In cinema, there are few films that can, at all, be considered either great, and fewer that can be considered perfect. Mario Puzo's The Godfather is one of those films that is perfect. Being based of off the best seller by Mario Puzo, director Francis Ford Coppola creates one of the most accurate portrayals of an Italian crime family. When most people think about films that deal with the Mafia, Italian gangsters, what they think about is people that ship drugs, deal with prostitution, and above all else, just fight others for the hell of it. But, what makes The Godfather so different is that, contrary to the rather dark, violent nature of the film, this movie destroys all stereo types as it becomes a film that is not, at all, about running a crime family. This film is REALLY about a father trying to pass his legacy and empire to one of his sons and that one son having to come to terms with his own legacy and the choices he makes. When Mario Puzo decided to originally write the novel that this film is based on, he did it only for the money and nothing else. But what he did not expect was to have his entire creation take a complete life of it's own in a way that only few people can imagine. Even more so was the shock of how well this film did. Want a little taste of how well this film did? Before the film was even released, The Godfather Part II was already in development. But, more on that later. Now, my complete reaction to watching this film. To say that this is one of my personal favorite films of all time would be something of a drastic understatement. With me, there are some films that you like and some that change your life. This is one of those films that changes your life with each and every viewing. When I first sat down and watched this film, I remember feeling complete once the credits started to role. I know that sounds cheap, but it is true. Everything from the story to they way Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) is in this film, it just spoke to me in a way that very few films can ever do. And I am not the only one that felt this way. There is a magic in this movie that can never be paralleled and the closes that we get (and one that is pretty damn close at that) is the sequel that is said to be equal to better then this film. But more on that later. Let's get down to the details. With direction, Coppola does wonders. He keeps the story moving, never dragging behind, and keeps making you interested with the look of the film. While some have complained about the lighting used as being too dark of a film or too gold, I say that the use of that is, quite fantastic. The reason why is because it always sets the mood for the scene and the tone that you will end up feeling. Plus, little added in items like the use of oranges in some scenes give this film a little kick by letting the audience know that something is about to go down. For the direction, Coppola, you do wonders. And the Academy Award for Best Direction was well won and deserved. Now the acting. Oh, my God. What can I say? Well, letâ(TM)s think. Marlon Brando won the Academy Award for Best Actor and Al Pacino won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Need I say more? Okay, I will talk about the supporting cast. With huge names like Richard Dreyfus, James Caan, Abe Vigoda, and Diane Keaton, this film is filled with some of the greatest talent that money can buy. But what shocks me the most is that they treat this film with such a tone of seriousness that they literally stop becoming themselves and become these incredible people. Next the score. Like so many classic films, this film's score is something of a staple in film history. Mostly due to the famous 'The Godfather Waltz', Nina Rota became a household name in the music world due to the simplicity of that piece. It was simple, yet set the tone perfectly. The only crime that has ever been done on this film was the score not being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score. Oh well. Later on, this film saga will get it's award. Finally the script. Being adapted from the novel by Mario Puzo, and being written by him and Coppola, this film mirrors the novel so closely that you would only have to read the novel to know more about the extra characters that are not THAT huge. The dialogue is authentic, honest, and bold as this well written script is presented. The Academy Award for Best adapted Screen play was also well deserved. Overall, this entire film is worthy of the magnitude that it has gotten, the awards it has won (including Best Film), and the hearts and souls it has touched. Easily one of the greatest films ever made.
As I have said in all of the 100 reviews I have written up to this point, if there is one thing I despise it would have to be sequels. Now, for those that are new, the reason why is simple: sequels next to never live up to their potential and end up destroying the story that the original had created. Well, this film does not destroy nor surpasses The Godfather. Instead, it is more like a continuation of an already great tale, giving us the back story on Vito (played by a then unknown Robert De Niro) and the destruction of Michael (played by already Academy Award winner Al Pacino) in a rather original way to tell both stories: show through out the film both sides as they happen at once. Now, as most people know, I love the beloved original film and I was a little worried about my taste with this film. I already knew that it won a slew of Academy Awards (including the award for best film; a first for a sequel) and people have had the audacity to say that this is the better film in Francis Ford Coppola's epic Crime saga. My opinion after watching this film is that, if I had to guess where it would rank among the three films, I would have to say that it would be almost tied to the original. The main reason is this: The original had a feel of being welcomed into this world. Through the opening shots of Vito Corleone talking to his friend on the day of his daughter's wedding, we are welcomed with cold arms into their