Running Head: Film Critique 1
Final Paper Film Critique: Donnie Brasco
David Christian Toepfer
ENG225
Instructor Bryde
Monday, March 24th, 2014
Running Head: Film Critique 2
Well
known popular star’s coupled with the right story and filmmakers; usually seems
to be the perfect recipe for an instantaneous hit at the box office. But there is something more important to the many
different elements of film than simply revenue; movies take us away from our
own reality and place us in another individual or individual’s world. Films help
us to see the world in different ways without ever leaving our seats. In this
major motion picture two immensely talented and seasoned American stars; Johnny
Depp & Al Pacino co-star together in the real life gangster film: “Donnie Brasco”. Johnny Depp does a phenomenal job at bringing
the element of realism to the big screen as he magnificently plays FBI agent
Joseph Pistone; who infiltrated the Italian mafia for nearly six years,
becoming a trusted associate and being offered the chance to become a mad man more
than once. The legendary; Al Pacino does a fantastic job in his portrayal of real
life, notoriously loyal, and violent, mobster by the name of Lefty Ruggiero.
The thematic elements of this film seem to simply portray what some would call an
inside look into the world of the Italian Mafia; but under the hood we can see
that this film is much more than just that.
The
events that followed within the next six years would inspire one of the
greatest gangster films ever brought to the big screen. FBI Agent Joseph
Pistone did something no other American law enforcement agent had ever done
before; he would go on to successfully infiltrate the Italian Mafia without
ever breaking his cover for nearly six years. Pistone was even offered the
chance to become a made member of the Italian Mafia on two separate occasions throughout
his elaborate undercover investigation.
In the film Agent Pistone a.k.a.
Donnie Brasco befriends a well known member of the Bonanno crime family early
on within the plot; his name was Lefty Ruggiero. Ruggiero’s character was
played by none other than Depp’s co-star; the legendary Al Pacino. Depp’s character
Donnie Brasco is a jeweler within his undercover persona. He is known as; Don
the Jeweler within the mafia underworld. In the beginning of the film, Ruggierio
is sitting with the rest of his immediate associates and is partaking in a
conversation with Nicky, played by; Bruno Kirby one of Ruggiero’s wise guy
buddies.
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Nicky happened to know a little
about Donnie Brasco, or at least he thought he did. Ruggiero asks Nicky about
Brasco’s presence at the bar which happened to be right across the room from
them, Nicky replies; “That’s Don, Don, the Jeweler” (DiGiama, & Newell,
1997). Nicky continues to tell Ruggiero that Don is not a made guy but is a connected
guy, and Nicky seems to portray a general feeling of trust and confidence in
reference to Don the Jeweler’s positive street credibility. The information
presented by Nicky seems to be more implicit than explicit because of the fact
that he doesn’t truly know Don all that well imagine (Goodykoontz,
& Jacobs, 2011, P. 206, Para. 1).
Ruggiero
initially approaches Brasco and asks him a question regarding a diamond’s
legitimacy, in which Ruggiero is in possession of. Brasco answers the questions
accordingly and without fear; even in light of Ruggiero’s intense and aggressive
mannerisms and verbal remarks. This shows Ruggiero that Brasco is not afraid to
defend his opinions or expertise. For example when Ruggiero feels like Brasco
is disrespecting him in reference to the jewel’s legitimacy Ruggiero replies “You’re
pissin up the wrong tree my friend” (DiGiama, &
Newell, 1997). Brasco keep’s his composure under any and all circumstances
throughout this and the remainder of the plot.
From this point forward Ruggierro
takes Brasco under his wing and plays a very large role in unintentionally
assisting agent Joseph Pistone aka Donnie Brasco into actively infiltrating the
Mafia. Brasco impresses Ruggiero early on within the film, where he very
cleverly asserts that Ruggiero’s diamond is a fake with utter confidence.
Immediately after that Brasco’s took it so far as to retrieve restitution from
the individual who ripped Ruggiero off, plus some. Brasco was able to extort a
very nice sports car in exchange for eight thousand dollars owed to Ruggiero.
Lefty Ruggiero is a high strung individual who is very opinionated, jealous,
violent, and long time loyal member of the Mafia. As time passes you find that
Ruggierro cares for Brasco as if he were one of his children or lifelong
friends, we also learn that this feeling seems to be mutual between the two.
This becomes imminent in many different scenes throughout the film. Over time
the two develop a legitimate friendship/relationship and see eye to eye on many
things; but disagree on many as well.
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Brasco insinuates multiple times
almost in a subliminal manner things that are in relation to Ruggierro just
getting out of the Mafioso lifestyle all together. Ruggierro talks about a large boat that he has
always wanted and has dreamed about for years, this is what initially inspired
Brasco to encourage Ruggierro to think about his lifestyle in a different
light. Ruggiero expressed to Brasco that if he had that boat he could just take
off and never come back (DiGiama, & Newell, 1997).
