What's your favorite gangster movie? I found the older I get the more I appreciate the genre, and there are some gems throughout cinema history. Also, let me say thank you for everyone subscribing and enjoying my videos, we are close to 3.5k subs in just a few weeks, so if you haven't please consider subscribing to get notified when I upload.
@@stalinsbutterfly Ha I figured that was coming. But sure, I’ll wear it like a badge of honor. It’s a very real threat, so I hope you heed the warning.
This actually explains a lot to me. I had a 23 and Me test done a while and I have less than 1 percent Italian while Im more than 99% European. I get very little enjoyment out of food, in fact I joke that if they had a pill that I could take I wouldnt ever eat again.
cool video! I would also like to add. I think that food in gangster films also emphasizes their extreme hedonism and constant "hunger", they are constantly not enough of what they have. Also, during dinner, people are very vulnerable, and this shows their humanity. Also, gangster films often talk about the theme of betrayal of people close to you. When you live the life of a gangster, it's probably not easy to find someone you trust. And a joint dinner emphasizes this trusting relationship. Also, dinner plays the role of opposition. From the outside, if you look at the gangsters, they are just nice get-togethers in a cafe, but they discuss issues of life and death.
@@Yzz4959 Not really. While some of the things he said sound like a stretch, joining dinner as a tool to conduct business is common among many cultures. Not just the Italian Mafia but the Yakuza or Triads do that too. It's a common practice even outside of the underworld in East Asia because it's a way for the host to display his wealth and power to the guests.
I actually think it's a LOT simpler. If you're a gangster, you don't work a regular 9-5 job. Therefore, you have a lot of free time. So what are you to do?? Drink, gamble, do drugs, and yes, eat.
I recall Michael Gandolfini (James Gandolfini's son) talking about how his father adopted that mannerism as a way to stop overeating, and said mannerism translated into his interpretation of Tony Soprano
Eating together is an act of communion. It’s an intimate, vulnerable act which uncovers ulterior motives, subtle displays of discontent/approval, and it reveals one’s true character. All valuable in the crime world.
What a load of horse dung, how come there were mobsters like Gravano & many others who turned rat? Well? If their mobster buddies were a good at reading them during their “ communion” ? Then why did rats like Gravano make it out to go on podcasts?
bro that pulp fiction scene is NOT just comedy. The audience are mostly not gangsters but everyone eats food, especially something like McDonald's, so the conversation makes them RELATABLE and NORMAL right before the movie shoves you into one of the most high-tension scenes ever. That's a big part of it. Humanizing people who are otherwise living in a completely different world that is difficult for the average person to connect with.
To be relatable and normal in that scene is not talking about fast food but the local dishes where he lived, or maybe not because he was stupid and only ate fast food. In fact, Vincent Vega was very stupid, so
Eating before or after the crime has different meaning when depicting evil characters in movies and in Pulp Fiction you Samuel Jackson's character is basically eating *during* the crime; which turns it into a parody.
Don’t they also fight like cats & dogs during those meals? Nah bro not in our culture, we always have fun during our meals & nobody storms off during them
Chubby men represented a status symbol of wealth and fertility, meaning they had plenty of food at home for themselves and to share attracting the opposite sex by providing a healthy environment for the family. Very good video.
Great video. I've noticed over the years that the bad guy gangster is always sitting down to a very elaborate meal. The good guys if they get a chance to eat, get a cold slice of Pizza or a hot dog. Think French Connection here.
I also think food is used to show if a character is stressed or uncomfortable. Yes people can eat more because they are stressed, but they wont eat while in a stressful situation. Jules in pulp fiction eats the burger in the apartment because it shows he isnt afraid of the boys, he has the power and the boys should be afraid of him
Another thing to point out is that people are typically vulnerable when they eat. We are sat down, mouths and hands full, etc., so it can subtly say "Hey this dude is bad." This is something else some scenes like the Burger scene in Pulp Fiction can convey, where Sam Jackson is able to enjoy trying the tasty burger because he is completely in control of the situation (or so he thinks).
