The Godfather Film Critique

Taking more risks and experimentation characterized the film industry at the time with changes in gender roles, the development of civil rights movements and drug use. The God Father, an American based film was first aired in New York theatres on the fifteenth of March in the year 1972. The film has Francis Ford Coppola as its director and Albert S Ruddy as its producer. It is centered on the Eponymous Novel by Mario Puzo published in 1969 had over nine million copies sold within two years. The main stars in the movie are, Marlon Brando and Al Pacino who play roles of leadership in crime. During its period of release, the godfather film became the most profitable film of the year and at a certain time, it was the most profitable film ever made.

It is considered to have the most influence especially in the organized crime and gangster genres. In 1990, the movie was considered for conservancy in the National Film Registry of the US of the Library of Congress. This is because it was reckoned as being aesthetically, culturally and historically significant. Additionally, it is placed second among the paramount films in American film industry by American Film Institute. Vito survives the attempt on his life and another attempt is stopped by his son Michael who later plans to kill Sollozzo and Marc McCluskey, an NYPD captain and Sollozzo’sbodyguard who broke Michael’s jaw. While pretending to settle a dispute, Michael agrees to meet up with the two men at a Bronx restaurant where he retrieves a planted handgun and kills both of them.

The five families then result in an open warfare and in this instance, Vito’s sons are fearing for their lives, for their wellbeing, Michael finds refuge in Sicily where he weds Apollonia Vitelli who dies in a bomb that was intended for Michael, while Fredo is protected by Moe Greene. Carlo is abusive towards Vito’s daughter whom he has married hence, Sonny attacks him on the street and threatens to kill him if at all he continued abusing her. Despite his warnings, Carlo continues to abuse Sonny’s sister, as he speeds towards their home, he is ambushed on the way. However, when the capos arrive, they are now addressing Michael, her husband as Don Corleone. The movie uses numerous techniques which include lighting, cinematography and acting style.

Additionally, there is also the use of design elements such as those of makeup, set design and costuming. These elements of design and techniques are the ones that shape the theme of violence in the movie. These elements work together to show that behind great and extreme riches, there is a crime. The camera position in this scene shows the audience that something bad is about to happen. In the beginning, Michael, Vito’s youngest son is not very much involved in the family business, however, when an attempt is made on his father’s life, he takes the chance to retaliate which results to his jaw being broken by McCluskey a corrupt officer from the NYPD. This later results in Sonny killing one of Tattaglia’s son.

This scene is a continuation of the prevalent violent scenes in the film. Other violent scenes include that which Sonny attacks Carlo and the killing of Sonny when he ambushed on his way to kill Carlo at Carlo’s and Connie’s house after Carlo abuses Connie even after his warning. The film was awarded an Oscar for the Best Picture, Best Actor to Marlon Brando and Best Adapted Screenplay for Puzo the novelist and Coppola the director, and had other several Oscar nominations(Puzo, & 3M Company, 2013). It was a box office blockbuster earning an approximate total of one hundred and forty-two million dollars in theatrical rentals, worldwide. The movie presents mafias as a form of response to a corrupt society which entails Italian cultures and stereotypes including those surrounding gender.

The film has contributed to stereotypes about Italian- American culture through its depiction of Italians and their experience as immigrants. It explains the integration of Italian criminals into the American way of life and systems. A film might manipulate or rather, disgust its audience, it may also warn them of any perceptible future dangers or provide current/ future generations with lessons or solutions to problems from the past. Films are capturing and provide different and diverse views on different facets of life and society. Moreover, reducing a thick novel into few manageable pages of the screenplay has not always been an easy task (Ringle, 2017). Even for the best, those entrusted with such tasks find themselves in a dilemma when making decisions on what to add, what to leave out and what to include in the movie scripts.