What is this movie saying?
I have an idea but prefer to hear from you first.
shareThat at certain times when criminals rise up to the top they have to fall an almost equally high a length at some point afterwards, perhaps?
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MovieChat Forums > Casino (1995) Discussion > What is this movie saying?
It's not saying anything. It's just a movie about the mob's ties to Vegas.
shareBut it does have that "Scarface-ish" rise and fall theme to it, and yes I am mostly referring to the 1983 film "Scarface" although there is also an equally brilliant one also called "Scarface" from the 1930s.
shareThe 1933 film had the same theme, even down the bombastic acting of Muni and violence for the time.
shareIt's about pride coming before the fall (a very catholic theme dear to Scorsese and found in many of his films).
It's also (obliquely) about the golden era of the New Hollywood that Scorsese came into as a young director in the 70's, where a new generation of young talented turks managed to get their visions produced and put on the screen and that gave us some of the most enduring masterpieces of cinema, before the ego projects of some of the most visionary directors of the time (Cimino's 'Gates of Heaven', Friedkin's 'Sorcerer', Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now'...) contributed to bring the whole thing down and big studios got their hands on everything, leading into the era of blockbusters, mass produced escapism and movie franchises.
"In the end we f*** it all up. It should have been so sweet too. But it's the last time street guys like us were ever given anything that valuable again."
"This town will never be the same. The big corporations took it all over. Today it looks like Disneyland..."
"But I could still make money for a lot of people back home. And why mess up a good thing..."
There's even a shot of the MGM casino and the infamous lion from their studio's logo.
Nice. I'd never made that connection before.
shareOh wow that's interesting.
Kind of makes sense, too.
A real shame because I absolutely LOOOOOVED Friedkin's Sorcerer. I always adored just starring at the VHS box cover every single time I walked into a movie store. It's such an ominous and foreboding image that just sucks you in... just like the film.
I hated Sorcerer when it was in theaters in 1977.
Rented the Laserdisc decades later. Still hated it.
Rented “The Wages of Fear,” the movie it was based on.
Didn’t like that either.
Back to “Sorcerer,” I liked that poster art too.
I wanted the movie to be more of that.
I liked Friedkin and wanted to like a lot of his later films but just could not.
Hated “Cruisin’” both times also.
Ah, bummer. I guess different strokes for different folks.
Cruisin' was never a film I was interested in, but I didn't know about the Wages of Fear. I'm going to add that to my watchlist.
Totally understand about wanting to like his later films but not really getting into them. Some of them are definitely hard to appreciate, like Jade, but I still like his style.
I did like “Bug.”
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The ride in the mob lifestyle while sweet is very short for most of the players in it.
shareIf you're a criminal, enjoy the good times while they last.
shareIt’s about Vegas in the 70s and 80s and how the mob got out of it. It’s great stuff.
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