Response to Text Carlitos Way

Response to Text: Carlitos Way The film Carlito’s Way directed by Brian De Palma uses visual and verbal techniques to show the idea of world of crime. The main aspects of world of crime are loyalty, betrayal and can’t escape your past are all shown in the film. Together visual and verbal techniques are used to show the main idea of the film which is world of crime. An important idea in the film Carlito’s Way is the idea of loyalty. Loyalty is shown throughout the film by Carlito to his friends. Carlito played by Al Pacino shows loyalty to his friend Dave played by Sean Penn when he is going on the boat to help get Tony T out of Prison.

The verbal technique dialogue is used to show the idea of loyalty. When Carlito is on the boat with Frank Tony T’s son Frank asks Carlito, “is this guy a friend of yours,” and Carlito replies ,“Yea, He’s a friend of mine,” this shows that Carlito is loyal to Dave even though they are in a situation where Carlito could go back to Prison, or worse he could die. Brian De Palma has used dialogue to show that in the world of crime loyalty is a big idea and when people are loyal to their friends then they will do anything for them even if it is a danger to their life.

This show the Audience that Carlito is loyal to Dave for getting him out prison and feels that he owes Dave and he will pay him back in any way. This also shows in the world of crime you must also pay people back when you owe them. I’ve learnt from this that in the World of Crime I should be loyal to my Friends no matter what situation I am in. Another important idea in Carlito’s Way is the idea, can’t escape your past. The idea of can’t escape your past is shown by Carlito when he has just hit Benny Blanco down the stairs and is shown through the visual technique and verbal technique of lighting and voiceover.

When Carlito is standing at the top of the stairs about to hit Benny Blanco the lighting on his face is red which shows Carlito’s dark and bloody past, he then hits Benny and there is a voiceover of Carlito saying “Dumb move, man. Dumb move. But it’s like them old reflexes coming’ back. ” this reinforces the idea of can’t escape your past because that is what Carlito used to do in his past. Brian De Palma uses these to show that when you have got into the World of Crime you can’t escape even when you want to.

This shows the Audience that you can’t escape the world of crime even if you want to start fresh as it will always drag you back in. I have learnt from this that you shouldn’t get in to the world of crime in the first place as you will never be able to get out of it once you are in, even if you try to get out. Another important idea in Carlito’s Way is the Idea of betrayal. This idea is the most important as it would be the most common in the world of crime. It doesn’t matter who is going to betray you, it could be your best friend or a family member they can still betray you if they think it’s going to benefit them.

The idea of betrayal is shown by Pachanga when he betrays Carlito to Benny Blanco and is shown through the verbal feature Dialogue. When Carlito is at the train station and about to board the train Benny Blanco shows up and shoots him, Pachanga then comes and says ,“Hey no hard feelings Carlito. But I got to think about my future, too. You know, it is that way sometimes, papi. Come on, let’s go,” Benny then says, “No you stay here,” and then kills Pachanga because he is no more use to Benny.

Brian De Palma uses this feature to show that in the world of crime Carlito can be betrayed by anybody even one of his closest friends. This also shows that in the World of Crime someone can betray you just because they need to make some money and that it doesn’t matter if you have been friends your whole life. This shows the audience that betrayal is very common in the world of crime and can come from anywhere even your closest friends. I have learnt from this that in the world of crime you should trust no one as you don’t know who could betray you.

In conclusion the visual and verbal features such as dialogue, lighting and voice over are all used to show the ideas of can’t escape your past, betrayal and loyalty which are all in the World of Crime. All the techniques together can show the viewer the ideas about betrayal and how anyone can betray you in the world of crime, the idea of loyalty and how you should be loyal to your friends in the World of Crime no matter what situation you are in and the idea of you can’t escape your past and when you get into the World of Crime you can’t get out even if you want to.

Brian De Palma used these visual and verbal features to show the audience the world of crime and how it affects you in life. I have also learnt from this film that you should be loyal to your friends but also be wary because betrayal could come from any direction whether it is friend or family and eventually your past can catch up with you.