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Article: Why the mobs rule; Sam Mendes is the latest in a long line of directors to have reinvented the US gangster film. But is he as good as Leone, Scorsese and Coppola?
- Article from:
- The Evening Standard (London, England)
- Article date:
- September 19, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: NEIL NORMAN
SAM Mendes is not the first director to attempt to redraw the boundaries of the American gangster film. Since its inception in 1912 with The Musketeers of Pig Alley, the gangster movie has been remodelled by successive generations of filmmakers to reflect the concerns of their eras.
Although set in the 1930s, Road to Perdition is primarily concerned with the deep and complex relationship between fathers and sons.
While family ties and loyalties are crucial elements in many gangster movies, from White Heat to The Godfather(s), Perdition is clearly a result of Noughties revisionism.
The gangster genre proper was born ...