prefer the deniro flashbacks

Rating: Null/10 (15 August 2002)

someone made the comment that he didn't understand why the flashbacks to don corleone's rise to power (with de niro as don vito) were included, that it romanticized the Mob. i think the reason that we have the 2 stories is that they parallel each other. while we are seeing how michael corleone is developing as a mob boss and as a man, and what forces are shaping him, we also see the same things in his father's early life - how don vito reacted to events, how he made plans and how he became the man he was. although both men lived a life of crime the difference in the two is striking and real - don vito worked his way out of poverty and immigration and tried to help his fellow italians in a way that seemed to work for him. don vito never lost his sense of caring for people in general and that they depended on him.he never lost his love for his family. he never lost the common touch, the things that would endear a man to a community and win their loyalty. when we look at michael in his criminal growth we see he becomes a completely different man - cold, ruthless, uncaring and increasingly isolated both from his family and from the greater community. don vito actually served, however wrongfully, a purpose in his community and did some good - he provided political and financial assistance, and a basic justice to many people who would have been denied it otherwise. michael corleone however is just a nasty, vicious, unfeeling, opportunist who does not have the same human touch his father did. and i think that is the main revelation of the 2 movies and why we have the flashbacks. frankly i prefer the first movie, and the flashbacks in the 2nd movie - don vito was a better man.