I feel as if Goncharov (1973) is a perfect incapsulation of the inability of men growing up in violent cycles to break out of them. We see it in Goncharov's near lustful obsession with Andrey, we see it in his constant need for revenge, his blindness to the pain and hurt he's causing to Katya, to the rest of his family. There is a tendency to view mafia movies purely through an aesthetic lens, and while that interpretation holds its own critical importance, mafia movies also at their core are about humans trapped in and by violence. Every time Goncharov and Andrey face off in the movie the screen is filled with this palpable tension. I understand the interpretation of that tension as a result of suppressed homosexual urges, and I even agree to an extent, but I also see it as two men, who perhaps, by no fault of their own, were placed in positions where there is no way out but through blood reacting to each other. They understand how perhaps the man in front of them is the person they could be closest to, be truly understood by, even perhaps, cared for, because they are both victims of the same tragedy. And they have to forever contend with this blood on their hands and their culpability in the mass suffering throughout the movie. I dunno this movie makes me think a lot.