A very good movie about very bad people

Rating: 10/10 (2 September 1999)

Throughout history, well-intentioned men have committed many horrible crimes in the name of their mother countries. THE GODFATHER is about a well-intentioned man named Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) who learns to commit horrible crimes in the name of his family.
The Godfather is Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) who heads one of the most powerful crime families in New York. He has three sons: hot-tempered Santino (James Caan), weak-willed Fredo (John Cazale), and Michael. "Michael," significantly, is the only Anglicized name of the three. Michael is the only son who fought for the Americans in World War II, and the only one who wants nothing to do with the family crime business. He is something of an outsider to his family.
But Michael is devoted to his father. And when Vito is severely wounded in an attempted assassination by drug dealer Virgil "the Turk" Sollozzo, who thinks Vito's heir apparent Santino will be readier to deal with him, then Michael saves his life. Later, Michael murders the Turk and his hired police bodyguard, knowing that he will have to flee to Sicily for breaking the unwritten truce between the police and the Mafia.
The saga of Michael's rise to head the Corleone family is one of the most fascinating stories ever told on screen. It is hard to tell a good story about evil, but Coppola succeeds, principally because he shows the sincere devotion to family that lies behind the characters' deeds. Michael is slowly corrupted into a cold-hearted killer, not by laziness or indifference or any other vice, but by his defining virtue: his love for his father and brothers! Likewise, Santino comes to grief as a direct result of his only redeeming feature, his devotion to his sister. This tragic irony suffuses the film. The viewer thus can forgive the characters somewhat for their crimes, because the life they have been born into gives them a choice between violent crime and abandoning their loved ones.
Nino Rota's sad, haunting score is superb, and his Siciliana theme is beautiful and tender. The supporting performances are superb, particularly Abe Vigoda and Richard Castellano as the Godfather's tough but genial caporegimes, Robert Duvall as the "consigliere" or Mafia lawyer, and Al Lettieri as Sollozzo. Luca Brasi unfortunately disappears too quickly; his role was more fleshed out in Puzo's original novel.
Enter a world where murder is "not personal. It's strictly business." You will never forget it.
Rating: **** out of ****.