When I introduce you, I'm gonna say this is a friend of mine.
That means you're a connected guy. Now, if I saidence that this is
a fALS, that would mean to a maid guy. APIs. When Lefty
brought Danny into his world, who's this game, Donnie in front of mine?
He took a risk on a kid he hardly knew. And I'm gonna
have to school you and my friend school me in on why this guy never
carries his money in the water and always in a role bena out of the
outside. He gave him his trust. Try to get rid of a mustache
and get yourself a pair of parts. Stress stress like me. He loved
him like a son. Nobody can touch you because I represent you. Get
your nose clean, follow the rules, be a good onion, and maybe
one day when they opened the books, you could come a white guy.
I die with your dolly. But he never knew the truth. There's a
war going on in that mafia family and that his word Joe is undercover.
Oh day a man, I want to know where my husband is. We
don't know. You're gonna freeze up. No, a lot of guy's freeze
up. He said it was gonna be three months. Let's go on three
years. Who he's with and who he's close to? The are all the
top dogs. Now he's right in the line of fire. And there was
a rat and flower that dummy. You know what to do when you find
that rat right left? It could be I found him a ruddy and our
thing you get sent for. You go in alive, You'll come out debt
and it's your best friend that does it. You've got to pull him out.
You think I'm a rapt how many times I have you into my own
house? If you're a rat, then I'm the biggest month in the history
as a mafia. If I come out left, he dies, They're gonna
kill him because he vouched for me, because he stood up for me.
That's the same thing as if I put a bulling this and myself. Do
you understand who am I? I'm ana spoke on a wheel and sing you
they die? Yeah, let's take a walk. I'm your must work.
This goes without saying, especially if you are a longtime listener of this program
and Matt Connerton. Unleashed Gangster films are some of my favorite all time films.
Watching The Godfather in nineteen ninety eight made me see film as art and
not just entertainment. It also led to me researching the Mafia or La Cosa
Nostra feverishly, something I still do to this day. One film that stands
out to me not just because it's a true story, but how it is
an in depth profile of those that lived the life. Released in nineteen ninety
seven, directed by Mike Newell and based off the real account of FBI special
agent Joe D. Pistone, Donnie Brasco tells the tale of Pistone played by
Johnny Depp, a man that goes undercover into the Banano crime family as jewel
thief Donnie Brasco. What begins is a simple undercover task becomes much greater when
Brasco is befriended by lifetime wise guy Lefty left Guns Ruggerio played by Al Pacino,
and gets fast tracked on his way to becoming a member of the mafia.
Our first clip is Brasco being introduced to Ruggerio. This scene is important
because it shows how Brasco has no fear in telling this reputed wise guy that
is Diamond is a fake, despite knowing Ruggerio's standing and that he could essentially
kill Brasco with no repercussions. Then the clip after that will show Ruggie Area
beginning to school or teach Donnie on the ways of the mafia in the way
people are described while taking him to a family meeting with the boss of the
Banano family. You're down the jeweler. Yeah, there's some beautiful thing.
How don't you give it to your wife? My wife. I'm not gonna
give it to my wife. I ain't married. They're a girlfriend, Yeah,
I got a girlfriend. Yeah, so marry him. Hey, you're
for real. I'm asking you the middle a diamond for me. Now.
All I want from my end is eight thousand. What I'm saying to you
is you should give it to somebody that don't know any better, because that's
it for gazing. All right, that's it for gazing. How do you
know it's a food gazing? You looked at it for two seconds? What
it's a fake fake? Yeah, I know where the fool gayzing is fake
found. I want to see something. I'm gonna show you something. There
you go, that's something. That's a beautiful thing. Yeah, that's a
beautiful thing. That's not my thing. What about this. Well, let
me you say, go ahead, try and sell it. You wanna be
a dun skin, Give it a shot, dun ski, you call'em me
a dun skin. You know who you're talking to? My friend, Hey,
left come on, have a speecher. You wanna go and embarrass yourself
with this thing? Borrows myself, my family, my children. My mother
can hold her head up in any neighborhood in this city where she walks down
the block seat in all the five boroughs. I'm known forget about it.
I'm known all over the Wold. Anybody ask anybody about Lefty from Mulberry Street,
and you watching up the room stream, you know I didn't mean no
disrespect. It's a misunderstanding, right, all right, sit down man,
Well you you're gonna walk out on me. You gonna walk out on me,
I walk out on you. You got a car? I got a
car, Well, let's go get your car. Come out they can and
now Donnie's lessons in the mafia begin. Okay, when I introduce you,
I'm gonna say this is a friend of mine. That means you're a connected
guy. Now if I said it's that this is a friend of ours,
that would mean you are made guy like I peach you? Yeah, friend
of mine, a friend of ours? But what do I call you?
A friend of ours? Or a rip about me? I'll say, hey,
doctor cartage? People, you got a couple of usseles? I got
some uh, some things I gotta pick? Yeah? Yeah, what do
you want a hundred? Yeah? What are you doing? What are you
doing? Whyse guy don't carry his money in a wallet? Hey? Whyse
guy carry his money in a role like this? Hey? BEANU on the
outside like that? Come on that mustache. You gotta get rid of that
mustache. It says against the rules and get a pair of pats. Where
you gonna get? You saying a dress like I dress. This is my
factor, more even than my own family. Is that right? I don't
got a family. You don't got a family. Nah, I'm an orphan
and I grew up in an orphanage. Ain't the question about you know?
