10 Great American Gangster Movies美國黑幫電影排行榜前十名
As The Godfather turns 40, a look at what other gangster films deserve to be called legendary
Paul Muni in the original 'Scarface' United Artists
This month marks 40 years since The Godfather's
theatrical opening. To honor the occasion, here's look at the picture's
peers among the great canon of American gangster films.
We kept the list domestic for the sole purpose of keeping it to a
manageable length; for the same reason, we've tried to focus on films
that are primarily gangster films, as opposed to movies like Reservoir Dogs that are heist movies or other genres with organized crime in the background. Below, we'll take a look at The Godfather within that canon: the film itself, the films that inspired it, and the films it inspired in turn.
美國黑幫電影有哪些是好看的？下面是美國黑幫電影排行榜前十名，來看看：
NO.1《疤面煞星Scarface》原作中的保羅·穆尼聯美公司
The gangster film has always tiptoed a fine line between glamorizing and
condemning a life of crime, and that line was never more carefully
navigated than during the era of the Motion Picture Production Code,
which specified that any on-screen criminal action must be punished, and
that criminals could not elicit sympathy from an audience. Scarface producer Howard Hughes and directors Howard Hawks and Richard Rosson went to the mat with censors over their 1932 film Scarface,
loosely based on the rise of Al Capone; though it ended with Capone
avatar Tony Camonte (Paul Muni) being punished with a hail of police
bullets, that conclusion followed 90 minutes of wickedly enjoyable bad
behavior. Hughes shot a more explicitly punishing conclusion, but the
film still caused trouble; he ended up going around the censors and
releasing, in its original form, what became one of the most iconic
gangster pictures ever made.
本月標誌著《教父》公映40周年，為了紀念這一盛事，下面我們來欣賞下其他美國黑幫電影佳作中的照片。
我們的排行只限于美國本國的電影，這樣做只有一個原因，就是讓其長度易於操作，不至太長。出於同樣的原因，我們把目光集中在純黑幫電影上，而不是像《落水狗》(Reservoir Dogs )那樣的搶劫電影，或是其他有組織犯罪背景的電影種類。下面，我們將欣賞處於這一範疇內的電影，包括《教父》本身，啟發《教父》的電影和受《教父》啟發的電影。
NO.2《人民公敵Public Enemy》1931
The Public Enemy (1931)
It’s tough to pick a favorite among the many great pre-Code Warner Brothers gangster movies, which featured definitive crime
picture figures like James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, and Humphrey
Bogart. But we’re gonna go with William A. Wellman’s 1931 classic, with
stars Cagney and Edward Woods as childhood buddies who became
Prohibition-era underworld figures. The direction is stylish, the stars
are spot-on, and the supporting cast (Jean Harlow, Joan Blondell,
grapefruit recipient Mae Clark) is aces; no less a gangster movie
authority than Martin Scorsese says this is favorite.
華納兄弟( Warner Brothers )在《電影製作守則》(這裡的Code是指下文提到的Motion Picture Production Code。譯者注。)出臺之前，製作了很多優秀的黑幫電影，很難從中挑出一部最喜歡的，電影中有權威性的罪犯化身人物，如詹姆斯·卡格尼(James Cagney)，愛德華·G·羅賓遜( Edward G. Robinson)和韓弗理·博加特( Humphrey Bogart)。但是我們將要欣賞下威廉·A·韋爾曼(William A. Wellma)1931年的經典作品，其中卡格尼和愛德華·伍茲(Edward Woods )是童年好友，長大之後成了禁令時代的黑幫人物。導演很有風格，明星表演很到位，就連配角(吉恩·哈洛Jean Harlow，瓊·布朗德爾Joan Blondell和柚子容器梅·克拉克 Mae Clark)都是頂尖的，正如黑幫電影權威馬丁·斯克西斯( Martin Scorsese )說這是他最喜歡的電影。
NO.3《疤面煞星》1932
Scarface (1932)
The gangster film has always tiptoed a fine line between glamorizing and
condemning a life of crime, and that line was never more carefully
navigated than during the era of the Motion Picture Production Code,
which specified that any on-screen criminal action must be punished, and
that criminals could not elicit sympathy from an audience. Scarface producer Howard Hughes and directors Howard Hawks and Richard Rosson went to the mat with censors over their 1932 film Scarface,
loosely based on the rise of Al Capone; though it ended with Capone
avatar Tony Camonte (Paul Muni) being punished with a hail of police
bullets, that conclusion followed 90 minutes of wickedly enjoyable bad
behavior. Hughes shot a more explicitly punishing conclusion, but the
film still caused trouble; he ended up going around the censors and
releasing, in its original form, what became one of the most iconic
gangster pictures ever made.
