Straight Up Gangsta!

Rating: Null/10 (28 May 2004)

Acclaimed as one of the best movies ever, The Godfather lives up to its title. It features a riveting story rich with all of the right ingredients like action, drama and suspense that make this film captivating and favored among the masses. Its enticing storyline, fluid camera work and graphic brutality are what tickle our voyeuristic senses. Beautifully crafted, this film exploits the money, power, violence and problems that make up the world of a New York City crime family.
The plot of this film is thicker than the blood spilt by its characters. With five mob families, the film focuses on one, the Corleones who is headed by 'The Godfather' Don Vito Corleone. As the times change, so do the way each of the mob family's conduct their business. Once funded by gambling rings and political involvement, the head of another mafia family, Solozzo, proposes the shift to the sales and distribution of narcotics. With a minor grip on the majority of the power in New York City, Don Vito refuses to be involved with the narcotics business and encourages the other Dons to do the same. With the tension mounting between the Corleones, Sollozo and the rest of the five families, rumors of a full-scale mob war escalate to the breaking point and the Corleones seem to be alone. As the drama and violence intensifies, the film leaves the audience feeling sympathetic towards The Godfather and his family, as they struggle to retain the peace, but are forced to fight to the bitter end.
Soaked in complexity, this film manages to keep a fine pace and does a commendable job of depicting a crystal clear story. Its slow beginning solidifies the base of the story and the characters involved, as it gradually intensifies to its climactic ending with a slew of turmoil, gunfire and bloodshed. The film's score is its other strong point, contributing the power and emotional elements within each murder scene it was paired with. Its vast array of brilliant characters gives the film its depth and backbone. The solid and believable acting from names such as Brando, Pacino and Caan, clearly draw the lines between the bad guys and the semi-bad guys and add to the film's artistic quality. From the composed and rational Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) to the violent and temperamental Santino 'Sonny' Corleone, there is a character for any audience member to relate to, keeping them interested and strongly involved with the story.
Although it contains a healthy dose of blood baths and brief nudity, this film is a cinematic work of art. Since its 1972 release, the film not only collected a handful of coveted titles such as, 'greatest movie ever made', but also accredited numerous amounts of praise from critics and the public. Like the sweet harmonies of a Vatican choir, all of this film's elements worked as one whole unit and flowed together to create one of the greatest visual masterpieces in American culture.