@@goldengirl5165 He was half nuts when he went to Alcatraz. And the oldest of the Capone siblings was a lawman who changed his name. Embarrassed by criminality of his brothers.
When I found this movie I was shocked when I seen it advertised I kind of scoffed at it a little bit thinking yeah Tom Hanks as Hitman yeah right And he f****** nailed it
What Nitti considers himself. It was really Nitti managing Capone's criminal empire. Capone was a volatile and unstable thug, but Nitti was calm, rational, pragmatic. Just a "businessman".
Tucci, an Italian-American, didn't exactly want to be involved in mob films thinking Italian-Americans were usually stereotyped into those roles but accepted it anyway because it was more subtle/professional role and he really wanted to work for Sam Mendes.
One of my favorite movies, and "Let me explain something to you..." is one of my favorite three quotes from this movie. Tom Hanks, Paul Newmann, and Jude Law gave such amazing performances.
Either this or Elmer Bernstein's soundtrack to Far From Heaven or John Williams' soundtrack to Catch Me If You Can are all deserving of an academy award.
“Go home and bury ur wife and child” takes someone untouchable to say that. Take a lot of restraint by Sullivan with all that rage of emotions twisting inside
I love the "Meet Maguire" part ; like Frank Nitti said "He's gifted" ! ah ! in which field ? It is thanks to the scene from 5:13 that I discovered the work of this fabulous press photographer from the 1930's era Weegee who used to "shoot the dead" as Maguire later says in the movie.
I think it's the a reverse tracking shot. The camera zooms in while the moving backwards. I also love that shot and I love the color of the blood of the knife victim. I don't know what to say about this film rather than it's pure beauty.
Perdition means a state of final spiritual ruin, loss of the soul; damnation. This is an allegory for what this movie is about: figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another. A statement on whether or not murderers, pious as they may be and pillars of support to their community, can be redeemed. The answer was no. Newman said it best: "There are only murderers here in this room!" Neither of them will see heaven, he knows, no matter what works of good they do.
John Looney and Frank Nitti never met. Looney was already out of the picture in Rock Island Illinois by the time Al Capone and Nitti took control of Chicago.
The real life Frank Nitti was actually in prison when the movie takes place. Nitti pleaded guilty to tax evasion in 1930 and served 18 months. He took over Capone's gang after he was released in April of 1932 (Capone was sent to prison in October of 1931).
Jude Law normally plays these demur and laidback protagonist characters. To see him playing a coldblooded mob assassin was shocking to me. However, I think that Jude Law did a great job playing a very nasty villain in this movie!
Monya Irving thats how people are? lol ita the freakin mafia, not normal people. whats surprising really is that ton hank caracter is dumb enough to even try to come to ask like he doesnt k ow how the mafia works. it would be against their rules
@Temp Fan - Normal people are totally like this, it's not only the mafia. I have 20 years in the corporate world and I've seen worse. I've seen people fired for missing days of work after family members were murdered and stuff even more gruesome...
@@tempfan5547 The world is more cruel and beautiful than you think. What pertains here in this universe pertains to everyone and everything, and not just a "select group" of people such as the cosa nostra.
He has his own business interests to worry about. He's running the crime empire of Al Capone, they have money in banks scattered all over the state, and he's not real happy about getting dragged into this comparatively small squabble over a personal blood feud.
There was a famous photographer from the 30's and 40's named WeeGee. He would beat the police to be first at the scene of a crime and he did this by listening to police broadcasts on a short wave radio. Law's character reminds me of this.
Sure... they push the camera forward on a dolly while focusing backwards, as Law's character is walking forward towards the camera. It is a optical illusion that many directors have used through the years to gerat effect, to emphasize an element in a character or situation on the screen.
You would name a town Perdition for this reason: The town is bleak, uninviting, and leads to a undesirable final destination. In a special theological sense of "condition of damnation, spiritual ruin, state of souls in Hell" The founders of the town wanted those who would come there to understand exactly what they were getting into... Yet the town ended up being where Michael Sullivan and his son found their own redemption. Michael Jr. would not end up like his father.
