Godfather, The (1972)
“I need a man who has powerful friends.”
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Synopsis: |
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Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:
Response to Peary’s Review:
… “employs different styles of cinematography and music according to time and setting, and introduces numerous characters in and out of the family,” all while keeping this nearly-three-hour-long film “coherent and consistently exciting.”
He points out that the extended opening sequence — “when godfather Vito Corleone… hosts the lavish wedding of his only daughter” and we “meet the many people in Corleone’s immediately and extended family,” including “family lawyer Tom (Robert Duvall), who is like Corleone’s fourth son”:
— “reveals the secret of the film’s success: Coppola doesn’t rush through his scenes so that he can squeeze every event from the book into his film,” instead having “fewer scenes but mak[ing] them count by making it clear who his characters are, how they act with each other, and what their allegiances are, providing time for even his less important characters to make strong audience impressions.”
Peary notes that the film shows the Corleones succeeding “because they are as shrewd and monstrous as their opposition,” with the most notable character arc occurring to “newcomer Pacino” as Michael Corleone rather than Best-Actor-Winning Brando, whose “character dominates the proceedings even when he isn’t on the screen.”
Among the “numerous classic sequences” in this film are “the opening in which Corleone first utters his famous ‘We’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse’ and agrees to help a friend of the family do away with the punk who harmed his daughter”:
… “the wedding”:
… “Michael rescuing his father from an assassination attempt in a deserted hospital”:
… “Sonny brutally beating his sister’s abusive husband”:
SPOILERS AHEAD … “Michael assassinating a policeman (Sterling Hayden) and a top man with a rival family in a restaurant”:
… “a Hollywood director (John Marley) finding the head of his $500,000 horse in his bed”:
… and “Corleone’s death scene.”
Most impressive of all, however, “is the brilliantly edited Corleone massacre sequences (one of several scenes with savage violence), in which the victims are killed at several different locations at the same time.”
Peary expands upon his review in his Alternate Oscars book, where he agrees with the Academy in naming this the Best Picture of the Year (though he nominates Pacino rather than Brando for Best Actor), and points out that the Corleones “are among the most peculiar of movie ‘heroes'” — “monsters” within “their sinister section of the world” who are nonetheless “the nicest guys around.”
Peary’s insights — along with all the many others available online and through DVD extras — are voluminous enough to prevent me from spending more time here on my own review; feel free simply to (re)watch this genuine classic knowing it deserves its fame (and stay tuned for my take on its equally lauded sequel). Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:
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(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) Links: |