Great video. When I got into watching gangster films more, I started eating at local diners and other restaurants because it looked cool and, of course, I enjoy their food more than most fast food chains.
It is also a simple way to show a difference in power. You can show one character wanting something from another character, while the other character is only partially interested, and partially focussed on his food.
Interesting, I always interpreted these scenes as a means to convey how they "eat like brutes" who only think about food, money, sex and murder and also how desensitized they are that they don't lose their appetite even when facing the most violent, gruesome and tense situations.
you should also make a video about "why gangsters smoke all the time" I mean its so weird and messed up that, why do cigarette companies need ads when they got cool gangsters films influencing people😂
Hype for the Tampopo mention! This is the first video ive EVER SEEN even mention this amazing film. I dont even think anyone has ever seen it and it's a fever dream
@@Chaosdeity Tampopo is a crazy, underrated and very unexpected ride of a film, the director's other films and his tragic story is also worth to take a look at if you haven't.
Great film. Weird but great. First watched it as a kid and THAT scene stuck in my mind, despite it being the one scene I can very much live without in the whole thing.
One aspect is also to show they are social characters. They are not alone in their offices planning their next move, no they are talking, socializing, always surrounded by people. It is the opposite of the docile American office worker who is getting more and more isolated, barely interacting with more than their own family of three.
the psychology of food/eating as used in film has somehow always bothered me. i love analysis vut not if it involves analyzing food/eating xD my respect to you for making this video
As Italian, I was looking for this comment. It's not a "gangster" thing. Italian media and movies have a lot of scenes of eating or just drinking some coffee. So, your answer it's the right one 😂
Great essay and an interesting take. I also think it might be overthinking it. “eating” is so ubiquitous in ALL genres of films (and story telling) because it’s so necessary to the human experience. Like stories as old as biblical stories and mythology always depict eating and food, because it is never for our continued existence. You wouldn’t have to think so much about why BREATHING is always depicted on film?
another reason could be to make them relatable and more "human". Everybody have to eat at some point in theirs life, so unconsciously you go: "look he is eating to! He had done some terribles things but he is eating to, so he is human to after all."
Maybe, but quite a few film characters eat little or nothing on screen. Then again, the non-criminals of a film like *Diner* do relate to each other in a diner, for example.
Wait, did I just watch a whole long video in a RUclips shorts? I just realized that when the video is over. Didn't know RUclips shorts could be this long ahaha. Nice video anyway, fun to watch!
Really great video! I love artists who incorporate food into the symbolic web of their art, and this is an excellent discussion of some of the angles of interpretation
there is also the reason of family, the gangster's portrayed in most movies are organized crime families who emphasize being a family and eating food together is a pretty intimate thing that brings people closer
I really love good eating scenes where it adds to the story and emphasizes their insane/malicious conversations as just small talk. However what i hate the most is "fake eating" where all they do is move the food around or have food just for the sake of it and adds nothing to the story. The big bang theory and friends have some of the worst fake eating and it makes me wonder why the food is even in the scene. Great analysis, love you take on how important food can add to the story.
6:03 I know this doesn’t have anything to do with the video, but as an Italian that is born and raised in Italy I can’t stand the way he pronounces the word prosciutto, he doesn’t even end the word
In the show, this is done on purpose, they are Italian-American but have never visited Italy (Except one episode) and know almost nothing about the culture and the language. You can see this in multiple episodes. It's one of the best shows ever made and I highly recommend watching it.
0:53 So, that's where Boardwalk Empire got the idea from. Though it wouldn't be accurate since that episode took place in 1923, while this movies was made in 1931. Bad idea from Boardwalk Empire directors.
interesting video and it made me hungry with all that Italian food. Maybe food is important because how else could you fit such beauty into a gangster movie.
