“The Godfather” is advised fully inside a closed world. That’s why we sympathize with characters who’re primarily evil. The story by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola is a superb conjuring act, inviting us to think about the Mafia fully by itself phrases. Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) emerges as a sympathetic and even admirable character; throughout the whole movie, this lifelong skilled legal does nothing of which we are able to actually disapprove.
In the course of the film we see not a single precise civilian sufferer of organized crime. No ladies trapped into prostitution. No lives wrecked by playing. No victims of theft, fraud or safety rackets. The one police officer with a big talking function is corrupt.
The story views the Mafia from the within. That’s its secret, its appeal, its spell; in a means, it has formed the general public notion of the Mafia ever since. The true world is changed by an authoritarian patriarchy the place energy and justice move from the Godfather, and the one villains are traitors. There may be one commandment, spoken by Michael (Al Pacino): “Don’t ever take sides towards the household.”
It’s vital that the primary shot is inside a darkish, shuttered room. It’s the wedding ceremony day of Vito Corleone’s daughter, and on such a day a Sicilian should grant any affordable request. A person has come to ask for punishment for his daughter’s rapist. Don Vito asks why he didn’t come to him instantly.
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“I went to the police, like a great American,” the person says. The Godfather’s reply will underpin the whole film: “Why did you go to the police? Why didn’t you come to me first? What have I ever finished to make you deal with me so disrespectfully? When you’d come to me in friendship, then this scum that ruined your daughter could be struggling this very day. And if, by likelihood, an trustworthy man like your self ought to make enemies . . . then they’d turn into my enemies. After which they’d worry you.”
Because the day continues, there are two extra scenes within the Godfather’s darkened examine, intercut with scenes from the marriage outdoors. By the tip of the marriage sequence, a lot of the important characters could have been launched, and we are going to know important issues about their personalities. It’s a virtuoso stretch of filmmaking: Coppola brings his giant solid onstage so artfully that we’re drawn without delay into the Godfather’s world.
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The screenplay of “The Godfather” follows no formulation aside from the basic construction wherein energy passes between the generations. The writing is subtly constructed to arrange occasions later within the movie. Discover how the request by Johnny Fontane, the failing singer, pays off within the Hollywood scenes; how his tears arrange the stunning second when a mogul wakes up in mattress with what’s left of his racehorse. Discover how the undertaker is advised “sometime, and that day might by no means come, I’ll ask a favor of you. . .” and the way when the day comes the favor shouldn’t be violence (as in a standard film) however Don Vito’s want to spare his spouse the sight of their son’s maimed physique. And spot how a girl’s “mistaken” cellphone name units up the entice wherein Sonny (James Caan) is murdered: It’s finished so neatly that you need to assume again by the occasions to determine it out.
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Now here’s a trivia query: What’s the identify of Vito’s spouse? She exists within the film as an insignificant shadow, a plump Sicilian grandmother who poses along with her husband in wedding ceremony footage however performs no function within the occasions that happen in his examine. There may be little room for girls in “The Godfather Film Review.” Sonny makes use of and discards them, and ignores his spouse. Connie (Talia Shire), the Don’s daughter, is so disregarded that her husband shouldn’t be allowed into the household enterprise. He’s thrown a bone–”a residing”–and later, when he’s killed, Michael coldly lies to his sister about what occurred.
The irony of the title is that it will definitely involves seek advice from the son, not the daddy. Because the movie opens Michael shouldn’t be a part of the household enterprise, and plans to marry a WASP, Kay Adams (Diane Keaton). His turning level comes when he saves his father’s life by transferring his hospital mattress, and whispers to the unconscious man: “I’m with you now.”
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After he shoots the corrupt cop, Michael hides in Sicily, the place he falls in love with and marries Appolonia (Simonetta Stefanelli). They don’t converse the identical language; small handicap for a Mafia spouse. He undoubtedly loves Appolonia, as he cherished Kay, however what’s he considering right here: that he can not marry Kay as a result of he has chosen a Mafia life? After Appolonia’s loss of life and his return to America, he seeks out Kay and finally they marry. Did he inform her about Appolonia? Such particulars are unimportant to the story.
What’s essential is loyalty to the household. A lot is alleged within the film about trusting a person’s phrase, however honesty is nothing in comparison with loyalty. Michael doesn’t even belief Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) with the key that he plans to homicide the heads of the opposite households. The well-known “baptism bloodbath” is hard, virtuoso filmmaking: The baptism supplies him with an hermetic alibi, and he turns into a godfather in each senses on the identical time.
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Vito Corleone is the ethical middle of the movie. He’s outdated, smart and against dealing in medicine. He understands that society shouldn’t be alarmed by “liquor, playing . . . even ladies.” However medicine are a grimy enterprise to Don Vito, and one of many film’s finest scenes is the Mafia summit at which he argues his level. The implication is that within the godfather’s world there could be no medicine, solely “victimless crimes,” and justice could be dispatched evenly and swiftly.
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My argument is taking this manner as a result of I wish to level out how cleverly Coppola constructions his movie to create sympathy for his heroes. The Mafia shouldn’t be a benevolent and protecting group, and the Corleone household is just marginally higher than the others. But when the outdated man falls useless amongst his tomato crops, we really feel {that a} large has handed.
Gordon Willis’ cinematography is well known for its darkness; it’s wealthy, atmospheric, expressive. You can not admire this on tv as a result of the image is artificially brightened. Coppola populates his darkish inside areas with outstanding faces. The front-line actors–Brando, Pacino, Caan, Duvall–are enticing in a technique or one other, however those that play their associates are chosen for his or her fleshy, thickly lined faces–for enormous jaws and deeply set eyes. Have a look at Abe Vigoda as Tessio, the fearsome enforcer. The primary time we see him, he’s dancing with a baby on the wedding ceremony, her satin pumps balanced on his sneakers. The solar shines that day, however by no means once more: He’s developed as a hulking presence who implies the potential for violent revenge. Solely on the finish is he brightly lit once more, to make him look weak as he begs for his life.
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The Brando efficiency is justly well-known and infrequently imitated. We all know all about his puffy cheeks, and his use of props just like the kitten within the opening scene. These are actor’s units. Brando makes use of them however doesn’t depend upon them: He embodies the character so convincingly that on the finish, when he warns his son two or 3 times that “the person who involves you to arrange a meeting–that’s the traitor,” we’re not considering of performing in any respect. We’re considering that the Don is rising outdated and repeating himself, however we’re additionally considering that he’s in all probability completely proper.
Pacino performs Michael near his vest; he has discovered from his father by no means to speak in entrance of outsiders, by no means to belief anybody unnecessarily, to take recommendation however maintain his personal counsel. The entire different roles are so efficiently stuffed {that a} unusual factor occurred as I watched this restored 1997 model: Acquainted as I’m with Robert Duvall, when he first appeared on the display screen I discovered myself considering, “There’s Tom Hagen.”
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Coppola went to Italy to seek out Nino Rota, composer of many Fellini movies, to attain the image. Listening to the disappointment and nostalgia of the film’s important theme, I noticed what the music was telling us: Issues would have turned out higher if we had solely listened to the Godfather.