The Godfather
by Francis Ford Coppola (1972)
The beginning of one of the most famous cinematic sagas of all time.
The Corleones are the most powerful mafia family in New York.
The father, Don Vito, survives an assassination attempt orchestrated by a rival boss.
After this episode, his son Michael begins his own rise in the world of crime, eventually becoming the new godfather.
Quote.
“Johnny, when he was just starting out, had signed an exclusive contract with a famous maestro.
But since his career was going from good to better, he wanted to get out of it, and he asked my father, who is his Godfather, for help.
So my father went to see the maestro and offered him $10,000 to release Johnny from the contract. The answer was no.
The next day, my father went back to see him, this time with Luca Brasi, and the maestro signed the release for a check of $100.”
“And how… was he convinced?”
“My father made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.”
“An offer in what way?”
“Luca put a gun to his head, and my father said there would either be his signature on the document, or his brains. It’s a true story.”
(Michael Corleone & Kay Adams)
A QUIET BUSINESS DINNER.
All three are sitting at the same table:
Virgil Sollozzo, Mike Corleone, and Captain McCluskey.
VIRGIL is the most notorious drug dealer in the area, a real point of reference for the new business. For years, women and gambling had been profitable, but now the drug market is unbeatable.
One day, he knocked on Don Vito Corleone’s door, the Godfather, to talk to him and his family about this new business, hoping to have him as an ally.
All with due respect, of course.
But the Godfather wasn’t interested; it wasn’t his type of business.
He’s a man who lives in the past, opposed to drugs. A true man of honor, who sent his loyal hound, Luca Brasi, to secretly investigate this new business.
And now Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.
And Don Vito himself isn’t doing well.
He’s lying in a hospital bed after Virgil, following his refusal, persuaded the rival Tattaglia family to orchestrate an attack on him. Some thugs tried to kill him like a dog in the street, while he was buying fruit.
McCLUSKEY is the corrupt police captain on Sollozzo’s payroll.
The other night, he cleared the police officers guarding the Godfather’s hospital room, allowing the Tattaglias to finish what they started.
Then he punched Mike in public, in front of his fellow officers.
MIKE CORLEONE is the third son of Vito and Carmela. He has always stayed out of the family business. He even enlisted in the Marines and fought in Japan. His father dreamed of him holding a governor’s office.
But things have changed now.
And Mike knows it.
Now his father is in the hospital, fighting for his life.
And Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.
The rival families are lined up, ready to take control of the operations.
And it’s the fault of the two men sitting at the table with him.
And then… there’s a loaded gun waiting for him, hidden in the bathroom.
Reflections.
Based on Mario Puzo’s novel of the same name, which, according to The New York Times, “had almost as many copies as the Bible,” the film wasn’t immediately considered a masterpiece by everyone when it was first released.
Many critics praised the atmosphere, the acting performances, and the remarkable technical skill of the director. Others found it boring and questioned some choices different from the book, especially the decision not to make the godfather the central character in the story.
No one, in general, thought the film could change cinema history and become a valuable reference for future films.
Francis Ford Coppola, then 32 years old and a fresh Oscar winner for Best Screenplay the previous year (Patton), was chosen after Sergio Leone declined the offer, as he was already gathering material for what would become another monumental film: Once Upon a Time in America.
The production of the film was very difficult and stressful, taking place in a far from peaceful environment.
Meanwhile, production costs soared to seven million dollars due to the setting the director wanted (1950s New York instead of contemporary St. Louis) and the top-tier cast of actors.
Then, Frank Sinatra got involved, pressuring the filmmakers to eliminate the character of Johnny Fontane from the script, as he believed it was inspired by his ties with the Mafia.
Additionally, executive producer Albert S. Ruddy intervened to ensure that the word “mafia” was never spoken by the actors, after concerns arose that the film was offensive to Italian-Americans, depicting them as criminals and corrupt.
Despite the troubled production and the initial lukewarm reviews, what remains of Coppola’s epic work is its deserved and sacred place, earned over the years, in the pantheon of cinematic art.
The opening of the film is almost “magnetic.”
We find ourselves in the presence of Don Vito in a scene that resembles a religious ceremony, given the reverent silence and the respect/fear his presence commands.
The pace gradually increases, and the violent imagery remains imprinted in collective memory, thanks to the crucial contribution of the lead actors and their well-defined characters.
This approach to filmmaking, telling a story about a world “outside the law and civil society” from a human, almost “romantic” perspective, paradoxically bringing it closer to the common viewer, represents the real revolution initiated by this film.
A new, fresh, and powerful language that, at the time, earned three Academy Awards out of ten nominations (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay) and, more importantly, has tremendously inspired the crime genre in cinema ever since.
Yes, even more than fifty years later, we can still say that this film remains an offer you can’t refuse.
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