It truly is one of the greatest films of all time

Rating: Null/10 (14 April 2009)

Despite the film's now legendary status, I had only watched The Godfather for the first time yesterday. I've seen plenty of later crime films that were obviously inspired by it, so I was worried that the plot might become predictable for me due to my exposure to later inspired crime films. After my disappointment with classics like Citizen Kane and The Shawshank Redemption (both very good films but I wouldn't consider them to be among the greatest) last month, I was also worried The Godfather might not live up to my expectations. By the time I was 45 minutes into the film, I was completely gripped by the film's unpredictable plot and the lives of the characters, and it just kept getting better as the film progressed.
The plot shocked and surprised me at every twist and turn, and the film managed to keep me emotionally attached to the characters without anything ever feeling forced. Francis Ford Coppola's direction was brilliant in this regard, with dramatic events in the film simply shown as matter-of-fact, without any of the over-dramatization you often see in later crime films. The writing by Mario Puzo and Coppola was also brilliant, with plenty of foreshadowing right from the very beginning of the film.
Another aspect of the film which stood out was how it wasn't simply centred around a main protagonist with the others having minor roles, but nearly the entire cast was well-developed to a high degree. Despite the powerhouse performances by Marlin Brando as Vito Corleone and by Al Pacino as his son Michael, they never completely overshadowed the other cast members who were also brilliant in their own right, particularly James Caan as the elder son Santino, Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen, Al Lettieri as 'The Turk', and Diane Keaton as Kay. Even relatively minor cast members like Talia Shire as Connie Corleone and Gianni Russo as Carlo were also very believable. It is one of the best ensemble casts I have seen, with many of the actors later going on to become major stars themselves.
The score by Nino Rota was also incredible. Although I was already familiar with the main theme tune, I had no idea it was from The Godfather. The tune now seemed a lot more powerful after watching the film. Nearly everything about The Godfather is spot-on, with hardly any flaws at all. The only flaw I could think of is the first half-hour being a bit slow-paced, but it really doesn't matter to me anymore seeing as how amazing the film turned out to be.
In summary, The Godfather truly does live up to its reputation as one of the greatest films of all time.
10/10