Even if you had a family, If this is your family, then this
is your family. You know what I'm saying. Yeah. What sets this
film aside from other films about the Mafia is how in depth the film allows
these characters to evolve. Each person has these mesmerizing character traits. However,
Depth conveys this very well with his performance as Pistone. Our next clip shows
this following an argument with his wife over his assignment. Pistone breaks down and
explains the tough spoty is in. What makes this truly great is you can
actually hear the conflict between Pistone and Brasco, almost as if they are two
different people, even though they are one of the same. Did you ever
once ask yourself? How let me make it to my days? I pretend
I'm a widdle with medals and scrap books and memories. I pretend you're dad.
That's how my life makes sense to me. Just go away, I
stay away. God, Why do you hate me? When I love you
so much? I think I hate you, I don't hate you. This
job is eating me alive. I can't breathe anymore. And if I come
out this guy left, he dies. They're gonna kill him. Because you
vouched for me, because he stood up for me, I live with every
day. That's the same thing as if I put the bulletiness at myself.
You understand, I spent all these years trying to be a good guy.
You know what the man in a way. What for I'm not becoming like
that, Maggie, I am. Though it was alluded to in our previous
clip that pistone is in monumental danger, that is made painfully obvious in our
final two clips of this review. First, Donnie is confronted by Capo or
Captain Sonny Black played by Michael Madsen. He is faced with the possibility of
being executed if he does not reveal the plans him and Lefty have for a
club in Miami, but he could be disloyal, which is an unforgivable sin
in the mob. Then, in a desperation moment at a Japanese restaurant,
Donnie refuses to remove his boots, the reason being it is where his recording
device is. Desperately, he comes out with a way to not have to
remove his shoes, albeit with horrible consequences for the innocent matre d. We
want to know what you're up to me yesterday last night? What were you
doing last night? I'm sinning when yesterday? What time? He said,
come here, I'll messing around with me yesterday afternoon? Nine wise left he
got such a heart on a semi back to New York cos Then guys busting
your was down there. I wanna know. I want to know what you
got going on down here, understands, and you want to know about if
you have that skimmed on them out to night. That's right. Look,
I don't mean any disrespect. And I know you're a skipper and I'm a
nobody, but I can't do that to Lefty. Listen to me. I'll
eat your foster for breakfast. You understand me, every four of you.
This is life of death. That a fe This is m say so and
you tell me I can't do it. So how about if I fackut you
right now? Do what you have to do something. I can't do that
to left And now he gets desperate. That's to say how many this way?
Bryan says, it's very injury. I'll see she ran about it in
the parade. Man's very very big. Man to the piece. Take off
shoes goes off? What kind of shoes? Fishes? Take off shoes?
What are you kidding me? Thank you? I'm afraid it's necessary. He's
a Japanese tradition, is that right? Don't forget about it. I ain't
doing it. I'm afraid he's necessary. Forget it. I ain't taking shoes
off. Hey, Danny, what when in roll? Nick? Who?
Huh? War? What war? Oh? We did? You want to
fight it again? Take off your shoes. I ain't gonna do it.
Take your shoes off, and take my shoes off? What I want to
eat sometime tonight? And take off your shoes. I'm gonna check up off
your fep, sunner. What do you want me to do? Don't want
me to take orders more. I had to grow up in an orphanage because
my own man was killed down there in Okinot. All right, don't want
to take my shoes off of this? No, I ain't doing me.
I'm afraid it is necessary. Listen. Uh well, friend's not gonna take
off your shoes there, mister Moto, I'm afraid is necessary either or the
rest of us. Okay, So why don't you just give us a table
before I smack you. You must take off your shoes. I shot down,
let's get it. What makes this film so compelling is the fact that
it has been confirmed by former members of the Banano crime family to be mostly
accurate. This undercover FBI agent was within one murder of becoming a member of
the mafia. The work of Pistone led to over two hundred indictments and over
one hundred convictions of mafia members. It led to the Banano family being removed
from the Feigned Commission and becoming outcasts in the American Mafia. To this day,
Joe de Pistone is viewed is one of the top authorities on the Mafia.
He has since written three books after his best selling book Donnie Brasco that
this film is based off of. But this film has to be the ultimate
testimony to his sacrifice and his hard work. What makes this film truly special
and stand in a class of its own is it's a true look at this
secret society. It's not glossy and glamorous like Casino, Goodfellas, or even
The Godfather. It is also not as gritty and raw as meanstreets. What
it is and what makes it timeless, is it is unflinching and hoorizing.
It provides the deepest look into the mob dune by a film. Couple that
with the brilliant performances across the board and a gripping story, it truly makes
for one amazing and captivating film. I hope you will join me next week.
When in observance of the recently passed on director William Friedkin, we will
look at his seminole classic film The French Connection for w M n H.
In Matt Connerton Unleashed. This has been a classic film review with Art Pilcher