You can also find this usage of food in black gangster films as well. The main one that comes to mind is Lawrence Fishburne’s Hoodlum where they always visit this diner(or ice cream shop). Lawrence’s character is adamant about one particular person(I believe the owner) in being the only one to make is banana split. An iconic scene from the movie is when Lawrence takes the ice cream and forces the new guy to eat his ice cream due to him believing that the sprinkles were replaced with rat poison(which I believe it was).
How about Armand Assante in gotti when he and Vincent pastore were talking about whacking a guy who botched this hit they were doing for Carlo gambino? And Assante was eating. “I’m not thinking, you’re thinking. I’m eating and he’s going.”
It's simpler than even that. Gangsters are often portrayed as villains, sympathetic villains, but they're not the good guys. Lots of people think that those kinds of people must be some horrid monsters who they have nothing in common with. Seeing the gangster eating reminds the audience that they're still human, just like you. It's to remind the audience that the difference between you and them is circumstantial, and if things had happened slightly differently in your life, that could have been you too. For some more esoteric characters, they never eat at all despite everyone around them eating, because they're not supposed to seem human or relatable. Thomas Shelby is a great example, Tommy isn't a character that we've ever seen before, he's given moments where he is shown to be vulnerable, but very rarely relatable. His character is set up so that he's always above the rest of us, always one step ahead, Godlike almost. Another good example is Yuri Orlov in Lord of War, another character that never eats and we're not supposed to relate to. His wife and brother are shown eating and using drugs, but not Yuri, he was also always portrayed as being three steps ahead of everyone else, Godlike, an actual Lord of War. Pablo Escobar in Narcos as well, in the first couple episodes introducing him, before his true reign of terror, he did eat on screen, and it served the same purpose, it humanized him. As the series went on, everyone around him eats, constantly, but to my memory, since that one episode where he was eating lunch with Gustavo, we didn't see him eating again, because we're not supposed to relate to the monster he became. It's just unfortunate that his story was so legendarily cool that we were enthralled by it regardless of the evil atrocities he committed, he bombed an airplane to kill the President, and missed, killing only innocent people. The day the police raided and killed Pablo was the day he cooked for Limon and himself and ate on screen. It was also the day he went out and got himself an ice cream. The day he was killed, that whole episode was spent humanizing him once again to make his death hit your emotions, it completely skimmed over the Avianca bombing, all the other bombings or the numerous assassinations, his dead cousins and family, everything, all they focused on was making him look like "an ordinary fat man whose beard grows long and grey when he doesn't trim it" as Murphy says looking down on Pablo's corpse.
I think all the highbrow elements of food in film are secondary to the fear that just haven't characters talk without a corresponding activity results in a boring scene.
From my perspective, and having recently watched the food access and food control documentary called The Grab, food and drinkable water will become more important than oil in at least 50 years. And since gangsters don’t play by the rules, believing themselves above the law and rules in general, they feel that they have power. So in short, food is power, and those who eat whatever they want, whenever they want have a massive amount of power.
I've only just started watching the video. It occurred to me when I was 17 and robbed a shop on a Monday morning at 7am. After that I went to a Turkish restaurant for breakfast to celebrate. It's been 12 years now👌
It is a simple facility to convey a human quality in extraordinary circumstances. A sense of family. That is why you don't see this much, anymore, in modern cinema. People stopped eating meals together because nobody cooks...
he mentioned orange was a symbol of death but forgot to reference the moment when tony got shot while holding a bottle of orange juice with some pulp of course
Characters eating and drinking then: Symbolism Characters eating and drinking now: Hoping that someone like Binging With Babish gives them free publicity by recreating their dishes
Food as a status symbol is also a recuring motif in the 007 novels. In fact the 007 novels share a lot of DNA with crime fiction. It kind of makes me want to see Bond in a gangster movie. Perhaps it could be an ensemble piece that follows the downfall of a crime family as Bond infiltrates them and destroys them from the inside.
