Even when the Hays Code had a stranglehold on Hollywood and the kinds of content that could be depicted on-screen, cinema has always had a love/hate relationship with crime. Classic film noir was birthed as a reflection of the desperation of the American Great Depression, and criminals were given a surprising amount of humanity due to circumstance. In subtle ways, the genre gave rise to the crime thriller and the police procedural and the gangster film, because even the most morally upstanding citizens are curious enough to peek behind the curtain to see why people are driven to break the law. Movies give us the ability to live vicariously through characters who aren’t required to resemble the average audience member, so what better way to explore the hierarchy of criminal enterprises and the psychology of those who commit crimes?
One of the most popular subgenres is easily the gangster film, which focuses specifically on the phenomenon of organized crime. And within that niche is another subgenre that has captured attention for generations: the mafia movie. Some of the most celebrated movies ever belong within that group, such as Goodfellas and Once Upon a Time in America. But it’s inarguably Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather trilogy that cemented the genre’s popularity in the mainstream — and now there’s another installment on the way to add to the sordid Corleone family legacy.