黑幫電影一直在美化和譴責犯罪生活之間小心翼翼地走鋼絲，而這條鋼絲，在《電影製作準則》( Motion Picture Production Code)時代被操控得最為嚴重，準則規定，任何在銀幕上出現的罪犯都要受到懲罰，罪犯不能引起觀眾的同情。電影《疤面煞星》的製作人霍華德·休斯(Howard Hughes )和導演霍華德·霍克斯(Howard Hawks )和理查·羅森(Richard Rosson )和審片員們進行了一場激戰，他們1932年的電影《疤面煞星》模糊地以阿爾·卡彭(Al Capone，黑幫教父——芝加哥王，1925-1931年掌權黑手黨。譯者注。)為原型，儘管電影結尾卡彭的化身托尼·卡蒙特(Tony Camonte )(保羅·穆尼Paul Muni飾)最終死于員警的槍林彈雨之下，但是這個結尾之前，是90分鐘的邪惡過癮的不良行為。休斯拍攝了一個懲罰更明確的結尾，但是這部電影還是招來了麻煩，後來他和審片員們百般周旋，電影以其最初的形式上映了，這成為了有史以來最具標誌性的黑幫電影之一。
NO.4《步步驚魂 Point Blank》1967
Point Blank (1967)
By the late 1960s, the American gangster movie had gone the way of the dinosaur, repurposed into caper pictures (like The Killing and The Asphalt Jungle)
and redefined by overseas filmmakers (particularly the gangster-loving
gents of the French New Wave). John Boorman’s riveting 1967 Lee Marvin
vehicle was one of the seminal “existential” gangster films, reflecting
its standard genre story into the fun house mirrors of contemporary
experimental filmmaking techniques and circular storytelling.
到20世紀60年代末，美國的黑幫電影重蹈了恐龍的覆轍，轉化成了跳躍畫面的形式(就像《謀殺》()The Killing 和《夜闌人未靜》(The Asphalt Jungle)一樣)，並且被海外的電影製作者(特別是法國新浪潮運動裡的那些熱愛黑幫電影的紳士們)。約翰·布林曼(John Boorman)1967年的魅力作品《李·馬文》(Lee Marvin )車是開創性的“存在”黑幫電影之一，把它的標準類型故事反射到了當代實驗電影製作技術和迴圈講述的遊樂園的鏡子上。
NO.5《教父The Godfather》第一、二部(1992,1974)
The Godfather (Parts I and II) (1992 and 1974)
Gangster films had been box office losers for years when Paramount
bought the rights to Mario Puzo’s bestseller (the studio itself had lost
a bundle a few years earlier on The Brotherhood). Francis Ford
Coppola’s 1972 masterpiece changed that for good; it was not only a
rare instance of an honest-to-God work of art becoming a certified box
office smash, it was a bellwether film (like The Birth of A Nation or Citizen Kane)
that functioned not just as a narrative, but as a culmination of what
cinema was at that moment — where it had come from, and what it could
be. Like the other great films of the “New Hollywood,” it took the new
freedoms and complexities allowed by the crumbling of the Motion Picture
Code and put them to work in a classic American story, one that was set
in our past but spoke to our present, and our future.
多年來，黑幫電影的票房成績一直不佳，直到派拉蒙影業公司(Paramount)買下馬里奧·普佐(Mario Puzo)的暢銷作品的版權(該公司幾年之前在《兄弟會》(The Brotherhood)上損失了一筆錢)。法蘭西斯·福特·科波拉(Francis Ford Coppola)1972年的傑作永遠地改變了這一情況，它不僅僅是一個真正的藝術作品的實例成為出色票房的保證，它還是一部開山之作(就像是《一個國家的誕生》(The Birth of A Nation )和《公民凱恩》( Citizen Kane))，它不僅是當時電影本質的一個敘述，更是其高潮--電影從哪兒來，它將會是怎樣。正如《新好萊塢》的其他偉大電影一樣，它利用了《電影製作守則》廢除之後的新自由和複雜性，讓它們在一個典型的美國故事中運行，這個故事發生在過去，但是預示著我們的現在和將來。
NO.6《全副武裝The Outfit 》1973
The year after The Godfather, co-star Robert Duvall fronted
this slightly obscure but thoroughly entertaining thriller, based on the
novel by Donald E. Westlake (who also provided the source material for Point Blank).
