A great, but flawed, morality tale

Rating: Null/10 (6 July 2002)

Since its release in 1972, The Godfather has become firmly embedded in popular culture due in no small part to Marlon Brando's mannerisms, exaggerated jaw line, and the film's rhythmic dialogue. It has therefore rightly earned its position as a classic in American cinematic history. However, its fame may have had an unfortunate and unintended side effect of glorifying organized (as opposed to disorganized, indiscriminate) crime by raising it to an almost "noble profession" for some. Despite the sociological impact, the film's music, cinematography, and authentic period cars and clothes were very effective. While the film has a clear and unmistakable pace at which dialogue is delivered and scenes are developed, which succeeds in holding the viewer's attention, the pace is undeniably slow and the film is long. Yet the characters are interesting and the film will hold your interest.
At its core, this film is about an Italian-American family trying to modify its business practices to survive in an uncertain and rapidly evolving world but in the process continues its tradition of "violence as honor," while aligning itself to religious principles it does not share for in the "Godfather's world" another religion in practiced, a religion which revolves around money, power, and honor of family and turf. Make no mistake, this is a good film and Francis Ford Coppola deserves credit for his direction and screenwriting, but in my view it does not earn the 10/10 that thousands of IMDb voters have given it for the following reason: When the plot is boiled down to its essential elements, it's just a story about one highly dysfunctional family confronted by a changing society, the demise of an old world, and relentless problems with neighbors and neighborhoods. This is a common theme used in many different ways in innumerable films before and after The Godfather's release, so this aspect does not differentiate The Godfather from many other films in Mafioso and other dramatic genres.

For me, a fundamental problem existed with the subplots of honor and family. While there is a strong "honor code" which everyone in "the family" is compelled to hold to great esteem, i.e. respect for the family, its traditions, its business interests, and the expectation and necessity of showing the utmost respect for the head of the family (which is certainly not uncommon among Aboriginal, Semitic and East and Southeast Asian traditions), when it comes right down to it this is just a thin veneer to cover all of the nasty deeds the family is involved in, e.g. corruption, racketeering, gambling, intimidation, and retaliatory murders to even the score. Except for drugs and prostitution, most crimes are well within the inventory of the family business, despite early protestations to the contrary by Michael Corleone (played by a young, almost unrecognizable Al Pacino) whose personality is transformed over the course of the film's trials and tribulations only to have him emerge as a sadistic aspiring re-builder of the Corleone empire.
Without giving away the plot, an aspect of the film appeared obvious in its intent. One of the key reasons for Don Vito Corleone's 45-film-minutes of slumber (the result of being comatose after an attempt on his life) was to serve as a device at mid-point to summarize early plot developments courtesy of 'Consigliore' Robert Duvall for both Brando's and the audience's benefit. This seemed intentional to underscore the significant impact of events in the first half of the family's saga to those of the rest of the film.

The Godfather is an interesting and deservedly controversial morality tale about one immigrant family's traditions and its continuous power struggles, but because of plot and thematic elements mentioned above, I give it an 8/10, which isn't bad at all.