Francis Ford Coppola brings an empire of crime to life in classic fashion.

Rating: Null/10 (6 June 2016)

Everyone at some point will see "The Godfather" unless they live under a rock. This classic beginning of an epic trilogy beholds a crime story unlike any other for one reason: it doesn't view the crimes as crimes. Francis Ford Coppola shows the business end behind the Italian mafia after WW II. Don Corleone (Marlon Brando) passes his organized crime dynasty to to his reluctant son Michael (Al Pacino) after tensions rise between his fellow Mafia families. This epic reflects a struggle between a family caught up in crime and portrays the consequences that erupt due to such activity. Coppola engages audiences with the settings he portrays with wonderful music and camera work that helps tension rise and lets viewers experience the characters' emotions. Unlike many other films made in the seventies, "The Godfather" gets its production value right. It has fantastic costumes and sets that allow you to engage in the characters' conflicts. But what this film does best is show the devastation of a family enlisted in a horrible business that can prove fatal. It makes you rethink everything you know about mafia and show a humanized version of real people who, due to their family, end up doing bad things. This isn't a film about bad people. It's a film about people doing bad things, all in the name of business.