Multiple, extreme simultaneous
conflicts seem to be the center focus in relation to the theme of this
film. We see consistent conflict of an
interpersonal nature on behalf of both FBI agent Joseph Pistone as well as on
the behalf of Mafioso Lefty Ruggierro. These conflicts appear to be arising
from a vast array of different emotions and actions of Ruggiero, Brasco and
others. The brunt of the emotional baggage due to things that had happened
during the investigation fell on agent Pistones conscious more than the rest of
the individuals involved as you might imagine (Goodykoontz,
& Jacobs, 2011, Pg’s 50-72).
Agent Pistone has his own reservations
regarding this undercover investigation, so does his Mafioso mentor and friend
Lefty Ruggierro. They have different reasons for their interpersonal conflicts
and personal reservations about the lifestyle in which they are living. Brasco has issues in regards to Ruggiero’s
safety and well being and Ruggiero has issues of the same nature in regards to
Brasco and as well his son who happens to be a dope addict (DiGiama, & Newell,
1997).
This film is constructed in
chronological order; helping to emphasize to the viewer the day by day routine
of agent Pistones life in the Mafia underworld living as Donnie Brasco. As he
patiently lives out his life for nearly 6 years collecting evidence in secret
as a respected associate of the Italian Mafia; the days turn into weeks, and
the weeks turn into months and from them to years. We can see that Agent Joseph
Pistone is increasingly becoming more personally and emotionally involved with
certain associates within his designated crime family (Goodykoontz,
& Jacobs, 2011).
Running Head: Film Critique 5
There is a certain level of dramatic
irony in this film; from the very beginning of the film we are aware that
Donnie Brasco is in fact an undercover FBI agent by the name of Joseph Pistone.
By watching the film from the perspective of a third party point of view while
knowing that Brasco is really a federal agent, and at the same time
simultaneously we are aware that the incredibly dangerous, and intuitive
individuals he is investigating are clueless of this. If for some reason
something was to go wrong and his cover would have been blown while he was on
the job around his associates, his likelihood of survival probably would not be
too grand (Goodykoontz, & Jacobs, 2011, Pg.43).
There is a back-story element to
Ruggiero’s personal life in correlation with him and Brasco’s relationship.
Lefty Ruggiero’s son is a heroin addict; this put a tremendous deal of stress
upon Ruggierro It seems as if his son shames him great deal, but if you pay
close attention you can see that this man deep down has plenty of love and
genuine concern for his son and others in his life. Ruggierro’s relationship
with Brasco is symbolic in terms of it being a sort of metaphor symbolizing the
relationship he wished he had with his son. Ruggiero also confides in Brasco
many times throughout the plot, Brasco seems as if he is one of the only people
that Ruggiero can truly trust, and Brasco knows this (Goodykoontz,
& Jacobs, 2011, Pg. 42). We can also view this relationship between
Ruggiero and Brasco as an Allegory; for the fact that as I have previously
stated it acts as a symbolic representation in reference to the Ruggiero vs.
Brasco relationship in direct correlation with the Ruggiero vs. Son relationship
(Goodykoontz, & Jacobs, 2011, Pg. 243).
Running Head: Film Critique 6
There is an extensive amount of
dialogue between Ruggiero and Brasco in contrast to the other characters within
the movie. For example we can see the element of conflict quite well within the
dialogue expressed between the two fashions (Goodykoontz,
& Jacobs, 2011, P. 303). The conflict between the two mainly arises from
Brasco’s caring nature and mental indifferences between himself and Ruggiero.
There is also conflict between the two in the last scene of the movie, in which
Ruggiero tells Brasco in not so many words that if he ever an informant that
he; Ruggiero would not hesitate to eliminate him from this earth. This is a
major climax in the story, which involves a boat in which Brasco had arranged
for their crew to host a party for a major player in the Italian Mafia (DiGiama, & Newell,
1997).
This movie in particular would
fit into the major genre of film noir because of its mysterious and dark
essence. It has many unsavory characters and holds many thrilling aspects (Goodykoontz,
& Jacobs, 2011, P. 306). For example; we can see that the under the hood
aspects of the Mafia underground are anything but glamorous. On the exterior
things look to be fantastic, but this is and always will be the primary
attributes in which the Mafia will put forth in order to keep up the image of
being honorable men and not just common street thugs (DiGiama, & Newell,
1997).
