the godfather of all films

Rating: 10/10 (8 October 2005)

The godfather is cinema at its very best intriguing suspenseful and provoking, Francis ford Coppola manages to create a modern myth in the space of the course of the film surrounding the corleone family the main protagonist of the movie. The ageing don corleonie played eloquently by the late Marlon Brando refuses to enter into the narcotics trade following the end of ww2, following don Vito refusal this starts off a gang war between the 5 families of new york with the corleonies. The antagonist the barzini family and the tattalia family attemp to have don Vito character killed effectively castrating the corleones power. The attempt fails and Sonnie the dons eldest son takes control of the family while don Vito recovers meanwhile the dons youngest son Michael played by AL pacino agrees to kill the tattalia top narcotics distributor in a carefully orchestrated subterfuge at a peace negotiation. The death of the narcotic distributor escalates the war further leading to sonnies bloody execution at a toll booth one of the movies memorable scenes. Young Michael while in exile in Italy learns of his brothers misfortune and takes over following his fathers retirement, he vows revenge for his brothers murder. I will not give to much of the plot away but it is intriguing to see all the scheming and plotting by the mobsters. Both the camera work and lighting are superb and give a real atmospheric feel to the picture. This film is a must see for all film fans, rent it buy it now.