or what he calls "lowlife imitating art".
There's the Don who took over a Sicilian aristocrat's villa for his daughter's wedding – with 500 guests revelling to the film's soundtrack; the building contractors of Palermo who receive severed horse's heads if they get in the mob's way; and John Gotti's former lieutenant, Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, who confessed that plagiarism ranked among his (lesser) crimes: "I would always tell people, just like in The Godfather, 'If you have an enemy, that enemy becomes my enemy.'"
Yet Mario Puzo, The Godfather's inventor, admitted that he "never met a real honest-to-God gangster", while many of the film's most quotable lines (remember "Leave the gun. Take the cannol"?) were improvised. So what accounts for its influence not just among the mafia but with Hong Kong triads, Japanese yakuza and Russian mobsters?
Well, strip away the mystique and organised crime is a business – one with big handicaps. It may be called "the Firm", but managing a poorly educated, violent workforce is a challenge, advertising job vacancies only attracts the law, and appraisals for underperforming staff can err on the brusque side. The Godfather and other gangster movies plug those holes, says Gambetta. They give criminals an easy-to-follow protocol and a glamour that serves as both corporate feelgood and marketing tool. Uncomfortable though it may be to acknowledge, the underworld is not above taking its cues from the upperworld.
There's the Don who took over a Sicilian aristocrat's villa for his daughter's wedding – with 500 guests revelling to the film's soundtrack; the building contractors of Palermo who receive severed horse's heads if they get in the mob's way; and John Gotti's former lieutenant, Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, who confessed that plagiarism ranked among his (lesser) crimes: "I would always tell people, just like in The Godfather, 'If you have an enemy, that enemy becomes my enemy.'"
Yet Mario Puzo, The Godfather's inventor, admitted that he "never met a real honest-to-God gangster", while many of the film's most quotable lines (remember "Leave the gun. Take the cannol"?) were improvised. So what accounts for its influence not just among the mafia but with Hong Kong triads, Japanese yakuza and Russian mobsters?
Well, strip away the mystique and organised crime is a business – one with big handicaps. It may be called "the Firm", but managing a poorly educated, violent workforce is a challenge, advertising job vacancies only attracts the law, and appraisals for underperforming staff can err on the brusque side. The Godfather and other gangster movies plug those holes, says Gambetta. They give criminals an easy-to-follow protocol and a glamour that serves as both corporate feelgood and marketing tool. Uncomfortable though it may be to acknowledge, the underworld is not above taking its cues from the upperworld.
Anti-mafia police release footage showing murder of 'gangster' (30 October 2009):
Italian police investigating the murder of an alleged gangster have released graphic CCTV footage that shows him being shot dead at point blank range.
Mario Bacio Terracino, believed to have been involved in a drugs feud with a rival gang, was murdered by a hitman outside a Naples bar in May.
Anti-mafia investigators said they released the footage of the 53-year-old's murder in the hope of finding someone who could identify the killer.
In the video, which lasts 26 seconds, Terracino is seen standing outside the bar in broad daylight, smoking a cigarette while his assassin has a look around inside.
A moment later, the hitman, wearing a baseball cap, emerges and shoots Terracino three times from behind before leaning over his body and putting a final shot in his head. He then walks away, still holding the gun.
Naples is home to the Camorra crime syndicate, which has been blamed for dozens of deaths in recent years.
This March, more than 100,000 people marched through the streets of the city to protest against mafia violence.
A recent report for Italy's parliamentary anti-mafia commission claimed that 13 million Italians were living in areas in which the mob exerts influence over everyday life.
Giuseppe Pisanu, the commission's head, said the Italian mafia was now "silently prospering, moving on from spectacular crimes and massacres to business and politics, with a prudent dose of intimidation and violence in a bid to take over the fundamental role of the state".
Mario Bacio Terracino, believed to have been involved in a drugs feud with a rival gang, was murdered by a hitman outside a Naples bar in May.
Anti-mafia investigators said they released the footage of the 53-year-old's murder in the hope of finding someone who could identify the killer.
In the video, which lasts 26 seconds, Terracino is seen standing outside the bar in broad daylight, smoking a cigarette while his assassin has a look around inside.
A moment later, the hitman, wearing a baseball cap, emerges and shoots Terracino three times from behind before leaning over his body and putting a final shot in his head. He then walks away, still holding the gun.
Naples is home to the Camorra crime syndicate, which has been blamed for dozens of deaths in recent years.
This March, more than 100,000 people marched through the streets of the city to protest against mafia violence.
A recent report for Italy's parliamentary anti-mafia commission claimed that 13 million Italians were living in areas in which the mob exerts influence over everyday life.
Giuseppe Pisanu, the commission's head, said the Italian mafia was now "silently prospering, moving on from spectacular crimes and massacres to business and politics, with a prudent dose of intimidation and violence in a bid to take over the fundamental role of the state".
Question Time (Danny Dyer); Gangster Life & Style (11 June 2009):
In your new TV series, Living Dangerously, you move in with bouncers, mercenaries and a drug smuggler. Are you a gangster junkie?
A gangster junkie? Fucking hell, strong words. No, I'm not at all. I'm in my 30s. I've played loads of gangsters, I've had a great run in my 20s - but I need to get away from the gangster thing.
Why do you think you keep being given those roles?
I'm good at it, it comes naturally. I've got quite a big fan base and people like to see you do the same thing - that's why you get offered the same roles. It's going to put bums on seats, but that's not necessarily going to make me happy.
What do you think of the word mockney?
I hate it. Some people call me a mockney - they think I put it all on. It's so frustrating. Where I'm from, what I'm about, gives me that edge.
So how do you feel when you see people such as Guy Ritchie making films about what they think to be your background?
I had a problem with Guy Ritchie years ago. I did Mean Machine and he'd turn up on set with two bodyguards, and I was told not to look him in the eye and all that sort of stuff. So I wasn't very nice about him in the press. Then I met him for RocknRolla and had a lovely chat with him. I've not got a problem with him. He's made a couple of right shit films, but in general he's a good director.
Are you hard, or is it just your accent?
People just get thrown by the accent. I'm not hard. I don't claim to be a tough guy, that's complete bollocks, I'm a sensitive soul. I'm in touch with my feminine side.
You're something of a heartthrob.
I don't know what to make of it. Maybe it's the bad-boy image, maybe women quite like that.
Do you like being seen as a bit of rough?
Yes. That's my image. I'm not clean-cut. That's maybe what the appeal is.
Is it patronising?
Is it patronising?
Nah, it's good for the ego.
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