Okay. This one I was a little bit nervous about because I made watching The Godfather for the first time ever into a bit of a molehill… I mean mountain. But I can’t be blamed. It’s #2 on the IMDb Top 250 AND #2 on AFI’s Best Films list. Throw in 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and suddenly I’m terrified it’s gonna blow my brains out with cinematic magic.
But I had seen gangster films before. Goodfellas (1990), Scarface (1932), Miller’s Crossing (1990), many gangster films follow the same tropes that sometimes to me feel a little “You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.” - Singin’ In The Rain
But I guess one thing The Godfather has done to set itself apart from the rest is that it has left a lasting impression on pop culture in almost every form of media. For example, Vito Corleone, a wealthy Italian American gangster who is the Don of his family, is introduced in the opening scene on his daughter’s wedding day. All day he listens to requests from members of the family, and without having ever seen the movie, I recognized almost every line.
But now you come to me and say Don Corleone, you must give me justice. And you don't ask in respect or friendship. And you don't think to call me Godfather; instead you come to my house on the day my daughter is to be married and you ask me to do murder...for money.
One character randomly mentions that no Sicilian man can refuse a request made to him on his daughter’s wedding day. Who knew? But the long opening scene does a good job setting the stage: 1945, New York. The Five Families, the name of the five leading Italian American families that run the city with corruption and greed, are on the verge of war. Vito Corleone, played by Marlon Brando, is the most powerful, with politicians, police officers, lawyers, and judges in his pockets.
Marlon Brando is acting talent incarnate. With a career spanning several decades, he was at the forefront of introducing the Stanislavsky method of acting, which he learned from Stella Adler, to the big screen. But unfortunately, this film finds him at the ripe old age of 48.
A real shame.
They sure do.
Anyway. So Vito Corleone is getting old, and as the war between the five families gets more intense, Vito’s youngest son, a war hero named Michael, played by Al Pacino, gets dragged into the family business.
The depth to the story is watching this poor boy who wanted nothing more than to distance himself from the corruption of his family, but he finds himself getting nothing but sucked deeper into the drama.
His Diane Keaton girlfriend finds herself at a crossroads too as she realizes the person her boyfriend is becoming.
Which to me is all very interesting considering the role Italian-Americans played in 20th century American history. As family is weighted so heavily in the culture (and in the film), you can really see how an entire culture of impoverished immigrants did anything they could to secure their place in the new world. Not that I’m condoning the gangsters of the 20th century and their behavior. It’s just very interesting, and makes great entertainment.
Also fun tidbit. Marlon Brando and Al Pacino both boycotted the 1973 Academy Awards, for which The Godfather received 3 honors after being nominated for 10 (It won Best Picture). Marlon Brando won for Best Actor, but he instead had Native American Rights Activist Sacheen Littlefeather accept it and make a statement about the unjust depiction of Native Americans in film.
Pacino on the other hand, who was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Lead Actor in a Drama, boycotted the Academy Awards because he was placed in the Best Supporting Actor category, and he had more screen time than his co-star Brando. He lost that too.
No comments:
Post a Comment