Why this is the best Mafia movie ever

Rating: 10/10 (9 August 1999)

Coppola's intense films are the stuff of legend and the sweeping drama of the Corleone family that was begun in this film is no exception. The script is well written by Coppola and Puzo, who wrote the book, the acting is superb, and the little things like the lighting and the music add to the intensity and the drama of this film. Al Pacino in pretty much his first role is superb as the straight war hero son of the Corleone Family who gets drawn into the "business" when his father is attacked. Brando and Caan as well as Robert Duvall also deliver great performances. The scene that sticks with you like the Baptism when Michael is having his enemies killed and its flashing back and forth between murders and the Catholic Baptism in Latin owing to the pre Vatican II setting is superb. An excellent film well deserving of being ranked 3rd all time by the AFI. The lighting is a superbly done job of being dark but light illuminating certain things much like a painting from the Dutch Master Rembrandt. All due respect to Blake Edwards but this movie is a "10"