joining the underworld

Rating: 10/10 (14 November 2013)

The Godfather is a great film made with gusto. Most of the participants are at their career best. Nina Rota's magnificent score and Francis Ford Coppola's direction tie things together very well.
Al Pacino is the greatest performer of a top-shelf cast. The decision to cast him as Michael is a stroke of cinematic genius. (Supposedly, Marlon Brando threatened to quit if Pacino wasn't cast, and this tipped the scales in Pacino's favor.)
Another diminutive actor playing Michael might have emulated James Cagney a bit, with bounce and swagger in his step. Pacino never seems worried about his physical stature; instead, his Michael is very articulate. Pacino and Brando are putting on a Method acting show; and their chemistry together is sublime.
The Godfather foreshadows Michael's destiny exquisitely. For example, consider the hospital sequence. Michael enters a room looking for the detectives protecting his father and we hear the musical soundtrack repeating the number "two." Michael opens the hospital door to his father's room--and it is clearly marked with the number two. The association of the number two with Vito when Michael is present foreshadows the rise of Michael in the family business. (That is, Michael is #1.) In addition, the actor playing Enzo the baker (Gabriele Torrei) has a strong resemblance to Pacino. When Michael throws Enzo's carnations away (on the steps outside the hospital) this is another clue that Michael is destined to chuck away the lover boy side of him and rise in the underworld.
Marlon Brando's performance is a lightning rod for criticism, praise and satire. It is difficult to imagine any other actor of his time portraying Don Vito with all the knowing looks and gestures that Brando makes. It is another brave portrayal from Brando.
The conflict between brothers Sonny (James Caan) and Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) is well explored. Sonny is all testosterone and action while Tom Hagen is cautious and inexperienced in underworld affairs. Since Hagen is adopted, he is both an insider and an outsider. The audience needs him to help understand the Sicilian logic at play.
Having seen The Godfather dozens of times, it is fun pointing out the implausibility with the story. For example, it seems very hard to believe that a brother-in-law, already having been savagely smacked around in public for hitting his wife, would beat her again knowing that his wife's hot-headed brother would chase after him without his bodyguards. How much could Carlo have been paid to willingly absorb the risk that his brother-in-law exercises usual caution?
Another implausible is that Barzini is doing something in public the day of the Baptism. Forgetting that Baptisms usually occur on a Sunday, what happens to Michael if Barzini is staying at home that day?
The Godfather has us rooting for Michael even as he descends into evil. The transformation that Michael makes is shared by the viewer; we are also joining a criminal conspiracy. It is a uniquely memorable and pleasurable ride.