musings on a classic

Rating: 10/10 (20 May 2008)

A few thoughts and observations on an American classic- I doubt 'The Godfather' was shot sequentially (hardly any movies are) but it sure seems to me that the first scene, the wedding scene, was also the first one filmed. The reason I say this is that none of the actors seem completely comfortable with their characters yet; it's as though they're still figuring them out, unlike later in the film, where almost all the actors absolutely inhabit their roles. The same goes for the direction and dialogue, which contains some heavy-handed exposition that is noticeably missing later on too. (Robert Duvall's Tom Hagen tells his wife at one point that he has to go back to work because no Sicilian can refuse a request on his daughter's wedding day. Oh really? His wife never knew this? She's finding out just now, in the middle of the festivities?) As Sonny, James Caan is still working on his swagger, and even Marlon Brando is shown at his desk, holding a cat and stroking it, as though he's auditioning to be the next James Bond villain. (There are no further shots of him holding a cat.) This early awkwardness soon passes but the next scene is just as confounding, in a different way. Hagen is sent to California to convince a Hollywood producer to give a movie role to Johnny Fontaine, Don Corleone's godson. This scene sticks out like a sore thumb now and has nothing to do with the rest of the movie, despite providing 'The Godfather' with one of its most famous images, that of the severed horse-head in the movie producer's bed. No, it's only when Hagen returns to New York that the film really begins. The first several times I saw 'The Godfather,' I had a difficult time breaking it down into segments and sections, as in what happened in relation to other things going on in the film. This of course is the sign of smart scripting and directorial slight-of-hand, and clever pacing which keeps you guessing. For instance, the different scenes where Luca Brazi is killed, then Don Corleone is shot, Tom Hagen is briefly kidnapped by Sallozzo, and Michael Corleone finds out what has happened. These all seem to happen at roughly the same time, but Michael finds out from a newspaper! Yet one never questions it while watching. There are so many great and famous scenes, it's hard to pick favorites, but I notice now when I watch it, I particularly enjoy the one where Don Corleone and his inner circle meet with Sallozzo, just before the aforementioned violence. It's one of the few times in the lengthy film where we actually get to see the Don at work guiding his empire and making decisions. Not a great deal happens in the scene, but it's a good example of Don Corleone's thinking and helps explain why he is held in such high regard, why he is in fact the 'irreplaceable man', as will soon become apparent. Sonny is obviously to be his successor, and just as obviously lacks the old man's reasoning and negotiating skills. Fredo is just another body in the room and Michael isn't yet "with" them. Despite the incredible wealth and influence we've seen the Corleone family possess, this scene and its immediate aftermath show just how fragile and tenuous its grip on power is in dangerous circumstances. The relative ease with which the Don is set up and shot, as well as the quick dispensing of his main hit-man, Luca Brazi (who had been portrayed as almost invincible), proves that Sallozzo was correct, in the short term anyway: get rid of the Don and his empire collapses into confusion. The rest of the film is more or less the laying out of a careful and methodical revenge plotted by both Michael and the old Don, following a major subplot having to do with Michael hiding out in Sicily after killing Sallozzo and a New York police captain. It all leads to perhaps the most famous scene of all in 'The Godfather,' the baptism sequence where everyone who plotted against the Corleones get their comeuppance, from Connie's husband Carlo to the rival Mafia chieftains who hoped to exploit the Corleone family's momentary weakness. That it feels like justice being served says something about how Coppola has successfully manipulated the audience into rooting for the Corleones. The word 'adventure' doesn't usually come to mind when discussing 'The Godfather,' but that's what it is, an astonishing adventure for the characters and an eye-opening look inside a powerful crime family for the audience.