While there wasnt a significant use of food as a literary device, i think one of the best mafia depictions ever was in season 3, episode 12 if always sunny in Philadelphia
I believe it's a lot simpler than that. Food is what most people think of when they think of gluttony. Hedonism is sex. Money is greed. Gangsters are shown eating, fucking, and making money. They're not shown drinking copiously nearly as much, which I think is interesting, because you'd expect greedy criminals to be drunkards who give no respect to anything.
That does sound disgusting (except the money making part)and unhealthy imagine doing all that in a one night setting with drugs added to the lifestyle.
What's your favorite gangster movie? I found the older I get the more I appreciate the genre, and there are some gems throughout cinema history.
Also, let me say thank you for everyone subscribing and enjoying my videos, we are close to 3.5k subs in just a few weeks, so if you haven't please consider subscribing to get notified when I upload.
The Untouchables.
Casino
The Irishman, my favorite movie of all time
@@JustOneMoreThing_YT Goodfellas.
@@notrealluca Perfect username.
Because Italian's like eating, half of an Italian's life is eating or figuring out where to eat.
I must be an honorary Italian then
@@TheAurelianProject with that username, yes you DEFINETELY are.
@@stalinsbutterfly
Ha I figured that was coming. But sure, I’ll wear it like a badge of honor. It’s a very real threat, so I hope you heed the warning.
So, I'm an Italian?? How about that!
This actually explains a lot to me. I had a 23 and Me test done a while and I have less than 1 percent Italian while Im more than 99% European. I get very little enjoyment out of food, in fact I joke that if they had a pill that I could take I wouldnt ever eat again.
cool video! I would also like to add. I think that food in gangster films also emphasizes their extreme hedonism and constant "hunger", they are constantly not enough of what they have. Also, during dinner, people are very vulnerable, and this shows their humanity. Also, gangster films often talk about the theme of betrayal of people close to you. When you live the life of a gangster, it's probably not easy to find someone you trust. And a joint dinner emphasizes this trusting relationship. Also, dinner plays the role of opposition. From the outside, if you look at the gangsters, they are just nice get-togethers in a cafe, but they discuss issues of life and death.
Lol you guys read into shit so deeply😂
This almost schizophrenic the way you just came to these weird conclusions
@@Yzz4959 Welcome to film nerds section
@@Yzz4959 Not really. While some of the things he said sound like a stretch, joining dinner as a tool to conduct business is common among many cultures. Not just the Italian Mafia but the Yakuza or Triads do that too. It's a common practice even outside of the underworld in East Asia because it's a way for the host to display his wealth and power to the guests.
@@Yzz4959 Low quality bait try harder
@@Yzz4959rage Bait on film nerds 😂
Except in Peaky Blinders. I never saw Tommy Shelby eat anything, except chug Irish whiskey and smoke copious amounts of Sweet Afton cigarettes.
Not a single fucking morsel. Man is built different 😅
Well, he is not Italian, so it makes a lot of sense
Who would want to eat in England
I mean, have you seen English food?
Yeah him eating beans on toast would have not been cool tbh
I actually think it's a LOT simpler. If you're a gangster, you don't work a regular 9-5 job. Therefore, you have a lot of free time. So what are you to do?? Drink, gamble, do drugs, and yes, eat.
Food is most peoples DOC.
What is a DOC?
@@mattparke4370 Drug of Choice.
@@sole__doubtI’d say sex
@@sole__doubt calling food a drug is just stupid.
Tony Soprano's heavy breathing and constant stabbing at an absolute gargantuan pasta pile is one of my favorite character traits from that show.
Symbolizing his increasing paranoia after he started ranking up just like his weight you mean.
I recall Michael Gandolfini (James Gandolfini's son) talking about how his father adopted that mannerism as a way to stop overeating, and said mannerism translated into his interpretation of Tony Soprano
Eating together is an act of communion. It’s an intimate, vulnerable act which uncovers ulterior motives, subtle displays of discontent/approval, and it reveals one’s true character. All valuable in the crime world.
this
I read this as "Eating together is an act of communism" 💀
@@student6393 lmfao that’s hilarious on so many levels
Communion? stop trying to flipping Christianise everything?
