It's still as fresh and still as enthralling even now.

Rating: 8/10 (10 March 2009)

Such is the outlandishness and exuberance of The Godfather, that it is able to branch one of its more lower key characters off onto a tangent that is detached from the primary narrative strand based in New York, in the 1950s and sees the film revolve around the Corleone Family; and have this character shifted to the Italian island of Sicily as he lays low; meets new people and ultimately feels raw human emotion. He learns this through falling in love and suffering a sudden tragedy, an event that shocks both him and us, the audience. Such is the grand scope of the film whilst the character is Michael Corleone, the actor is Al Pacino and the film is The Godfather, a setting up of a grand tale revolving around an organised crime outfit in the latter years of the 20th Century.
Michael is, of course, laying low because of the organised hit on certain individuals he put himself up to back in New York. I think up to that point, Michael had been a character involved, but not in a particularly spectacular manner, in the film but that consequent event and 'hiding' embeds him into 'the life'; it is his own point of no return that captures the essence of loyalty to one's family when the chance arises to show your worth, but at the same time acts as a demonstration of how easily it is for these people to, despite telling most involved that they're 'straight', get involved in the nastier side of life that others close to them are ultimately involved in.
The series' sprawling, but in a good sense, study of life in crime several decades ago begins with 1972's The Godfather and at the rather distinct locale of a wedding, perhaps signifying what all weddings should signify: a beginning, a new beginning as the long and unknown road lies ahead  there will be good times, great times but bad times as we advance into the supposed unknown. Such is a synopsis of either Mafia life and the healthy-one-minute-dead-the-next ideation of life in organised crime as well as life following marriage as you venture off into the next chapter with 'the one' at your side. The scenic and pleasant setting of the wedding sees the film immediately establish a juxtaposition of the pleasant; of the upbeat and of the enjoyable clashing with the fact behind closed doors, despite the occasion, gangsters lurk discussing sordid prior activity and acts of brutal retribution in light of these acts.
Initially, I think we're supposed to assume the film is about the very man sitting in his office; listening to stories delivered by people who do not (cannot) demand, but crave, action. The Don, Vito Corleone (Brando), sits and listens to whether the situation demands attention. Eventually he deems the immediate opening tale worthy of such Mob retaliation but for a favour in the future. There is a certain nonchalance, an establishing of power in these first scenes, that being before it branches out into the wedding and then into life amongst the Corleone family itself. Additionally, it is said that Vito has contacts in the music industry while a certain humane side to Vito is brought through via the fact it's established he brought into the family an orphan off of the street.
But while Vito is the most powerful and the most inspirational character in the film, it isn't necessarily about him. Indeed, early on his adopted son Tom Hagen (Duvall) is engaging with others more than most others, a right hand-man for Vito and a lawyer all the same as he hears and helps deal with the issues and problems that arise for the family. But no, the film isn't really about him either rather it is about organised crime as a whole and how it engulfs these people and what they do. Too much happens in the film to list here, but it is a film driven not by pre-figured plot routines but by acts of honour, betrayal and the realistic decisions made by characters we believe are true to life or 'real'. They act on impulse but stay true to the consistency of their mindsets with Michael's sudden urge to take part in an organised 'hit' acting as a particular event, not because Michael is any sort of protagonist and must propel action, but because prior events to do with a targeted and consequentially injured character and Michael's attitudes to this injured character have built up a certain antagonism within Michael's usually cool mindset.
Amongst all this, Michael's romance with a woman named Kay (Keaton) is slotted in rather nicely and, like everything else, is developed at its own pace with assured direction from Coppola. The film doesn't really posses an overly complicated narrative and the events are told in a linear format, but the achievement is in getting across this epic sense of progression. It is the getting under the skin of a lifestyle that we watch, the emotional and natural progression of a family, only difference being that this family are a New York based Mafia organisation but with an equally fascinating tale to tell.