Il padrino

Up until today, I haven't bothered to review "The Godfather". After all, everyone pretty much knows it's one of the greatest films ever made. It's #2 on IMDb's Top 100. It won the Best Picture Oscar. And, there are nearly 1600 reviews on IMDb. So what's one more review?! Well, after completing 14,000 reviews (because I am nuts), I guess it's time I got around to reviewing a film I should have reviewed a long time ago. So, here goes....the film is perfect and only a dope wouldn't watch it. Unfortunately, IMDb requires me to say more to meet it's 10 line minimum for reviews. So, I'll point out that you do NOT need to like gangster films to enjoy this film. Yes, it's violent and nasty in spots--but it's also brilliantly written and produced from start to finish and deserves the accolades it's received.

My advice is that instead of just watching "The Godfather" and "The Godfather: Part II", see the combined version they created for television--with additional scenes that made it a very rich experience.

I love this movie and all of the GF movies. I see something new every time I have seen it (countless, truly). The story of tragedy and (little) comedy that exists in this film is easily understood by people all over the world. This film has been called an American story however I have met others who have seen this movie in other languages and they seem to have the same love and appreciation for it that I do. I love the characters and all of the different personalities that they represent not just in families but in society itself. It seems like the entire cast is part of every other movie that I love as well. The sounds, music, color and light in the film are just as much a part of the film as the people. This could be attributed to the method in which it was filmed. At many parts of the film I can still find myself feeling the emotions conveyed in the film. I never tire of appreciating this film. I thank God that FFC is an American treasure. We are fortunate to have him.

It is now past 1 PM and I just finished watching Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather". I should probably go to bed. It's late and tomorrow I have to wake up a bit early. But not early enough to postpone writing these lines. Now that I have seen it three times, the opportunity of sharing my thoughts and refreshed insights are too much of a good offer to sit on. So, bear with me.

This film works so well because it takes place in an underworld in which we are so embedded that we do not even observe it. Coppola puts us straight in the smack-dab center of what is, admittedly, a society made by criminals for criminals. It is also the reason why it's so welcoming. We are surrounded by its inhabitants--cold-blooded murderers, men who see crime like a 9 to 5 job masquerading as honorable men. And I do mean men. From the outside, we would only witness the horrifying, disturbing manifestations of their well-thought out actions.

But it goes even deeper than that. It all revolves around the Corleone family led by Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando). He is the most honest of these men, sitting right on the edge. But for people like him, who do not fully embrace this world, it's not easy. He avoids conflict until it is absolutely necessary. He is a man defined by moral principles. There is a scene at the beginning, in which, during his daughter's wedding day, one of his associates, Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana) practices his speech that he is going to give to the Don when he meets him. The scene with these two is funny and almost adorable. I could not help but sympathize both of them only to realize that I am feeling warmth for two mobsters. Not to even mention that Lenny Montana was an actual mob hit-man and that he was actually nervous as he said that line.

The more I watched the more I realized just how incredibly complex and ruthless this society is and how it has the power to corrupt anyone to come in contact with it. The best example is Corleone's youngest son, Michael (Al Pacino). He returns home for his sister's wedding as a war hero dressed the part with his long-time girlfriend, Kay Adams (Diane Keaton). At first, he avoids this underworld, but necessity, first-hand exposure and just its sheer devilish appealing nature draws him in. As we get further in the film, the change is shocking and every outsider who ever got close to him is tainted in one way or another. If they survive it, they are drawn in as well as we are as viewers.

Inside, Coppola exposes the family to us fully, with a bold personal approach and we witness every discussion, every methodically calculated choice. Crime is done simply because it is the nature of their business, and we are put on a chair alongside them, so we easily relate. For us, they are the good guys, the rival families are the bad guys. This is the greatest feat this film managed to pull off--set apart good guys and bad guys in a world filled with bad guys.

This is a film of unmatched subtlety. No other movie sustains itself as good. No other film is done with such precision, attention and completeness. There are many layers which I probably missed and maybe will never notice. But I felt them. What director Francis Ford Coppola and his partner in crime (poor choice of words, sorry) Mario Puzo did is nothing short of a timeless piece of reference cinema whose influence is not based on reinventing the wheel, but rather perfecting it to the absolute maximum.

Most masterpieces are remembered for their historical contributions. "Citizen Kane" brought the biggest step-up to the art form, the same things did "Gone With the Wind" or "2001: A Space Odyssey". "The Godfather" is one of the few films that will be remembered simply because they are that good and I cannot possibly imagine a greater achievement.

A masterclass in film making, is The Godfather a contender for the best film of all time? I'd argue the case that it is, this is the ultimate gangster movie.

Before you panic at the thought of a film being almost three hours long, you needn't, you won't even notice the time, it flies by.

Production values are incredible, it looks sublime the whole way through, it's so well produced, at roughly fifty years old it puts many new films to shame.

Brandon, Pacino and Castellano, just a few of the Incredible performances, I could add a whole lot more.

If you're considering buying a hard copy, I would recommend it on blu ray, it is sharper than the dvd, there is a difference.

This film has had a huge influence down the years, it is still, and will forever be, one of the greatest, 10/10.

THE GODFATHER is quite simply a masterful piece of film-making, an epic in the truest sense of the word and by far the finest gangster film ever shot. Made with finesse, style to spare and a director who elicits pitch-perfect performances from a talented cast, this is movie-making as it should be.

Yes, it's a very long film and yes, some sections are quite slow. Nevertheless, none of the film is any less than riveting. The story - of a father/son takeover in one of New York's major Italian Mafia families - is fairly straight forward, and yet Francis Ford Coppola turns it into something else so much more; a meditation on the human condition, perhaps.

Certainly this is a film that explores the darker side of humanity. Jealousy, betrayal, anger and revenge are all key themes here, and the film is inevitably punctuated by moments of graphic and shocking violence. And I'm glad Coppola chooses not to shy away from the said violence, which makes it all the more gritty and realistic when it does happen.

Marlon Brando takes the showrunner role here, the patriarch who's past his prime, but it's easy to spot the real star of the piece: Al Pacino, who burns up the screen with sheer ferocity. Robert Duvall is easy to miss in a quieter part, but watch out for James Caan whose volatile Sonny is one of the film's most engaging characters. Altogether this is a splendid and unforgettable piece of film-making, which inevitably spawned sequels and a whole gamut of similar gangster fare, but THE GODFATHER towers head and shoulders above them all.