Cosa Nostra

The most famous trope of the mafia/gangster genre is the cliche of “the last job.” In many
of these films, the main character(s) decides to leave their life of crime after recognizing how it
has negatively impacted their lives and the people around them. So, they take on one last job,
mission, or heist before they're out in the clear. However, many can automatically assume that
this attempt fails. These criminals either end up in jail, dead, fleeing the country, or ratting on
their gang. In short, it never goes well. But, what happens when it goes right? What happens
when you get away with it all and you attempt to return to normalcy?

My film, Cosa Nostra (which translates to “this thing of ours”), seeks to answer the
question of “what’s next?” This film is about the feeling many people experience after a large
piece of their life is gone or now completed (e.g. new job, graduating, a break-up, death of a
loved one, etc.). When this thing is done or this person is gone we are often faced with
attempting to ground ourselves again. We can regress to what we know or embrace the unknown
future ahead of us. So when two mobsters finish their life of crime will they regress or will they
embrace their new life?

I’ve had several experiences in my life where I’ve felt this type of indirection. My film is
completed, my project is finished, a relative passes away, or I’ve just ended a relationship. You
feel still in time and you don’t know which way to go. Going forward offers promise and new
opportunities. Going back offers comfort and ease. This is an idea I’ve tried to get across for a
while and I’ve known that I wanted this to be the central theme of one of my films.
Simultaneously, I had been itching to make a mafia movie. Gangster/mafia movies have always
excited me; the chain of command, laws of respect, the constant looking over your shoulder. I
wanted to pay homage to the genre while also putting a twist on its biggest trope/cliche: trying to
get away with finishing "one last job." I’m telling this story because it feels authentic to me. I
love this genre and I’ve pondered over this topic for quite some time. I am deeply concerned
with these two subjects and I feel that I believe I’m the first person to have the idea to put them
together.

Some of my biggest inspirations are The Irishman, Cowboy Bebop, and Breaking Bad.
The Irishman and, particularly, Martin Scorcese, have struck me deeply. Many of Scorcese’s
films delve into the world of organized crime. As mentioned previously, the nuances of these
worlds’ legislation, chains of command, and concepts of respect are fascinating to me. They all
do so much wrong, yet they go about it in their own twisted “moral” way. The Irishman, in
particular, explores a character who joins the mafia family and despite his alienated roots and
inequity, he still climbs the ranks and remains loyal. This idea of a character who remains devout
to the mafia despite every way its wronged them was inspiration for my main character, Joseph.
Cowboy Bebop is an anime that details the life of characters after their “movie moments” have
already happened. The 4 bounty hunters encounter each other and team up as they arrest
criminals while simultaneously picking up the pieces of their past lives. The way this show
handles the concept of your life’s “after life” was a large inspiration for this film. Finally,
Breaking Bad deeply influenced this film. Vince Gilligan, in particular, has a directing style that
I’ve consistently drawn inspiration from and sometimes have sought to emulate. Moreover,
Breaking Bad, in all its grandiosity, somehow manages to still feel grounded in reality. Its
characters are neither good nor bad; they exist in a constant grey area. This show, and my film,
beg the question: “How did these people end up here and do they deserve to live beyond their
malfeasance?”

This film will be characterized by its oxymoronic subject matter. I want to capture the
feeling of grounded grandiosity. Not everyone is a gangster but everyone has found themselves
in an aimless place in their life at some point. You don’t need to whack debtors to feel that way.
The film is structured around flashbacks that are included to contrast the romanticized past and
stagnant present. Everything in the past is more lush, colorful, loud, and snappy. The present
feels still and undisturbed; a feeling between a barren wasteland and an inevitable ticking
timebomb. Duality defines this film. The two characters lead different lives than their past, they
both take different roads of decision-making in the present, and are stuck between defining
moments of their own individual life stories.