What a classic

Rating: Null/10 (19 September 2011)

That was a classic, this is what you'll hear about this movie. The Godfather has set the stage since it's release in 1972, for all other movies in it's class. All "gangster movies" have been judged by the standards of this one (unfair as the comparison may be). If The Godfather was only about gun-toting Mafia types, it would never have won as many awards. The difference between this movie and the rest is that this film apart has the ability to weave the often-many layers of story into a firm whole. Any of the individual issues explored by The Godfather are strong enough to form the foundation of a movie. Here, however, reinforced by so many complimentary themes, each is given added ring. The picture is a series of mini-climaxes, all building to the devastating, definitive conclusion. Rarely does a film tell as many diverse-yet-interconnected stories. Strong performances, solid directing, and a tightly-plotted script all contribute to The Godfather's success. It is obvious that this motion picture was not put together just for the fun of it, to make people laugh; it was carefully crafted. Every major character - and more than a few minor ones - is molded into a distinct, complex individual. Stereotypes did not influence Coppola's film, although certain ones were formed as a result of it. The film opens in the study of Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), the Godfather, who is holding court. It is the wedding of his daughter Connie (Talia Shire), and no Sicilian can refuse a request on that day. So the supplicants come, each wanting something different - revenge, a husband for their daughter, a part in a movie. The family has gathered for the event. Michael (Al Pacino), Don Vito's youngest son and a Second World War hero, is back home in the company of a new girlfriend (Diane Keaton). The two older boys, Sonny (James Caan) and Fredo (John Cazale), are there as well, along with their "adopted" brother, Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), the don's right-hand man. With the end of the war, the times are changing, and as much as Don Vito seems in control at the wedding, his power is beginning to erode. By the standards of some, his views on the importance of family, loyalty, and respect are old fashion. Even his heir apparent, Sonny, disagrees with his refusal to get into the drug business. Gambling and alcohol are forces of the past and present; narcotics are the future. But Don Vito will not compromise, even when a powerful drug supplier named Sollozzo (Al Lettieri) arrives with promises of high profits for those who back him. Don Vito's refusal to do business with Sollozzo strikes the first sparks of a war that will last for years and cost many lives. Each of the five major mob families in New York will be devour by the bloodshed, and a new order will emerge. Betrayals will take place, and the Corleone family will be shaken to its roots by betrayed from both within and without. The Corleone with the most screen time is Michael (it's therefore odd that Al Pacino received a Best Supporting Actor nomination), and his tale, because of its scope and breadth, is marginally dominant. His transformation from "innocent" bystander to central manipulator is the stuff of a Shakespearean tragedy. By the end, this man who claimed to be different from the rest of his family has become more ruthless than Don Vito ever was. Don Vito is a most complicated gangster. In his own words, he is not a killer, and he never mixes business with personal matters. He puts family first ("A man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man") and despises displays of weakness. He understands the burden of power, and his wordless sympathy for Michael when he is forced to assume the "throne", is one of The Godfather's most revealing moments (about both father and son). Family responsibility. A father's legacy. The need to earn respect. The corrupting influence of power. These are some of the ingredients combined in Francis Ford Coppola's cinematic blender. They are themes which have intrigued the greatest authors of every medium through the centuries. Motifs Return to Sicily Michael, Connie, and Kay, all principle characters, are in all three movies, while secondary characters like Archbishop Gliday or Senator Geary appear in only a single film. Of course, such a structure makes sense. The plot follows the most significant characters, while the less significant die or are forgotten. But every rule has its exceptions. In the Godfather trilogy, one such exception is the insignificant, little-known Don Tommasino. Tommasino appears in every movie because he is Vito's and Michael's host and friend in Sicily, the island of Vito's birth to which characters return in every film. In the Godfather films, Don Tommasino may be a minor character, but Sicily is not. Sicily seems to be the mystical place, but in reality, it is a world full of violence and bloodshed. Although the issues presented in The Godfather are universal in scope, the characters and setting are all ethnic. Even to this day, there is an odd romanticism associated with New York's Italian crime families. The word "Mafia" conjures up images of the sinister and mysterious - scenes of the sort where Luca Brasi meets his fate. Francis Ford Coppola has tapped into this fascination and woven it as yet another element of the many that make his motion picture a compelling experience.