Wealth through Stealth
83
opportunism, ending in tragedy. Taking money that does not rightfully
belong to the protagonists turns out to be the worst decision of their
lives, and this has little to do with legal or religious sanctions ultimately,
but the detrimental impact on their identity and conduct. Even in a
relatively secular era when censorship restrictions have lessened, anti-
heroes are easy to identify with, and ideals of equality and justice seem
somewhat hollow, there remains a tendency to question criminality and
ask if the sacrifices made by protagonists are worthwhile.
The Godfather
(Francis Ford Coppola, 1972) is an interesting case in
point. Adapted from the novel by Mario Puzo, it reworks the familiar
motif of three sons who are tested by their father to see who most
deserves to inherit his kingdom. True to tradition, the oldest two sons
have fatal flaws, with Sonny’s hot temper and Fredo’s weakness proving
to be their undoing, yet while the youngest son, Michael (Al Pacino),
is affirmed as the most worthy heir to the Corleone dynasty, this is
not without cost. Although wary of entering the family business, he
shows remarkable loyalty to his father, and eventually takes his place
as the head of the family, yet happiness eludes him. Over the course of
the eventual trilogy we see him lose both his brothers (taking personal
responsibility for Fredo’s death) as well as his two wives – the first in a
bomb meant for himself and the second in divorce as he becomes an
increasingly alienated and suspicious figure who is ultimately very much
alone. The trilogy does not simply affirm a treatise on the folly of crime,
but reminds us of the narrow distinction between organised crime and a
world that is rife with corruption. From bent cops to a crooked judiciary,
the ‘establishment’ is no different to the Corleone family, and in some
ways far less endearing. Such satirical tendencies were not overlooked
by critics, and are still more pronounced in Brian De Palma’s remake
of
Scarface
(1983), its acerbic pastiche of the American Dream repre-
sented by a Cuban hood, with an unnatural attachment to his sister,
who spends his ill-gotten gains on pet tigers, a mountain of cocaine
and a frosty wife. Ruthless self-interest and unfettered ambition propel
him to achieve extraordinary success in a cut-throat business, yet Tony
Montana (Pacino again) ultimately resembles the eponymous ‘King of
the Gold Mountain’, fighting all comers to maintain his rule while left
with nothing of worth. A maxim reprised from the original
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: