After watching King of New York and Menace II Society I knew I wanted to make urban crime movies. In my mind that meant showing a darker side of life where corrupt and cynical characters existed in more populated areas. I wanted to pay homage to director's like Abel Ferrara and The Hughes Brothers. Then I watched State of Grace directed by Phil Joanou and saw how diverse the urban crime genre was. I was fired up to join the action. I hoped urban crime movie fans to mention Sid Kali, The Hughes Brothers, Abel Ferrara, and Hype Williams in the same conversation. Hasn't happened yet, but hey it's not over either.
It was a long journey under the Slice of Americana Films banner started in 2005 to 2006 when I could finally make my first movie Consignment a Sid Kali film released by Maverick Entertainment Group. I was motivated to make this solid smaller budget urban crime movie. The cast was a United Nations of actors and crew. My Co-Producer from the East Coast and I was a West Coast native. Then I heard by using urban to describe Consignment that it would be labeled a race-specific movie. That sounded crazy to me. We were making a gritty urban crime movie aimed at any viewer that liked gangster movies. I personally would label Howard Hawks original Scarface and the Brian De Palma Scarface both as urban.
To me urban crime movies are a new wave of classic gangster movies showing the dark and seedy side of life to viewers. Gangster movies have been showing the dark and seedy side of life to viewers for years. The stories have tough characters hardened by a life of crime. Violence and murder are the most commonly used tools to gain respect, power, and money. Gangster movies show a rainbow of criminal activity like drug dealing, robbery, extortion, murder for hire, racketeering, and human trafficking. Name an illicit business and it's probably been shown in a gangster movie. The darker side of life has always captivated some movie viewers. It might be because everyone has a choice to be a John Q. Citizen or a Public Enemy outside of the law.
Lighting up the big screen in the 30's was The Public Enemy starring James Cagney as Tom Powers and directed by William Wellman. This about a young gangsters rise in the criminal underworld during the murderous prohibition era. Aside from the fact it is a hard boiled story and social commentary it has some larger than life characters like a gangster's gangster Tom Powers and street hoodlum Putty Nose. A point of controversy for it's era was character Tom Powers smashing a grapefruit in his girlfriend's face. Also coming out in that era was Little Caesar (1931) starring all time bag guy actor Edward G. Robinson as snarling psychopath Rico and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Little Caesar is story of ambitious gangster Rico's rapid rise and fall in the criminal underworld. The cool thing is the focus of the movie is on the character flaws of Rico aka Little Caesar instead of the action going on around him. This movie has been called the mother of modern gangster movies.
Menace II Society (1993) starring Tyrin Turner as Caine and Larenz Tate as larger than life O-Dog was directed by The Hughes Brothers. This gangster movie brought viewers into the rough and tumble streets of the inner city. This intense urban crime drama is about the struggles Caine deals with leaving in a housing project and selling drugs. Everything about the story had heart.
Belly (1998) starring DMX as Buns and NAS as Sincere was directed by Hype Williams. This urban gangster movie was a take on director Brian De Palma's Scarface. It was an urban epic that stretched from the mean streets of New York to the slums of Jamaica. Hype Williams did a great job with the look and direction of Belly. It had some awesome shoot outs and action. It was a large scale movie that rivals some of the biggest Hollywood crime movies in style. The story is about the gangster lifestyle of drug dealing, armed robbery, and illicit money Buns and Sincere are deep into. Buns gets into some trouble that leads him into a life changing moment with the Nation of Islam. Sincere gets tired of the crime and is drawn to his African roots.
There's a whole new wave of filmmakers making urban crime movies. Filmmaker Robert Arevalo did a hell of a job on Mexican Bloodbath. An urban crime movie shot in Mexico. Filmmaker Mike O'Dea is going to deliver Code of Silence better known as Townies - an authentic Irish mob movie. It's going to be shot in Somerville, Massachusetts or in that area. Mexico or Massachusetts both movies are urban to me.
In With Thieves |