GANGSTER FILMS YOU SHOULD WATCH BEFORE YOU DIE
By: Bima Gordhi
Film gangsters are usually materialistic, street-smart, immoral, meglo-maniacal, and self-destructive. Rivalry with other criminals in gangster warfare is often a significant plot characteristic. Crime plots also include questions such as how the criminal will be apprehended by police, private eyes, special agents or lawful authorities, or mysteries such as who stole the valued object. They rise to power with a tough cruel facade while showing an ambitious desire for success and recognition, but underneath they can express sensitivity and gentleness.
Gangster films are morality tales: Horatio Alger or ‘pursuit of the American Dream’ success stories turned upside down in which criminals live in an inverted dream world of success and wealth. Often from poor immigrant families, gangster characters often fall prey to crime in the pursuit of wealth, status, and material possessions (clothes and cars), because all other “normal” avenues to the top are unavailable to them. Although they are doomed to failure and inevitable death (usually violent), criminals are sometimes portrayed as the victims of circumstance, because the stories are told from their point of view. (filmsite.org)
(This list is not in order, and sorry it’s such a mess)
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01Francis Ford Coppola
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02Francis Ford Coppola
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03Francis Ford Coppola
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04Martin Scorsese
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05Martin Scorsese
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06Joel Coen
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07Sergio Leone
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08Brian De Palma
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09Howard Hawks
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10Quentin Tarantino
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11Guy Ritchie
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12Guy Ritchie
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13Jules Dassin
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14William A. Wellman
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15Michael Curtiz
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16D.W. Griffith
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17Mervyn LeRoy
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18Rouben Mamoulian
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19Archie Mayo
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20Raoul Walsh
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21Fritz Lang
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22Julien Duvivier
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23Seijun Suzuki
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24Seijun Suzuki
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25Arthur Penn
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26Mike Hodges
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27Terence Young
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28Roger Corman
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29Roger Corman
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30John Milius
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31Martin Scorsese
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32Peter Yates
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33Takeshi Kitano
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34Michael Cimino
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35Brian De Palma
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36Michael Cimino
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37Matteo Garrone
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38Phil Joanou
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39Michael Karbelnikoff
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40Robert Benton
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41Robert De Niro
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42Barry Levinson
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43Abel Ferrara
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44Brian De Palma
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45Tony Scott
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46Abel Ferrara
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47Bill Duke
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48Sam Mendes
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49Brian Koppelman
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50Martin Scorsese
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51Martin Scorsese
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52David Cronenberg
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53Michael Mann
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54David Cronenberg
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55John Woo
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56Takashi Miike
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57Stanley Kubrick
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58John Woo
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59Harold Ramis
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60Harold Ramis
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61Dennis Hopper
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62Ridley Scott
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63Taylor Hackford
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64Quentin Tarantino
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65David Michôd
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66Geoffrey Wright
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67Gregor Jordan
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68Michael Mann
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69Roman Polanski
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70John Singleton
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71Jonathan Glazer
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72Jonathan Demme
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73Andrew Lau
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74Andrew Lau
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75Andrew Lau
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76Park Chan-wook
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77John Huston
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78John Mackenzie
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79Perry Henzell
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80Gordon Parks Jr.
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81Sam Peckinpah
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82Matthew Vaughn
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83Guy Ritchie
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84Guy Ritchie
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85Ridley Scott
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86Charles Crichton
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87Jean-Pierre Melville
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88Mike Newell
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89Jean-Pierre Melville
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90Jean-Pierre Melville
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91Jean-Luc Godard
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92George Roy Hill
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93Peter Medak
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94Jean-Pierre Melville
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95Jean-Pierre Melville
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96François Truffaut
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97Claude Sautet
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98John Boulting
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99Elia Kazan
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100Jacques Becker
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101Fritz Lang
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102Víctor González
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103Raoul Walsh
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104Jules Dassin
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105John Huston
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106Raoul Walsh
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107William Wyler
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108Francesco Rosi
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109John Woo
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110Abraham Polonsky
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111Frank Tuttle
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112John Boorman
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113Fritz Lang
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114W.S. Van Dyke
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115Nicholas Ray
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116Lewis Milestone
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117John Huston
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118Fritz Lang
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119Anatole Litvak
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120William Keighley
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121William Keighley
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122Raoul Walsh
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123Joseph H. Lewis
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124Budd Boetticher
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125Byron Haskin
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126John Cassavetes
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127Anthony Mann
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128Lloyd Bacon
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129Fritz Lang
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130Allen Hughes
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131Tran Anh Hung
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132Lloyd Bacon
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133Seijun Suzuki
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134Alberto Cavalcanti
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135Roy Del Ruth
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136Jon Purdy
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137Wim Wenders
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138Woody Allen
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139Roy Del Ruth
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140Don Siegel
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141Larry Cohen
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142Don Siegel
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143Roger Corman
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144Francesco Rosi
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145Alberto Lattuada
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146Andrew Lau
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147Takashi Miike
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148Wilson Yip
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149Kim Ji-woon
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150Cirio H. Santiago
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151Akira Kurosawa
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152Wong Kar-wai
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153Johnnie To
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154Wong Ching-Po
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155
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156Lee Chi-Ngai
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157Johnnie To
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158Benny Chan
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159John Woo
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160Yip Kam-Hung