The Best movie of all times

Rating: 10/10 (6 September 2006)

The best way to describe The Godfather is flawless in every way that a movie can be flawed. It exceeds expectations of what should be put into a movie from everyone involved.
Coppola directs The Godfather with obsessive precision. Every shot is shown in its own way for a reason, and if something is put into place, it has a purpose. The cinematography for such a small-scale story is breathtaking. The shots of small, old-style Sicily villages and rain-soaked, film noir-ish New York streets are immensely innovative.
With his raspy voice, deliberate movements, and penetrating stare, Brando creates a personage that will be remembered for ever... The line "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse" has reached legendary statues. Brando's Don Corleone is the moral center of the film: a tough, wise, feared old Sicilian who has risen to become an all powerful leader in an empire of Italian-American organized crime.
Al Pacino's gradual and subtle transformation is the heart of the film. From a gentle man to one of the most cunning, ruthless, and cold-blooded man ever to come on the screen, he has learned from his father never to talk in front of outsiders and always keep his own counsel. His commandment: "Never to take sides against the Family." Although there may be no overt condemnation of the moral position of the Mafia, there is implied criticism of its bloodier deeds. All the characters, whatever the crimes of which they may be guilty, are careful to pay lip-service to the Catholic Church and its rituals. Throughout the film (indeed, throughout the trilogy as a whole) the traditional ceremonies of the Church form a backdrop to various criminal activities. ('The Godfather' begins with a wedding and ends with a baptism). It seemed to me that Coppola was using these scenes to make an ironic contrast between the values of organized crime and those of Christianity, especially at the end of the film. Michael, already a 'godfather' in the metaphorical sense of a Mafia boss, becomes one in the literal sense of a baptismal sponsor. Shots of him taking vows on behalf of his godchild to reject the works of the devil are intercut with shots of his enemies being gunned down on his orders.
This is the first and most powerful installment in arguably the best trilogy in the history of film. This movie alone has paved the way for epics and single-handedly created new standards for film-making excellence.