The Auteur

I have chosen to study Robert De Niro for my auteur project as I enjoy watching his films and like the genre of films that he acts in, which often depict the gangster lifestyle of the Italian-American subculture within inner city New York. In this project i will be analyzing Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, Mean Streets and Raging Bull as I believe there are similar themes that reoccur in each character he portrays. He goes far beyond the common villainous archetype found in many of these "mafia films" and add a sense of humanity to a genre of characters, notoriously known for being ruthless killers. It could be argued that this is because of De Niro's own Italian-American heritage that he is able to associate with these characters allot easier and convey a more realistic and compassionate aspect of their personality.