The Godfather

Rating: 9/10 (3 May 2012)

A defining film in the history of cinema, The Godfather introduced a legendary filmmaker and several acting greats in the telling of an Italian American dynasty undone by the tragic circumstances of their criminal exploits.
Of the many themes which The Godfather touches upon, it is that of "family" which resonates the most. The film is based upon the novel by Mario Puzo (who co-wrote the screenplay) and many sub-plots were minimized or thrown away by director/co-writer Francis Ford Coppola, himself an Italian American and family man. He knew that the only way to make Puzo's sprawling novel work on screen was to focus on the familial relationships within this crime story, whether it be father to son, brother to brother, or husband to wife. In this world blood is not only thicker than water, it is holy.
Coppola opens the films with an interesting shot of a pitch black screen giving way to a desperate figure, an undertaker pleading to Mafioso patriarch Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) to revenge the savage beating of his daughter. It is the wedding day of the lone Corleone daughter Connie (Talia Shire), and no Sicilian can refuse a request, which Don Vito takes on with reason, while also subtlety enforcing his position as a man to be respected and feared.
Brando's casting was a coup for Coppola, for three reasons. First, it exhibited the brilliance and innovation of Brando's thespian prowess, creating a wholly new mafia figure within a world of stereotype. Second, it re-established Brando's standing as a major player after years of being labeled "box-office poison". And third, it points to Brando's influence as "godfather" to a generation of actors, many which play his children in this film.
Plot wise, The Godfather begins with the attempted assassination of Don Vito from a rival crime family unhappy with his refusal to enter the narcotics trade. With the Don temporarily out of the picture, it is up to his sons to run the Corleone clan. There is hot tempered Sonny (James Caan), meek mild Fredo (John Cazale), adopted son of Irish ancestry Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), and the fiercely independent Michael (Al Pacino).
It would be Michael who comes through as successor, and as a result The Godfather is as much Pacino's film as it is Brando's, introducing himself with a revelation of a performance.