Many years ago, when the author of this review had to rely only on cinemas and television as the source of cinematic knowledge, he was intrigued by the word "godfather", featured in many movies and television shows as the synonym for organised crime. The use of the word didn't stop there - many movies were branded "godfathers" by their distributors, in order to bring the audience hungry for intelligent and spectacular drama about gangster organisations. Fascination with the word and the film which inspired their use grew with years. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see the first film before being exposed to the second. Nevertheless, my first viewing of The Godfather was indeed a memorable experience—years of waiting actually paid off in three hours of cinematic feast.
In many ways, The Godfather follows the same pattern of many cinematic classics which were made in times or circumstances that are no longer with us. It was made in the era when Old Hollywood collapsed, and the new rules hadn't been established. The studios were willing to experiment and to give the film-makers free rein over their projects. One such filmmaker was Francis Ford Coppola, who made one of the most intimate, yet most universally appealing films of all time; the film which earned its cult status by satisfying both the high standards of snobbish critics and the simple needs of the general audience. The greatness of the film can't be seen only in the success that followed it in the last quarter of a century; it could be even more tangible in a series of references, imitations and hidden remakes created by Coppola's colleagues through the years.
Almost every scene in the film is memorable, but for many the most effective is the opening—in a dark room, Bonasera (Salvatore Corsitto), an Italian undertaker, said that he believed in America and its values; but only minutes later, his speech gave another spin on the beliefs in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness—they shattered when confronted with the humiliating and unpunished rape of his daughter. In order to see justice done, Bonasera is forced to ask a favour from his godfather, the powerful Mafia figure Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), using the marriage of Don Vito's daughter Connie (Talia Shire) as an opportunity to win over the mobster's heart. The wedding itself is a good opportunity to meet Don Vito's sons, family and friends. Don Vito has three sons—Sonny (James Caan), whose macho temperament is nicely combined with the calm wisdom of his adopted brother and family advisor Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall); hedonistic Fredo (John Cazale); and, finally, college-educated Michael (Al Pacino), whose disgust with the violence and crime forced him to leave the family and attend the wedding as a decorated WWII hero. However, Michael's reluctance to engage in the family business gets tested soon after the wedding. Angered by Don Vito's refusal to engage in narcotics operations, other Mafia families from New York organised the attempt on his life; simply by trying to protect his father, Michael gets drawn into the war and slowly becomes a rising member of his crime organisation.
Since both the real-world Mafia and numerous Italian-American organisations actually tried to stop this movie from being made or distributed, it is quite ironic to see The Godfather as a source not of numerous film clichés that actually portray the Mafia as a social element more benign than in real life (mobsters as devout family men; violence exists only between its members and doesn't affect the general and innocent population; opposition to drugs, etc.). It is even more surprising to see The Godfather not only as an inspiration to other, less original, filmmakers, but also to the real-world gangsters who tried to imitate the appearance of his main characters. However, although the film might seem a little bit apologetic towards the Mafia, and definitely has an insider's point of view, it still has the flavour of authenticity, necessary for the viewer to have a critical attitude towards the characters and their morally questionable actions.
The authenticity of the film isn't just in some references towards real-life mobsters and mob-related stories and urban legends. Coppola worked very hard to capture the way of life in his native Italian-American community, and also invested a lot of effort in order to have his epic story, which takes place in the late 1940s and early 1950s, firmly set in that time period through production design, costumes, hairstyles and soundtrack which is well balanced with the original music of Nino Rota, which also became one of the identifying symbols of the film.
The most memorable element of the film is its actors. Marlon Brando, almost washed-up in the time when he made The Godfather, gave the performance of his life by playing Vito Corleone—his role was so grand that the actor himself parodied it in The Freshman. Although obviously shadowed by Brando, the other actors were also impressive. Among them, Al Pacino, who had to work hardest by portraying the slow transformation of the lead character, shines most brightly, and his role of Michael paved the way for his future as one of the best serious film actors in contemporary American cinema. The calmness of Pacino's character—calmness that crumbles under emotion only in brief moments of family crisis—was so in contrast with the emotional outbursts that would become Pacino's trademark in the years to come.
The other actors might not be in Brando's or Pacino's league, but they benefited from Coppola's good casting and also gave the roles of their lives simply by being in this film, so well-written and directed. The only exception to this is James Caan, who works well in the role given to him, but whose all-American appearance seems rather out of place with the more or less ethnically pure Italian-American cast. Despite that shortcoming (one and perhaps the only one in the entire Godfather), the cast is really more than impressive, although many actors and actresses later didn't live up to their potential indicated by their performance in this film.
Those who like analysing movies to death would probably ask why The Godfather kept its cult status through the quarter of a century. There were many well-made, well-directed and well-acted films produced in the years before and after, but it seems that only The Godfather stood the test of time and kept the imagination of the future filmgoers. The reason might probably be in the universal subject of the film; although it shows a rather obscure and ethnically isolated phenomenon, the messages of The Godfather can be translated into all the world's languages and applied to other systems in different times and places. The film portrays both society and individuals who lost their freedom because they were too insecure or unprepared for responsibility; just as the poor Italian immigrants had to rely on the Mafia to overcome the difficulties of the New World (like Bonasera in the opening sequence), Michael is forced to join the family because he, despite all his efforts, cannot live in an insecure world outside his father's omnipotent shadow. And even when he actually becomes his father (in a brilliant and most memorable final shot), the freedom is lost—omnipotence and freedom are just an illusion, because with the power comes both the responsibility and the never-ending task of keeping that power. The story of this film could have taken place everywhere in the world, and that explains why people will associate with its characters for many decades to come.
RATING: 9/10 (++++)
(Note: The original text was posted in Usenet newgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on August 27th 1998)
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