What a load of horse dung, how come there were mobsters like Gravano & many others who turned rat? Well? If their mobster buddies were a good at reading them during their “ communion” ? Then why did rats like Gravano make it out to go on podcasts?
Spaghetti and coffee was the name of a Boarwalk Empire episode. It was due to the gangsters having spaghetti and coffee.
I almost included that episode, because it was influenced by the Little Caesar scene you can see in the video, so definitely a good point.
Italian Americans! Italians would have tagliatelle of course. 😉
Spaghetti and coffee sounds like a terrible combination lol
@@Cornerback80 it is
No one in Italy would drink coffee while eating savoury food
bro that pulp fiction scene is NOT just comedy.
The audience are mostly not gangsters but everyone eats food, especially something like McDonald's, so the conversation makes them RELATABLE and NORMAL right before the movie shoves you into one of the most high-tension scenes ever. That's a big part of it. Humanizing people who are otherwise living in a completely different world that is difficult for the average person to connect with.
To be relatable and normal in that scene is not talking about fast food but the local dishes where he lived, or maybe not because he was stupid and only ate fast food. In fact, Vincent Vega was very stupid, so
Eating before or after the crime has different meaning when depicting evil characters in movies and in Pulp Fiction you Samuel Jackson's character is basically eating *during* the crime; which turns it into a parody.
Part of it is that food and eating meals together is just a big part of Italian culture.
Don’t they also fight like cats & dogs during those meals? Nah bro not in our culture, we always have fun during our meals & nobody storms off during them
@@Aven-Sharma1991Pretty sure people can get mad in meals across all cultures. I don't see how this is exclusive to italians lol
@@Nohea66 Nope, only italians get angry during dinner with the family, no other nationality has ever had an argument at the dinner table
Its nice to know that its not my depression that drives me to eat, but rather my status as an absolute G.
Chubby men represented a status symbol of wealth and fertility, meaning they had plenty of food at home for themselves and to share attracting the opposite sex by providing a healthy environment for the family. Very good video.
The first thing that comes to mind for me is the contrast between the extravangance of a gangster at their peak, and the bleakness of a prison tray
Great video. I've noticed over the years that the bad guy gangster is always sitting down to a very elaborate meal. The good guys if they get a chance to eat, get a cold slice of Pizza or a hot dog. Think French Connection here.
In *Se7en* (1995) the two cops eat at a low-quality diner serving not very good pizza.
@@stevekaczynski3793 Yes. Sometimes they get to order stuff from a food stand or even a low quality diner. But never a high class restaurant.
I also think food is used to show if a character is stressed or uncomfortable. Yes people can eat more because they are stressed, but they wont eat while in a stressful situation. Jules in pulp fiction eats the burger in the apartment because it shows he isnt afraid of the boys, he has the power and the boys should be afraid of him
Who the hell eats spaghetti with coffee? That stomach went crazy
My father, mother, grandparents... thats just off the top of my head.
@@sole__doubt They built strong ig
What? I don't see the point of this comment
before the popularity of soda, burgers were normally served with coffee
@@baguettaroshish3507 hes insuitating that spaghetti and coffee is a weird combo and might upset his stomach
Another thing to point out is that people are typically vulnerable when they eat. We are sat down, mouths and hands full, etc., so it can subtly say "Hey this dude is bad."
This is something else some scenes like the Burger scene in Pulp Fiction can convey, where Sam Jackson is able to enjoy trying the tasty burger because he is completely in control of the situation (or so he thinks).
Great video. When I got into watching gangster films more, I started eating at local diners and other restaurants because it looked cool and, of course, I enjoy their food more than most fast food chains.
It is also a simple way to show a difference in power. You can show one character wanting something from another character, while the other character is only partially interested, and partially focussed on his food.
