Listicles

6 Ethnic Mobs Portrayed in Movies

Martin Scorsese, sniffing for mob.

Martin Scorsese, inhaling the sweet aromas of ethnic mobs.

Bound as they are to the shaky territory of racial politics, movies about ethnic mobs are both highly specific and can stand for the experiences of just about any immigrant community. Also, a disproportionate number of them have been directed by Martin Scorsese (at right).

Still, some of our favorite films take these small groups as their settings of choice, as in the Italian mob of the Godfather films, or the Russian mobsters in Eastern Promises. Of course, a liticle like Unreality’s 6 Ethnic Mobs Portrayed in Movies invites myriad additions.

The Brazilian Slum Mob in City of God

The Cuban Mob in Scarface

The fact that the titular Cuban kingpin is played by an Italian-American actor who’s biggest role was as an Italian mob boss really only makes this Scarface a more appropriate choice.

The Vaguely-Defined Eastern European Mob in The Usual Suspects

There’s talk of them being Armenian and Turkish (a blurry national relationship we won’t get into right now), but let’s just say that Keyser Soze is from far-East Europe.

The Vampire Mob in Blade

You could make the argument that the organized crime ring of undead mobsters in Blade is really just a displaced version of the Italian mob, but then you’d totally be reading way too much into a vampire movie.

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