They were actually cousins. Nitti ran Capone's liquor smuggling and distribution operation, importing whisky from Canada and selling it through a network of speakeasies around Chicago. He was one of Capone's top lieutenants, trusted for his leadership skills and business acumen. Because Nitti's ancestry was from the same town as Capone's, he was able to help Capone penetrate the Sicilian and Camorra underworld in a way Capone alone never could. Capone thought so highly of him that when he went to prison in 1929, he named Nitti as a member of a triumvirate that ran the mob in his place.
It’s always bothered me no matter the movie or TV show how the “Devil” in the story always invokes the name of deity for help in committing a crime, killing someone, etc. it especially bothered me in this movie when Paul Newmans character keeps saying “God help me” when he orders the death of a Michael Sullivan after his wife and son were so brutally murdered.
It was so unsettling watching Jude Law and Daniel Craig play roles so out of character for them. Then it occurred to me maybe that’s exactly what the director was going for in casting them in these roles. It just added another layer to their respective creepiness.
Irish and Italian brought more repect to the Crime Syndicate. Later on the other mafias came detroyed the whole respectability. Infact it was people like Al Capone and John Dillinger who brought the downfall by getting unwanted publicity. Infact i remember the dialogue by DW in AG "...the loudest one the room;is the weakest one in the room"
People who are newer to the US at the time are generally more bloodthirsty than the previous syndicates. That's why the Russians are much more fearsome than Italians are these days.
Jude Law plays this weird character very well, but he is also kind of fantastical and unbelievable. Like Capone's gang would hire such a nut, or that one would even exist (a hitman that collects pictures of dead people?) Was he in the original graphic novel?
Not sure about the novel but I kind of agree with you. It's as though they thought he needed that weirdness to make him scary or more interesting. I don't think they did, seems forced, but its hard to make the 'bad guy' hit man stand out these days, I guess. The guy in in 'No Country for Old Men' might be the epitome of that. Maybe we are missing something?
@@TheBearBiffo Good call. No country. But that is very arthouse. It seems forced, and we have to refer to the original source material to see how it might have worked. I posted this as a callout to get more insight on that end, as god knows I am too busy to read a graphic novel myself.
There was a famous photographer from the 30's and 40's named WeeGee. He would beat the police to be first at the scene of a crime and he did this by listening to police broadcasts on a short wave radio. Law's character reminds me of this.
Mikenewhouse he wasn’t just a photographer, Maguire is hired hitman and takes pictures of his kills for pleasure as enjoys it and for business as some hitmen would take pictures for their bosses for proof after fulfilling a contract kill.
In sicily they are called "Cosa Nostra" its sicily where all the control was before they were sucessful in the US and evetually the US "Cosa Nostra" cut them sicilians out. No one workig in this field or even remotely involed would never say the word mafia. Its just a name, no one ever talks about any thing they dont need to. Cosa Nostra, just means "our thing" they just call it our thing as every who needs to know understnad.
you clearly don't "get" his character then. You're supposed to get the sense that he isn't gentle and compassionate - although he has that side to him, he will do what he has to and certainly has a ruthless side to him when necessary, He's only compassionate with those whom he is close to.
Nitti (Francesco Nitto) comes off as such a refined gentleman. Despite his nickname ("The Enforcer"), Nitti used Mafia soldiers and others to commit violence rather than do it himself. In earlier days, he had been one of Capone's trusted personal bodyguards, but as he rose in the organization, Nitti's business instinct dictated that he must personally avoid the "dirty work", for which hitmen were paid.
@serendipity990 There are two movie villans that I hated.Connor rooney here in Road To Perdition,and billy zanes character Cal in Titanic belive it or not lol.If someone can make you hate them in a movie they have done a fantastic job in thier roll on screen ya know.
@JOSUE5401 Didnt Dennis explain all of that to Christopher Walken in the movie True Romance?LOL that scene in True Romance with Hopper,and Walken is one of the greatest scenes in the history of film.
Actually....Irish mafia was much more polished and kid-gloved than Italian Mafia, thats why latter wiped out the former without any problem. Now later Italian were more polished and niche compered to Columbians and Law of Nature took its course. Anyone watched "Public Enemies"
What, Jack, does this mean -- "Most heroes are stupid, cruel, brutal, and greedy"? Was Hamlet stupid? Was Count Vronsky brutal? Was Othello cruel? Was Quixote any of those things? Was Ahab? When I consider MY heroes, they do not fit your description.