The utilization of music was
perfect within this film, especially when they were in Florida with their club
venture. This movie truly brings you back to the late 70s in a clear cut fashion
(Goodykoontz, & Jacobs, 2011, Sect. 6.1). The scores
that were utilized for the more dramatic of the scenes were placed perfectly
within the film to enlist the firm feeling of real, raw and true life drama. It
also helps to grab our attention and even though dialogue may not be present,
the score alone contributes a great deal to how we intake the visual’s on the
screen (Goodykoontz, & Jacobs, 2011, P.161, Para. 3).
Running Head: Film Critique 7
The conflicts within this film
seem to always be in plain sight, but this is just another way in which to
bring out the realism of the film. Usually in real life individuals address
conflicts more abruptly then in dramatic thriller type of films. Brasco becomes much attached to Ruggierro as
time ticks away, his relationship with Ruggierro and lifestyle within the Mafia
was only helping to fuel his perversion of reality. His interpersonal conflict
had reached maximum when he started to be given extreme amounts of trust and
respect by people much higher ranking than him, specifically since he was not
even a mad man but simply an associate of the family (Goodykoontz,
& Jacobs, 2011, Pg. 303).
Brasco is faced with more inter
conflict within the Bonanno family when one of the acting bosses “Sonny
Black” attempts to persuade Brasco that
Ruggierro is basically a washed up old drunk and is doing nothing but bringing
him down. This dialogue between Brasco and Sonny Black only fuels Ruggieros
feelings of envy and jealousy towards Brasco and others in his organization.
Ruggierro even in fear that he may be killed off because of his attitude
towards things in general and/or because he is of no use and is still utilizing
their resources (Goodykoontz, & Jacobs, 2011).
Towards the end of the film as
the plot thickens when agent Joseph Pistone returns home to retireve a large
sum of money related to his activities with the Mafia. Upon retrieving the
money bag, his wife stops him; to confront Pistone about his negligence in
reference to his children and herself. Pistone expressed to his wife how close
he has become to Ruggierro and how this investigation is “eating me alive,” (DiGiama, & Newell,
1997). Agent
Pistone reveals to his wife his inner conflict in which he lives with; and the
knowledge that if he pulls out of this investigation or foils it in any way would
affect the life of his now close friend Lefty Ruggierro. Soon after this
exchange in dramatic dialogue he says to his wife “I’m not becoming like them
Maggie, I am them” (DiGiama, & Newell, 1997). This is yet another example of
the genuine empathy in which Pistone feels towards Ruggierro based on countless
hours spent listening to Ruggierro express his inner emotions and
transgressions (Goodykoontz, & Jacobs, 2011,
Pg. 70).
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Agent Pistone indicated that he
was ordered to murder capo Philip Giaccone and for this
he would receive the honor of
being put in line for a position as a made member of the Mafia. Luckily due to
the close surveillance by the FBI of this incident they were able to quickly
and efficiently stop Pistone aka Brasko of ultimately committing murder for the
Mafia. This was not at Pistone’s request, but rather the FBI had since taken
full control of the investigation and ordered the operation to end immediately.
Because of the fact that Ruggierro was the one who initially brought Brasco
into the original circle within their designated crime family, Ruggiero’s life
was in great danger; Ruggierro would have been murdered had he ever made it to
a meeting in which he was requested to be at. The meeting was called shortly
after the FBI announced that their long time friend Donnie Brasco was actually
an undercover FBI agent by the name of Joseph Pistone; but the FBI had arranged
for Ruggierro to be arrested on his way to the meeting because they had
concrete knowledge of his imminent doom. This shows us here, how agent Pistone can relate to some of these men
better than his colleagues in the department of justice (DiGiama, & Newell,
1997).
Running Head: Film Critique 9
In conclusion, what we were here is much more than simply
just a good movie/gangster film. This is not just some random film-noir motion
picture designed to thrill you with graphic violence and consistent action, we
have here a film based on true events, and epic ones at that. We are taken into
the Mafia underworld and exposed to the inner workings and personal
relationships of the men involved within it. We truly get a genuine close up
look at; who these men are, and what these men do, their trials and
tribulations, their dog eat dog mentality, the way in which the culture they
live in helps to develop them into who they are as adults, the loyalty of these
men and the violent nature that ultimately plays the role of brick and mortar
in regards to the foundation for the grand ideology behind the mafia. We see
all this through incredibly talented movie stars that are truly icons and
masters at their craft to say the very least; Al Pacino & Johnny Depp do an
outstandingly fantastic job at depicting Lefty Ruggiero and agent Joseph
Pistone aka Donnie Brasco to the fullest of extents. We can see that the goal
of bringing this true story to our attention; because of the many life lessons
as well as human nature that it exhibits has been achieved in the most
grandiose fashion.
Running Head: Film Critique 10
References
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film:
From Watching to Seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUENG225.11.2
DiGiama,
L. (Producer), & Newell, M. (Director), (1997) Donnie
Brasco
[Motion Picture] United States:
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