THE GODFATHER

Gaining an Oscar for best actor for Marlon Brando, an Oscar for best screenplay and an Oscar for best picture at the Academy Awards for 1972 pictures, THE GODFATHER has become a modern classic of rich characterizations and almost mythic qualities concerning organized crime among an Italian-American family following the second world war. Now released with digitally re-mastered sound, this violent and gritty drama suffers from an apparent lack of visual restoration, having washed out color and including no additional footage or scenes.

The story remains the same. At the start, Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) receives visitors into his private study at his New York home, while a party outside celebrates the wedding of his daughter Connie (Talia Shire). One such visitor, an undertaker, begs Corleone for “justice” (revenge), against the thugs who raped his daughter. Corleone says, “these men will be dealt with.” At the party, we meet Vito’s sons, college-educated and suave Michael, played by Al Pacino, and the volatile Sonny, played by James Caan.

We see the muscle of the Corleone family when Don Vito sends his adopted son, Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), to Hollywood to persuade a film producer to hire the Frank Sinatra type character, named Johnny Fontaine (Al Martino ) for a new production. Tom places the severed head of a prized racehorse in the bed of the producer, and Johnny gets the role. When a rival gang introduces narcotics into the crime circle, Don Vito balks at including it in his operations. Hence, he is gunned down, but not killed. A second hit team comes to finish the job, but Michael stands guard and thwarts these efforts. This infuriates a police chief who has been paid off by a rival gang. The police chief beats up Michael.

Michael conducts “business”, kills the police chief and heads into exile in Sicily. While Michael hides in Italy, Sonny is brutally gunned down in America. Don Vito recovers slightly and consents to narcotics, but then he dies. Michael comes back to head up the family business. Michael’s cool, educated exterior makes him a perfect instrument of intimidation and power. Insiders who betrayed the Corleone family are removed, and the heads of the other five crime families are murdered in cold blood, while Michael gives allegiance to God during his child’s Catholic baptism.

With a running time of over 3 hours, this movie contains extensive and rich detail of the Corleone family. Rebuked at the time of its production by Italians and Italian Americans, it not only celebrates one aspect of Italian culture, but it also implies that the whole of organized crime is controlled by Italians. Mob movies had been made before in the past, but no movie painted such a clear picture of how the mob operated.

One of the most talked-about aspects of this movie is the special effects make-up applied to a 47 year-old Marlon Brando to make him appear in his 60’s. His persona and voice characterizations have been imitated in parody ever since. This movie also launched the career of Al Pacino who has subsequently acted in many gangster movies such as SCARFACE, CARLITO’S WAY and the recent DONNIE BRASCO. A movie full of detail and ironies, it also represents a major high point of Francis Ford Coppola’s directing career.

Of course, the hallmark of this movie is the violence. It has many instances of brutality and gunfire. It serves as the springboard for even greater violence in movies like GOODFELLAS and CASINO.

In THE GODFATHER, the violence is all part of the family business. One of the great ironies which pervade the film is that the Corleones try to present themselves as legitimate and even moral. One of the most revered scenes in American cinematic history comes near the end, when, at Michael‘s direction, many mob leaders are killed as Michael vows to serve God and renounce Satan. What could be more evil than murder and who could be more hypocritical than a man pretending to be a member of the Christian faith while he endorses murder? This shocking contrast is one of the great attractions of this film, where moviegoers want to see violence perpetrated not by low-life thugs, but by a distinguished family. Ultimately, the story is a morality tale about the downfall of a hero, who is corrupted by the violent, evil men and circumstances around him.