Absolutely fantastic editing
Interesting, I always interpreted these scenes as a means to convey how they "eat like brutes" who only think about food, money, sex and murder and also how desensitized they are that they don't lose their appetite even when facing the most violent, gruesome and tense situations.
Great video! It feels very professional. Good graphics. Keep it up!
you should also make a video about "why gangsters smoke all the time" I mean its so weird and messed up that, why do cigarette companies need ads when they got cool gangsters films influencing people😂
Felix in Narcos mexico smokes ALL the time..in every scene ..why?
Television ads for cigarette companies were banned in '65 lol
That's because real life gangsters smoke like chimneys
They already live very high-risk lifestyles with short life expectancies, so why not smoke?
Hype for the Tampopo mention! This is the first video ive EVER SEEN even mention this amazing film. I dont even think anyone has ever seen it and it's a fever dream
@@Chaosdeity Tampopo is a crazy, underrated and very unexpected ride of a film, the director's other films and his tragic story is also worth to take a look at if you haven't.
Great film. Weird but great. First watched it as a kid and THAT scene stuck in my mind, despite it being the one scene I can very much live without in the whole thing.
@@Fred_L. Same and I know exactly which scene you're talking about 😂
Yeah its one of my favorite movies, glad more people are becoming aware of it
The crazy lady poking everything with her fingers in the grocery store 😂
Recently watched „A Bronx Tale“. Criminally underrated gangster movie. Highly recommended if you are a fan of Robert de Niro.
One aspect is also to show they are social characters. They are not alone in their offices planning their next move, no they are talking, socializing, always surrounded by people. It is the opposite of the docile American office worker who is getting more and more isolated, barely interacting with more than their own family of three.
the psychology of food/eating as used in film has somehow always bothered me. i love analysis vut not if it involves analyzing food/eating xD my respect to you for making this video
great video deserves many more views
Stress eating and cuz is one of the few things they kinda can enjoy in peace.
They’re Italian.
As Italian, I was looking for this comment.
It's not a "gangster" thing.
Italian media and movies have a lot of scenes of eating or just drinking some coffee.
So, your answer it's the right one 😂
Gabagool
I think he talking Abt all gangster movies, like Scarface and narcos to 🤷
Great essay and an interesting take. I also think it might be overthinking it. “eating” is so ubiquitous in ALL genres of films (and story telling) because it’s so necessary to the human experience.
Like stories as old as biblical stories and mythology always depict eating and food, because it is never for our continued existence.
You wouldn’t have to think so much about why BREATHING is always depicted on film?
If there's anything I learned from Always Sunny, the head cow is always grazing
another reason could be to make them relatable and more "human". Everybody have to eat at some point in theirs life, so unconsciously you go: "look he is eating to! He had done some terribles things but he is eating to, so he is human to after all."
Maybe, but quite a few film characters eat little or nothing on screen. Then again, the non-criminals of a film like *Diner* do relate to each other in a diner, for example.
Continue, you're good!
Great video! I was very surprised when I saw a little views it has. Keep it up!
3:47 I just got The Office reference. When Michael was with the insurance salesman in the restaurant.
Wait, did I just watch a whole long video in a RUclips shorts? I just realized that when the video is over. Didn't know RUclips shorts could be this long ahaha. Nice video anyway, fun to watch!
Really great video! I love artists who incorporate food into the symbolic web of their art, and this is an excellent discussion of some of the angles of interpretation
there is also the reason of family, the gangster's portrayed in most movies are organized crime families who emphasize being a family and eating food together is a pretty intimate thing that brings people closer
*looks at hands *
Maybe I am a gangster.
I was toughed that eating stands for vulnerability. In a place were its likely to getting murdered or poison eating makes you vulnerable
Just subbed to your channel. I can tell this channel will eventually blow up 🫡 great content.
Great Video! You deserve more subs
Them being Italian is the common thread not the "gangster" part.
rich romans loved food so much that when they were full they would vomit so they can eat again.
no wonder why decadency of the roman empire was a thing
@fabianustertius6460 gluttony, chinese are doing similar thing too.
