Godfather
From its legendary opening scene to its unforgettable final shot, there really IS a reason why this 1972 release commonly tops most major film experts and critics’ list as The Greatest Movie Of All Time, whether it be its cast of memorable characters (and actors), the spurts of gruesome violence (including the most agonizing machine gun death ever), or the incredible script and story machinations brought forth by writer Mario Puzo and director Francis Ford Coppola. Much of it starts at the top with Marlon Brando in the title role of Don Vito Corleone, an aging Mafia Don who feels that his peers should stick to the tried and true business ventures like gambling, prostitution, and the rackets while staying out of the narcotics industry and drug dealing, and as a result pays dearly for it. Brando’s acting is extraordinary to say the least (playing a character that was at least thirty years older than he was at the time due to an amazing makeup job) and deserves to be thought of as his absolute greatest performance (which says a hell of a lot). While some have said that Brando’s Best Actor Oscar win was for more of a showpiece acting job that pretty much anchored the film, it’s in the quieter moments that you pick up on the real brilliance of what he accomplished as opposed to the readily quotable bits. But the rest of the cast carries the film extraordinarily well in their own right, most notably Al Pacino (who would pick up the mantle as the series went on) as the youngest son, Michael, a World War II hero whom The Don desperately wants to keep out of the family business to pursue a more respectable life, but when he sees the gangland violence against his family which results in the loss of loved ones, finds himself compelled to pick up a weapon and use his nerves and skills to enact some vengeance, much to his father’s dismay; along with James Caan (a HUGE star in the 70s whose body of work is mostly forgotten, except for this) as oldest son Santino, heir to the throne and feared by many due to his hot temper and impulsive nature, but also a funny, quick-witted type whose love for his family is always evident; Robert Duvall as the adopted son Tom Hagen, who serves as the family lawyer and advisor on family business; Richard Castellano (himself the nephew of real life mob boss Paul Castellano) as top enforcer Clemenza; Diane Keaton as Michael’s girlfriend turned wife Kay, who emerges as a major player in the film’s closing scenes; Talia (Adrian Balboa) Shire as the innocent (for the moment) baby sister Connie; John Cazale as the weak, rightfully underestimated other brother, Fredo; along with a slew of character acting greats and various thug types including Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte, Al Lettieri, Abe Vigoda, Gianni Russo, Al Martino, Lenny Montana, Richard Bright, and Alex Rocco, all of whom help to prove that it really is possible to make a three hour drama that is almost never boring, perhaps more of a testament to the fact that Coppola somehow got everything not just right, but PERFECT, from the sepia toned cinematography to the authentic art and set direction to the melancholy score that sets the mood right from the start, but really what it is in the end is Puzo’s STORY (in many ways indirectly based on The Kennedys, who had been a very powerful Irish mob family back in the day), and the well written dialogue that accompanies it which the actors sink their teeth into like so much steak. Eventually, it is Michael who figures out the solution to the family’s problems: Make the move to have all their business enterprises be completely legitimate, and in so doing, initiate a full scale housecleaning that is total and absolute. This brings everything full circle, and completes the first chapter on a saga that is as much about family loyalty as it is about the absolute corruption of capitalism on both your business dealings and your soul, one that will be rediscovered by its fans for years to come and experienced for the first time by each new generation ever after guaranteed…
10/10