American gangster cinema

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American gangster cinema is a film tradition that explores organized crime in the United States, often focusing on themes of power, family, loyalty, and moral corruption within criminal underworlds.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
American gangster cinema canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (92)

Predicate Object
instanceOf cinematic genre cycle
film tradition
analyzedInDiscipline American studies
cultural studies
film studies
countryOfOrigin United States
developedInPeriod early 20th century
hadMajorCycleInDecade 1930s
1970s
1990s
hasCharacteristic antihero protagonists
depiction of organized crime families
ensemble casts
focus on criminal underworlds
focus on hierarchical criminal organizations
graphic violence
moral ambiguity
noir-influenced visual style
period settings such as Prohibition era
urban settings
voice-over narration in some films
hasTheme betrayal
corruption of institutions
ethnic identity
family
greed
immigrant experience
law versus crime
loyalty
loyalty versus ambition
masculinity
moral corruption
power
rise and fall narrative
the American Dream
linked to: American Dream

violence
influenced global gangster film traditions
television crime dramas
influencedByEvent Great Depression
Prohibition in the United States
influencedByGenre Italian neorealism
linked to: Italian Neorealism

crime fiction
film noir
language English
mainSubject organized crime in the United States
notableActor Al Pacino
Edward G. Robinson
James Cagney
Joe Pesci
Marlon Brando
Paul Muni
Robert De Niro
notableDirector Brian De Palma
Francis Ford Coppola
Howard Hawks
Martin Scorsese
Mervyn LeRoy
Michael Mann
Quentin Tarantino
William A. Wellman NERFINISHED
notableSubgenre Mafia film
Prohibition-era gangster film
urban gang film
notableWork Bonnie and Clyde
Casino
Donnie Brasco
Goodfellas
Little Caesar
Mean Streets
Miller's Crossing
Once Upon a Time in America
Scarface (1932 film)
Scarface (1983 film)
linked to: Scarface

The Departed
The Godfather
The Godfather Part II
The Public Enemy
The Untouchables (1987 film)
linked to: The Untouchables
portraysInstitution Federal Bureau of Investigation
courts and legal system
local police departments
portraysOrganization Irish-American mob
Italian-American Mafia
Jewish-American organized crime
street gangs
relatedTo American crime cinema
film noir
police procedural film
typicalSetting Chicago
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
New York City

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

The Many Saints of Newark belongsToGenreTradition American gangster cinema