Duvall and Joe Don “Mitchell” Baker play thieves taking on “the
outfit,” Chicago’s organized crime syndicate, for taking out Duvall’s
brother. Like Point Blank, it sounds like a typical revenge
thriller, but director John Flynn executes the story with high style and
a snub-nosed toughness.
《教父》公映的第二年，聯合主演羅伯特·杜瓦爾(Robert Duvall )又拍了這部有點晦澀但是十分有趣的犯罪電影，電影基於唐納德·E·維斯雷克(Donald E. Westlake )的小說(維斯雷克還為《步步驚魂》提供了源材料)杜瓦爾和喬·唐“米切爾”·貝克(Joe Don “Mitchell” Baker )扮演全副武裝的賊，他們是芝加哥組織犯罪集團的成員，為了要救出杜瓦爾的弟弟。和《步步驚魂》一樣，它聽起來很像一部典型的復仇電影，但是導演約翰·弗林( John Flynn )以新風格和塌鼻子般的韌性展現了這個故事。
NO.7《美國往事》1984
Sergio Leone had longed to make a film adaptation of Harry Grey’s novel
The Hoods since the 1960s, initially intending it to be his follow-up
project to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, which he intended to be his final Western. It wasn’t; he made Once Upon a Time in the West and Duck, You Sucker! in the interim (and also co-directed, without credit, two other Italian
Westerns). By the time the Italian-American co-production was finally
released in 1984, it had been over a decade since his last official
directorial credit, and audiences were eager to see if Leone would
redefine the gangster film the way he had the Western. What he came up
with was a daunting epic, its original cut running four hours, trimmed
by 40 minutes for its European release, but hacked down to a mere 139
minutes for its initial, reviled American screenings. Luckily, home
video brought the European version back into play; seen now, in that
form, Leone’s sprawling look at the lives, friendships, and betrayals of
a Jewish gang is hard, smart, and unforgettable.
從20世紀60年代以來，賽爾喬·萊昂內(Sergio Leone )就期待能把哈裡·格雷(Harry Grey)的小說《胡德一家》(The Hoods )改編成電影，他原本打算拍完《黃金三鏢客》(The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly)之後，就拍攝這部電影，把它作為他最後一部西部片。但它不是，在這期間，他又拍攝了《西部往事》(Once Upon a Time in the West )，《革命怪客》(Duck, You Sucker!)(他還與別人共同執導了兩部義大利西部片，沒有什麼名氣)。到1984年，這部義大利-美國合作的電影終於上映的時候，距他最後一次正式執導已經有10多年了，觀眾很期待想看，萊昂內是不是會像重塑西部片一樣，重新定義黑幫片。他呈現的是一部令人畏縮的史詩片，初作長達4小時，歐洲上映的時候，剪掉了40分鐘，(在美國)首映時砍成了一部只有139分鐘的電影，簡直侮辱了美國的大螢幕。幸運的是，美國的家庭影院又把歐洲的版本引進來播放;以那種形式現在看來，萊昂內的對於生命，友誼及猶太團夥的背叛的散漫展示，是非常正確、巧妙且難忘的。
NO.8《鐵面無私The Untouchables 》(也有翻成《義膽雄心》的)1987
His contemporaries Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese are usually
seen as the go-to guys for gangster tales among New Hollywood’s
so-called “film brats,” but Brian DePalma has taken on the mob on
several occasions. The most iconic is his 1983 remake of Hawks and
Rosson’s Scarface, which has emblazoned T-shirts and hip-hop
lyrics for decades. It’s an entertaining film, but one that’s
occasionally crippled by its own excesses. His 1993 reteaming with
Pacino and producer Martin Bregman, Carlito’s Way, is an
enjoyable B-movie, slick and zippy, but his best gangster picture is
probably his 1987 take on the classic television series The Untouchables.
David Mamet’s screenplay is mostly concerned with Elliot Ness (Kevin
Costner) and his team of agents, but the occasional set pieces with the
object of their pursuit, Al Capone (played to the hilt by Robert
DeNiro), are chillingly effective.
