Film Perfection: Cinematic Mona Lisa

Rating: 10/10 (16 February 2007)

So many have already said what this film has. It has an amazing set of actors. The cinematography is as good as it gets. It is intense, gut wrenching, edited flawlessly. It takes an outstanding book and cranks it up a notch. It's hard for me to comment because, as a rule, I don't like movies about organized crime. First, I fear the reality of it. It holds a power in this country that we must always be aware of. It is in so much of our world, more than we realize. I feel at times that glamorizing these individuals is destructive. Nevertheless, I have to put that aside because this is the subject matter and at no time has anyone so masterfully put on screen the portrayal of these thugs, who see themselves as family as Coppola. I got the shivers walking out of the movie. Unlike horror movies where it's over and done with (with the exception of "Deliverance" which I will never get out of my mind), this haunts one for days after. I watched this again a few weeks ago, and what we have is a milieu that separates itself from out mundane existences. These people choose to live in a violent world of their own choosing. One issue that always gets me is, how do they enjoy the fruits of their "labor"? It seems that a hell on earth is created for them. The unfortunate thing is that they push that hell onto their victims in the name of family.