Joshua McCleerey
Ekeama Goddard
English 106 section
March 31,2008
The God Father part 1: Leave the gun. Take the cannoli
5/5 stars!
The Godfather is based on the book by Mario Puzo . The movie starts off with a wedding. You quickly see however that the family is into organized crime- in this case the Italian mafia. Don Vito Corleone (the head of his crime syndicate and his family) is eventually shot but not killed raising the tension between all the other Italian crime families. Although the second oldest son is set to take the mantel of leading the organization, after the shooting its becomes clear that Sonny is too emotional. With the oldest , Fredo, being considered unfit for taking on the leadership role, it is left to Michael Corleone to very reluctantly to take the mantle of leadership of the Corleone family and help it survive in a quickly changing era. As Michael begins to lead the business he begins trying to lead them into a new direction and new place for the future of the family.
This is by far a masterpiece film. Although there is plenty of action, unlike other “mobster” films this one paints a harsh reality of organized crime. Hiding out, family deaths, corruption and betrayal are all dangerous and a part of how organized crime works. Although the story seems at the beginning to focus on Vito Corleone, the movie itself focuses far more on Michael turning down his life away from the family business. One of the aspects that makes this film worth five stars rather than four is the transformation of Michael from when you first see him at the wedding and the Michael you see at the very end of the movie.
The genre of this movie would almost certainly have to be drama. The action sequences come second to the tense and harsh struggles of the Corleone family. Romance in the movie plays a very small part. When so much of the focus is on the decisions of characters classifies it as drama in my opinion.
The acting in this moves is fantastic also. I can not even picture most of the characters played by others as well. Marlon Brando( Vito Corleone) does an excellent job and makes the audience see just how much power is behind the harsh whispery voice or the frail looking movements. This gives you feeling that the guy is so used to power that he no longer needs to show it. This is doubly shown when those outside the family speak to him in something beyond a formal tone that is closer to reverence.
There are several other parts about this movie that make its claim as an epic true. The music in this movie is superb matching the tone and feeling of the movie perfectly. That they kept the time period the same as the book and had very believable props and backdrops for that time add to this movies sense of realism greatly. Also, the scenes dealing with Italy directly are excellent. I have never been to Italy, but when you mention small towns in Italy, the way its presented in The Godfather is the mental picture I get. Al Pacino (Michael Corleone) does an excellent job of showing the change in Michael and creates a feeling of similarity with his father. It also creates the feeling that he was always meant to be the successor whether he or his father wanted it or not.