在新好萊塢所謂的“電影新手”中，布萊恩·德·帕爾馬( Brian DePalma)同時代的導演，法蘭西斯·福特·科波拉和馬丁·斯科西斯通常被稱為黑幫故事的核心人物，布萊恩也有好幾次加入這一群，最具代表性的是他1983年翻拍的霍克斯和羅森的《疤面煞星》，它十幾年來t恤衫上和嘻哈音樂歌詞中都有傳頌，這是一部很有趣的電影，但是有的地方卻過猶不及了。1993年他和帕西諾及製片人馬丁·佈雷格曼( Martin Bregman)再度合作拍攝了《情梟的黎明》(Carlito’s Way)，這是一部有趣的B類電影，老套而活潑。但是他1987年拍的經典電視劇《鐵面無私》，可能是他最出色的黑幫片了。大衛·馬麥特(David Mamet)的劇本主要關注伊里亞德·內斯( Elliot Ness )(凱文·科斯特納Kevin Costner)和他的代理團隊，但是關於他們追擊的對象，阿爾·卡彭(由羅伯特·德尼祿Robert DeNiro演繹到極致)的幾個固定場景，還是印象深刻的。
NO.9《好傢伙Goodfellas 》(又名《盜亦有道》)1990
（1990）No American filmmaker is more readily identified with the gangster movie
than Martin Scorsese, and for good reason; his breakthrough film Mean Streets concerned the working stiffs of organized crime, and he’s returned to
mob stories throughout his career. The best of them, however, is Goodfellas,
his 1990 film adaptation of Nicholas Pileggi’s nonfiction book. The
film is remembered for its iconic set pieces — the tracking shot into
the “Copa,” the “Sunday, May 11, 1980″ sequence, the discoveries of the
bodies after the Lufthansa heist. In those sections, and throughout the
picture, Scorsese calls upon all of his considerable gifts as a
technical filmmaker — zip pans, trick zooms, fast dolleys, unbroken
takes, slow motion, fast cutting, inventive compositions, circular
storytelling — to cast his spell. It pulses with atmosphere, from the
non-stop music to the period décor to the culinary details.
美國導演中，沒有人比馬丁·斯科西斯更樂於被和黑幫電影視為一體的，當然因為好的原因。他的突破性電影《窮街陋巷》(Mean Streets )展現了組織犯罪的運行困難，他的整個電影生涯都回歸了暴徒故事。然而，其中最優秀的是《好傢伙》，這是他1990年改編自尼古拉斯·派勒吉(Nicholas Pileggi)寫實小說的一部電影。這部電影因其幾個標誌性的固定模式而被銘記--深入“Copa”的推拉鏡頭，“周日，5月11日，1980”的序列，漢莎航空公司遭劫之後屍體的發現。在這些部分，以及整部電影中，斯科西斯展現了他作為一個技術性電影攝製者的巨大天賦--快速搖攝，拍攝特技，快速移動攝影，完整拍攝，慢動作，快速剪輯，創造性的合成，迴圈的講述模式--完成了他的傑作。電影中，從不間斷的音樂到完整的佈景，再到烹飪細節，都搏動著一種氣氛。
NO.10《黑幫龍虎鬥Miller’s Crossing 》1990
September 1990 was a rough month to put out your gangster movie. With Godfather III on the way in December, there was an absolute glut of crime pictures in the fall: Goodfellas, King of New York, State of Grace, and Miller’s Crossing all hit theaters within the same two week period. Goodfellas got most of the attention; the Coen Brother’s Miller’s Crossing got the leftovers. (The other two films wouldn’t find their audiences
until home video.) The style of the two films defied expectations; the
younger Coens, whose first two films were notable for their whip-fast,
hyper-stylized photography, went with a more classical, noir-influenced
touch, while the elder Scorsese used the kind of gimmicky camerawork and
fast pace one might’ve expected from the Coens. However it happened,
the swap worked; Miller’s Crossing remains one of their most memorable and mature pieces of work.
你很難在1990年9月推出你的黑幫電影，因為12月份《教父3》即將上映，秋季絕對有一批黑幫片，《好傢伙》《黑道皇帝》( King of New York)《魔鬼警長地獄鎮》(State of Grace)《黑幫龍虎鬥》都在同兩個星期內上映。《好傢伙》得到最多關注，科恩兄弟的《黑幫龍虎鬥》僅分得了一些殘羹(另外兩部電影只在家庭影院時獲得一些觀眾)。這兩部電影的風格都很出乎預料;年輕的科恩兄弟，他們的前兩部電影因其快速移動、高度格式化的攝影而聞名，他們這次採用了一個更古典、更受黑色影響的方法，而年長的斯科西斯則採用了那種巧妙的攝影技巧和快節奏的元素，這些都是人們期待在科恩兄弟的影片中看到的。無論是怎麼發生的，這種互換奏效了。《黑幫龍虎鬥》成為科恩兄弟最難忘、最成熟的作品之一。
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