The strongest cow is always grazing- Frank
I really love good eating scenes where it adds to the story and emphasizes their insane/malicious conversations as just small talk. However what i hate the most is "fake eating" where all they do is move the food around or have food just for the sake of it and adds nothing to the story. The big bang theory and friends have some of the worst fake eating and it makes me wonder why the food is even in the scene. Great analysis, love you take on how important food can add to the story.
6:03 I know this doesn’t have anything to do with the video, but as an Italian that is born and raised in Italy I can’t stand the way he pronounces the word prosciutto, he doesn’t even end the word
In the show, this is done on purpose, they are Italian-American but have never visited Italy (Except one episode) and know almost nothing about the culture and the language. You can see this in multiple episodes. It's one of the best shows ever made and I highly recommend watching it.
The East Coast Italian American dialect shift is really weird to be sure
0:53 So, that's where Boardwalk Empire got the idea from. Though it wouldn't be accurate since that episode took place in 1923, while this movies was made in 1931. Bad idea from Boardwalk Empire directors.
interesting video and it made me hungry with all that Italian food. Maybe food is important because how else could you fit such beauty into a gangster movie.
Woahhh what a great video!
You can also find this usage of food in black gangster films as well. The main one that comes to mind is Lawrence Fishburne’s Hoodlum where they always visit this diner(or ice cream shop). Lawrence’s character is adamant about one particular person(I believe the owner) in being the only one to make is banana split. An iconic scene from the movie is when Lawrence takes the ice cream and forces the new guy to eat his ice cream due to him believing that the sprinkles were replaced with rat poison(which I believe it was).
Food is better then sex we already know why its eye candy
Great video! I'm convinced there's even more symbology in this under the surface though.
"Okay, let's eat." - Paulie, Goodfellas
"Smaller piece."
How about Armand Assante in gotti when he and Vincent pastore were talking about whacking a guy who botched this hit they were doing for Carlo gambino? And Assante was eating. “I’m not thinking, you’re thinking. I’m eating and he’s going.”
Bro really said "today" and showed a clip from the Godfather as if it wasn't made 52 years ago
Eating has to do with the consumptive psychology of gangster personalities, usually narcissistic and psychopathic
amazing video deserves more views
They're Bulking!!! 💪💪
Loved the Tampopo shout out
I love it, it's such a cosy and weird watch
It's simpler than even that. Gangsters are often portrayed as villains, sympathetic villains, but they're not the good guys. Lots of people think that those kinds of people must be some horrid monsters who they have nothing in common with. Seeing the gangster eating reminds the audience that they're still human, just like you. It's to remind the audience that the difference between you and them is circumstantial, and if things had happened slightly differently in your life, that could have been you too.
For some more esoteric characters, they never eat at all despite everyone around them eating, because they're not supposed to seem human or relatable. Thomas Shelby is a great example, Tommy isn't a character that we've ever seen before, he's given moments where he is shown to be vulnerable, but very rarely relatable. His character is set up so that he's always above the rest of us, always one step ahead, Godlike almost.
Another good example is Yuri Orlov in Lord of War, another character that never eats and we're not supposed to relate to. His wife and brother are shown eating and using drugs, but not Yuri, he was also always portrayed as being three steps ahead of everyone else, Godlike, an actual Lord of War.
Pablo Escobar in Narcos as well, in the first couple episodes introducing him, before his true reign of terror, he did eat on screen, and it served the same purpose, it humanized him. As the series went on, everyone around him eats, constantly, but to my memory, since that one episode where he was eating lunch with Gustavo, we didn't see him eating again, because we're not supposed to relate to the monster he became. It's just unfortunate that his story was so legendarily cool that we were enthralled by it regardless of the evil atrocities he committed, he bombed an airplane to kill the President, and missed, killing only innocent people.
