Mario Puzo's soapy Mafia saga

Rating: 8/10 (23 February 2005)

Think epic novel crossed with Mafia speak.
Imagine excellent cinematography and direction, a great musical theme, violence, tragedy, spectacle, and the family, and a cast which can't be faulted, and here you have a film which fits the bill on all counts.
Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando in one of his greatest roles, one which he supposedly didn't initially want to play) is the powerful Mafia Don we meet early in the film. He has three sons (Sonny - James Caan; Fredo - John Cazale; and Michael - Al Pacino) and a daughter (Talia Shire), and an adopted son (Tom Hagen - Robert Duvall). These are his beloved family and the centre of his world. His day job involves building his empire by making 'offers you can't refuse'.
'The Godfather' was the first film in a trilogy following the fortunes of the Corleone family, and I think the best. It has some well-presented set pieces (Connie's wedding; Sonny's murder; Michael's killing of family enemies in the restaurant; the horse's head in the bed; and Vito's death while playing with his grand-child) and is extremely well-written. The novel itself was more soapy, a work of pulp fiction - the film pulls it together and gives it a bit more class.
I particularly like the characterisations of Vito and his sons. Vito is assured in his role at the head of the premier Mafia family. Sonny is a vain libertine who is hot-headed. Fredo is a weak disappointment. Michael takes his place in the family when he has to (in fact throughout the three films he is shown to be far more ruthless than any of his relatives).
Is 'The Godfather' the greatest film ever made? No, but it is one of the best. Certainly in the top 10 films of the 1970s.