The Greatness of the Godfather

Rating: 10/10 (24 April 2005)

During a normal day in the life, a daughter is getting married, which should be the most proud time for a father. It should be the day when it is all about getting together with the family and enjoy the just married couple... yet Don Corleone has some business to attend to, and during this wedding he offers his help to many people, who needs justice the hard way. Vito Corleone has under-the-table-deals which are just as important to him as protecting his family. The opening scene is about twenty minutes long, where the Godfather setting is established. The raw criminal life of gangsters who must take care of the family as well as the family business. A great bunch of stories are entwined in this movie - stories about family(especially father and son), tradition, criminal life, power, all perfectly combined into one great story about the Godfather. It's well instructed, especially the scene where the Corleones are killing the leaders of the 5 families... it's a robotism, but with the sad church choir music and all the killings going on at the same time, it all seems pretty much like a requiem... Marlon Brando's performance as Vito is outstanding but so is Al Pacino as the son Michael. The movie is filled with great acting which includes Robert Duvall's work as Tom Hagen. The greatness about the Godfather is, that it's a perfectly combined story and very well directing as well! Francis Ford Coppola knows exactly how long a scene should last in order to give all the actors the time they need to show how they master their roles. This is not boring, but on the other hand very exciting as it gives the movie quite an artistic perspective. It goes from being a great movie into being beyond great.. It's a cultural and intelligent masterpiece that takes a lot of patience though but what art doesn't require patience?.... bad art!