A masterpiece that lacks universalism

Rating: 10/10 (13 February 2005)

The Godfather is literally the most highly rated movie of all time. I liked this movie, adored it. And with all the respect that I have for this heavyweight striking flick, my sub- conscience tells me that there seems to be an overrating that simply has been unable to be tamed down for years. First of all, this is a great gangster movie with the most common characteristics of a mafia circuit. Superb acting is harshly evident with a small dose of surrealism. This is everything a true-life movie needs to have. But, still, I think that this is somehow one-dimensional and self-appreciative. It doesn't have a universal sense of mafia mob but remains within the confines of a single direction of storytelling. It concentrates on the Italian mob, a single family and no further. It depicts, marvelously, the structure of that-time mafia entourage and the set of rules it was based upon. However, I think there have been several other movies which, if not as subtly as The Godfather, precisely have managed go beyond the classic understanding of mafia and grasped a wider span of this topic. Anyway, The Godfather, though overrated, still remains self-contained and deserves to be one of the best but with all this time having passed by, not the best one. 10/10