world. With this film however, you are just thrown in without any mercy. You are shown the blunt world where everyone is guilty of something and no one is innocent (except the children Marianna Hill as Deanna Corleone) and you are left cold and isolated as you look into the past and present of the Corleone crime family. But what really makes this film stand out would have to be how much all of the characters have changed from the previous film. For Michael, he goes from being a bright young man to a ruthless, heartless, cold bastard that destroys everything in his way to his sister Connie who has become something of a complete tramp and a neglectful mother. Due to how these characters change, you get the feeling that this film would be better due to their development. But, as I have said, it is mostly due to the feel of this film that makes the original a tad bit better. But, ignoring that aspect, this film is a perfect follow up to the original classic. Now for the details. With directing, Coppola shows us that he is no where near tired yet as he directs this entire masterpiece. Now, the thing that caught me off guard with this film would have to be the slew of emotions I felt while watching this film. If there is one thing that Coppola can do is make his audience feel for the characters. He allows them to build up, grow, and when two particular scenes near the end begin, you can not help but feel like you are about to burst into tears due to how desperate one character is, and the actions and heartache another one shows us. Coppola is a master behind a camera, and this film might be his directorial masterpiece (next to The Godfather and Apocalypse Now). With acting, oh wow. Where do I begin with this one. Might as well start with the men of this film. Okay, first person to mention is Al Pacino in his award winning role as Michael Corelone. After already winning an Academy Award for that role when he was in the original, I am still impressed at how he was able to move the character through out this story. He made the character barbaric, evil, and just plain unlikable, but his acting made him likable as well. Just, Pacino breathed life into this character and allowed him to take control in so many ways it was unreal. After this film was made, he won another Academy Award for this film and I must say: it was well earned. Next is Robert De Niro portraying Vito Corleone. As most people know about this film, it goes back and forth between Michael's life and Vito's life and for Vito, we have a then unknown actor filling in the shoes of Marlon Brando. Now, that alone is difficult as hell to do, considering how great Brando was and how iconic he made the character. Now, my reaction to this performance was that I am impressed with the bravery alone that De Niro had for this performance. He portrayed the younger Vito with such power and authority that he would of made Brando proud. He was just that good. Now, De Niro would go on the receive the Academy Award for Best Supporting actor, and for this film he deserves it. If you are a fan of De Niro's work, then this is a good place to start for learning about his career. Now you have Robert Duvall as the ever loyal Tom Hagen. Personally, I like how he was able to keep cool during some rather intense scenes that deal with Michael's decent into pure hell. Duvall gives it his all in this film and he was wonderful. Now we must get down to the three women who took over this film. The first would have to be Diane Keaton as Amy Corleone. When we last saw her, we saw the look of shame and disgust that was on her face when she realized how much Michael has lied to her. In this film, she wants out. How badly does she want to get out? So bad that she does the unthinkable in one scene and makes it out to be something different that is all part of her plan. Now, Keaton had to play a complete different character in this film and seeing her new way of handling this character, I will admit that it was shocking and reveling in terms of her pure talent to act. She is an incredible actress and she is wonderful. Next would have to be Marianna Hill as Deanna Corleone. In the first film, Marianna had very little screen time as she was not that important to the story. Here, she plays a much larger role and has one of the most somber scenes in this film. She makes the character out to be more then a sweet old lady, she makes the character out to be an intelligent, thoughtful, and wise person who helps Michael when he is left with a terrible thought that nearly destroys him. Lastly Talia Shire as Connie. Like most females in the first film, here she shines as a totally different character. What makes her worthy is how she makes herself out to be this tramp that just does not care about her family, hates her brother, and abandons her children. Connie transformed in one of the worst ways possible, but we love Shire for making the character so damn wonderful to watch. Next up is the script. One thing that needs to be stressed is that this film's script was only half written from the original novel by Mario Puzo. The other half was written by him and Coppola, but it was mostly original. Personally, I did not think that the story needed to be continued, but having the original creator there to do the work, the script became a clever, emotionally charged epic that is bound to catch a few people off guard. Fantastic work here. Lastly the score. Getting Nina Rota back again, the score is longer, has more music cues, and is just fun to listen to. The best tracks appear during the flashback scenes in the film while the most dramatic happen in the present day parts. But, what I like about it is just how creative it gets with the music and how it moves from the beginning to the end. The entire time, we are eclipsed with the wonders of it's notes that the music becomes a comfort in so many scenes. Then again, the score did win the award for best original score, so that should say something. Overall, this is an emotional film that is worthy of it's original and works well as a stand alone in some respects.
