ONE OF THE GREATEST EVER.

Rating: 10/10 (1 October 2018)

My Rating : 10/10 ♠ MASTERPIECE ♠
'The Godfather' is a masterpiece, a perfect gangster movie. A film without flaws, blunders and cliches, which pulls me to writing a review and it feels like I know it completely by heart having seen it a million times now. This is a classic, a gangster epic and a bible for cinephiles. A worthy picture, without exaggeration, the best of it's kind.
Adapted from Mario Puzo's best-selling Mafia saga, 'The Godfather' is a serious dramatic masterpiece directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It is genuinely a top-notch film which depicts the blood, sweat and drama of the Corleone Mafia family.
The film is a long (running time of 2 hours 55 minutes) and leisurely apotheosis of the Corleone family which marvellously builds up a rich pattern of relationships, meticulously detailing the rituals of an enclosed group. The tone of the film is laudatory and romantic and the extraordinary chiaroscuro of the cinematography completely steals my heart.
'The Godfather' contains famous unforgettable scenes such as the opening wedding celebration, a severed horse's head left in an enemy's bed and the cold-blooded killing happening simultaneously with a baby's baptism. However, my favourite scene in the movie is the one wherein Michael Corleone's new bride dies in a car bomb-blast.
Coppola not only superbly created the film, but brilliantly chose his actors. Who knows what the fate of the film would have been without Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. Marlon Brando is outstanding. His cotton-stuffed cheeks and an almost inaudible whisper perfectly define the style of a reigning Head of Mafia. His presence brings energy to the screen. This was definitely Brando's best ever performance which won him an Oscar which he infamously refused. Yes, the man who made offers others couldn't refuse once refused the movie industry's heftiest honour. Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) is no less interesting than his father. Michael is kind-hearted and truthful, knowing what his father does, he never wanted to deal in his family's business and participate in criminal quarrels. Al Pacino played his character no less brilliantly than Marlon Brando. Pacino showed the destruction and the transformation of his character: from the uninitiated in the affairs of the family being the young war hero, to the new Don of the Corleone family, possessing an iron will, foresight, wisdom and dignity.
For all its cold-bloodedness, the film is most powerful in conveying the codes of loyalty, love, masculine honour and feminine subservience, enterprise and corporate self-interests in a crime-ridden America. In addition to the brilliant acting and excellent production of the film, there is the wonderful music score of the composer Nino Rota. An excellent melody which has long become a classic. 10/10 for me.