I have to say that in my opinion, “Miller’s Crossing” is definitely a genre film. It has semantic and syntactic elements of a gangster film in it. There are other factors that play into other ongoing genres that might be working within, but first and foremost the gangster element shines the brightest. I don’t think I need to point out how gangsteresque the scene with Leo shooting the crap out of everyone is. It was like the complete opposite of Sonny getting blown to pieces in “The Godfather.” They came to kill Leo and O’Bannon ends up waging a one man war against Johnny Caspar’s gang — “The Godfather Strikes Back,” coming to a theater near you.
Looking at “Miller’s Crossing” on the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com), this is what they understand to be the film’s genre: Crime, drama, thriller. Now I can’t see a traditional type of thriller working within this film, but, sure, there were some intense moments. The other two, crime and drama, are definitely what make a gangster film what it truly is. I watched the trailer for the film, and let me just say it was pretty good. I have to point out that the last thing said in it is: “No one is what they seem to be at Miller’s Crossing.” The funny thing is that the body out there was supposed to be Bernie, but it wasn’t. I hope someone else can find some humor in that too. But in the trailer you see the cops, the bosses, their henchmen, the lovers, the rats, the heels, the double-double crossers, and everyone shooting at everybody. (There was some discussion on what a heel might mean and I found this: Heel- an inconsiderate or untrustworthy person [this is supposedly an informal definition])
(I had to put it on here again.)
As it was said last class, many people go to a movie based on its genre and their expectations of what should be presented. You go to a horror film, and you’re expecting to see a little gore. You go to a gangster film and you want to see different bosses battling it out for the top, crime erupting left and right, and crisis and turmoil around every turn. “Miller’s Crossing” certainly holds up to it’s claims, while also preserving the story of “The Glass Key,” and that is why it was just so good. Although, having Albert Finney, John Turturro, and Gabriel Byrne certainly helped as well. Let’s face it, if a person went to see what they believed to be a gangster film and it actually turned out to be slapstick comedy, I feel movie goers might have some issues they would like to discuss with Hollywood, or maybe just their neighbor.
(One more for the road.)
Interested about the title? I feel like I’m destroying what I am trying to do here, but for the sake of clarity here you go. I was just looking for something to describe Leo in some way, which also started with an ‘L.’ Lahmu is a deity from Akkadian mythology. I’m sure that doesn’t seem relevant, but there are four things I found out about this deity that sort of apply to Leo:
1. He was sometimes depicted as a snake, and I would definitely say Leo acts like a vicious snake at times.
2. He and his wife gave birth to the two deities who then created the first gods. Leo created an organization that is the foundation of that city.
3. Lahmu, at one point, meant “the muddy one.” I just thought it was funny because of the “clear as mud” statement.
4. Lahmu was a gatekeeper of a temple. Leo is the gatekeeper, so to speak, of his city, which is like his temple.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahmu)
(Oh, what the hell.)