This is it: The end of the greatest film trilogy of all time and one that has yet to be beaten. Every moment of the previous films led up to this film and, for the most part, it does not disappoint. Now, this film has something of a reputation of being underrated and being a terrible ending to the saga of the Corleone crime family. After me watching it, I do not find this as a terrible ending. Yes, it does not grab you like how the first two did, but if you allow yourself to re-fall into the world of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), you are in for a bittersweet ride as he tries to redeem himself in the eyes of the world and in the eyes of his children and, mostly, the eyes of the woman he loves: Kay Adams (Diane Keaton). When I first saw this film, the one thing that got to me was the first twenty minutes. I am not ruining anything by saying this, but the complete twenty minutes is complied by stock footage of the first two films and they all have to deal with Michael and Kay as we see where they are when part III starts. It does set the tone for what is to come and when we see it, it will surprise you by one person who passes. My reaction to the film was completion. The first film left me exhilarated. The second film left me with sadness with how Michael destroyed the empire his father built. This film left me with completion as we watch what is the true end to Don Vito Coleone's family. Is it sad? Yes. Will you shed some tears? Yes. And will you be left wanting more? No. This film fills you up and you realize that there can never nor should their be any other film in this saga. It is about Michael and it ends with Michael. One of the greatest crimes, as I said, about this film would be that it is underrated. That is true. This is a good to great film that, while it is not up their with the likes of its prequels, is worthy of the title of The Godfather and is just exhilarating. Now, let's get down to the details. Okay, for direction, we have Francis Ford Coppola returning for the final time to compose this film. When he takes this film, he does not completely take the film seriously, and my guess is this: He knows he had raised the bar beyond too high with Part II and as such, tries to make this film like any other sequel, but does so with honor. Some of the scenes in this film are beautifully shot and filmed. Mostly those that deal with The Vatican and Sicily that this film takes place in. For those areas, you can tell that Coppola as respect for those lands and he makes damn sure that they are filmed with respect and not sloppily. Visually, this film is gorgeous. Now, with him conducting the actors, he does mostly a good job with them, but a certain few just are not that good and could have been beyond better job, but looking back at how the story is, it might have been for the best. But, it would have been better if certain things were better. The only other thing that I can say about this film's direction is the ending. Just, how tragic it is with two shocking deaths and how it is filmed transcends through the screen and effects us, the audience. Coppola has made us part of this crime family and we have started to love and care about each and every member. When these deaths happen, Coppola makes sure that we shed tears during so. Now for acting. Pacino and the rest of the cast from the previous film (including some people we have not seen sense the first film) all have a part in this film even if it is just something like an arm or the presence of someone. This film was meant to go off with a bang, and the actors all do a beyond perfect job in the help of ending this film. But one particular character and actress has been talked about nonstop in talks of this film and is the one that most people blame for the downfall of this film. The actress in question is the real life daughter of the director: Sophia Coppola. Now, she plays the very bubbly and happy daughter of Michael and she is basically oblivious as to the extent of her family. She is aware of what happens, but she plays the character has someone who just does not care. This saddens me because I would of liked it if she were more serious about the evils that her family has done, but at the same time I can understand why it is that she played the character this way. Mary Corleone was raised by her mother to not be in this world. While Mary was in some early attacks during the previous film, she is mostly unaware of the rest of everything except for some bits she was told. She was raised away from the evil and wicked of this world and as such, she is not at all fully aware of how serious this world is. This is one of her flaws and this flaw was made by Sophia Coppola. While I am acceptable towards this one particular incident, I do wish that the character was more understanding of the situation and more intelligent in some areas and subplots she is associated with. Another person I want to mention is the actress of Connie Coppola: Talia Shire. Sense the first film, Connie has been my third favorite character in the entire trilogy. Why, you might ask? Simple: she is one of the most developed characters in the entire trilogy. In the first film, she was not interested with the family business and when Michael took over, she hated him due to how corrupt he became. In the second film, she was a total tramp through out, constantly with different men, forgetting about her own children, and not caring about her family. Until the end of the second film when she realizes the true horror of her own crimes and begs for forgiveness for her doubt and hatred of her brother. In this film, she is a totally different person. She now is taking control over parts of the family, ordering some executions, and above all else, being the one person that never left Michael as he continued down this spiral. Talia Shire gave this performance her entire power and strength and what resulted was one of the greatest characters I have ever seen in film. It is a pity that she was not nominated for this performance at all. She deserved recognition. Now, I told myself that I was not going to bring him up, but when talking about The Godfather, it is hard not to bring him up. Time for me to talk about Al Pacino. As a character and as an actor, he has grown tremendously from the first film. His character was tragic, evil, and at times a great antihero and it was all because of Al Pacino that we have loved and hated Michael so much. With this film, he makes the performance hopefully yet tiresome which is exactly how the script calls for him. I will admit that, like in the previous film, one particular scene in this film had me in tears that he was in, and if you have fallen in love with the story of The Godfather, then you will have that same reaction when you see this film. Pacino also makes this character tragic as Michael starts to regret all of the evil in his life and tries to make everything good. Pacino gives a strong performance and I find it a crime that he was not nominated for best actor. Pity. With the acting in general, it does disappoint me that the only two awards that were won were for Sophia Coppola and those were Razzies she won. I do not know what people were expecting with this film, but they had too high of expectations. Next the script. Being written again by the author of the original novel that spawned this film (The Godfather), this film's script just works with the tale and I am glad that Mario Puzo written it. He understood that his creation has created it's own life and he ended it before things got too stupid or out of control. Now, while the dialogue was no where near as good as the previous films, it was well written enough with plenty of those meetings talks that were in the previous film and the scenes that were spoken in Italian. Puzo had a gift for writing and, while this film did not show his true potential, this film does show very strong signs of that. Finally the score. Returning again is the composer for the previous two The Godfather films Nina Rota. The score is still breathtaking as it usually is, but this film it ends on a sad, but wonderful note as the saga comes to a close. My only true complaint (which is minor) is that I would wish that more was done to the score. Mostly to return it to how it was in the first film: One piano piece, numerous variations. But, overall, the score was beautiful and in numerous scenes, it worked. I like it. Overall, this is the true ending to the Holy Trilogy of cinema, and one that you should never miss. This is required viewing in cinema, regardless of what anyone else says.
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