The day the police raided and killed Pablo was the day he cooked for Limon and himself and ate on screen. It was also the day he went out and got himself an ice cream. The day he was killed, that whole episode was spent humanizing him once again to make his death hit your emotions, it completely skimmed over the Avianca bombing, all the other bombings or the numerous assassinations, his dead cousins and family, everything, all they focused on was making him look like "an ordinary fat man whose beard grows long and grey when he doesn't trim it" as Murphy says looking down on Pablo's corpse.
Great video!
American Me was 35 minutes of smoking cigarettes and some other scenes
Brando was constantly eating in A Streetcar Named Desire.
Where's my arc, Paulie?
Good stuff! Coming from a real Italian slob myself!
I think all the highbrow elements of food in film are secondary to the fear that just haven't characters talk without a corresponding activity results in a boring scene.
I really liked this video
From my perspective, and having recently watched the food access and food control documentary called The Grab, food and drinkable water will become more important than oil in at least 50 years. And since gangsters don’t play by the rules, believing themselves above the law and rules in general, they feel that they have power. So in short, food is power, and those who eat whatever they want, whenever they want have a massive amount of power.
I've only just started watching the video. It occurred to me when I was 17 and robbed a shop on a Monday morning at 7am. After that I went to a Turkish restaurant for breakfast to celebrate. It's been 12 years now👌
because this was the past, they used to be outside doing wtv the fuck all day and they talked at dinner. lol
Amazing video ❤
Eating (good) wirh the family is a big dream of many poor criminals
It is a simple facility to convey a human quality in extraordinary circumstances. A sense of family. That is why you don't see this much, anymore, in modern cinema.
People stopped eating meals together because nobody cooks...
Great analysis. New sub!
"Why do gangsters eat food all the time"
Because we hungry..🗿
he mentioned orange was a symbol of death but forgot to reference the moment when tony got shot while holding a bottle of orange juice with some pulp of course
The actual reason is that most gangster movies are boring as shit and need to have something to fill in the time
In *Tampopo* all the characters are obsessed with food, it is not merely a gangster trait.
Tommy Shelby: Hold my cigarette would ya guv?
Characters eating and drinking then: Symbolism
Characters eating and drinking now: Hoping that someone like Binging With Babish gives them free publicity by recreating their dishes
It's a power play, everybody knows the head cow's always grazing.
The head cow is always chewing the cud
Italians KNOW their cuisine is the best in the world and something they should definitely be proud of.
People wouldn't stop sleeping with the fishies, so lethal counteraction had to be done.
You’ll never know when your next meal will be your last.
Food as a status symbol is also a recuring motif in the 007 novels. In fact the 007 novels share a lot of DNA with crime fiction. It kind of makes me want to see Bond in a gangster movie. Perhaps it could be an ensemble piece that follows the downfall of a crime family as Bond infiltrates them and destroys them from the inside.
food is important for family, and gangster are a big family. that's why people join gangs.
Cool vidéo thx bro !
And don't forget that Artie' the cook is more or less outside of Paulie (questionable?) who gets out alive once the Soprano's curtains fell down..
It is about power. It's the most primal power move, to be able to eat. It is the ones with thee power who gets to eat. It is powerful to EAT
the head cow is always grazing
Tony Soprano kind of looks like Bill Murray in the thumbnail 😂
very interesting video premise
even the punisher war zone first scene is dinner scene very cool
While there wasnt a significant use of food as a literary device, i think one of the best mafia depictions ever was in season 3, episode 12 if always sunny in Philadelphia
I believe it's a lot simpler than that. Food is what most people think of when they think of gluttony. Hedonism is sex. Money is greed. Gangsters are shown eating, fucking, and making money. They're not shown drinking copiously nearly as much, which I think is interesting, because you'd expect greedy criminals to be drunkards who give no respect to anything.
That does sound disgusting (except the money making part)and unhealthy imagine doing all that in a one night setting with drugs added to the lifestyle.
Carl, what you want? You gotta eat to keep your strength up, man.
Big Smoke