The Godfather (1972)
About This Movie
The aging patriarch of a New York crime dynasty transfers control of his empire to his reluctant youngest son, and the transformation from idealistic war hero to ruthless don unfolds with the gravity of a Shakespearean tragedy. Francis Ford Coppola shot the film in burnished golds and deep shadows, making the Corleone world feel simultaneously seductive and suffocating. Nearly every scene has entered the cultural lexicon.
Why It's a Classic
Coppola and Mario Puzo's screenplay elevated the gangster film from genre entertainment to American epic by treating the Corleone family as a distorted mirror of the American Dream. Marlon Brando's Don Vito, with his cotton stuffed cheeks and whispery voice, created a villain who is also a loving father, and that contradiction is what gives the film its moral complexity. Al Pacino's Michael undergoes the most famous character arc in American film, his face hardening from scene to scene until the final shot, where the door closes on his wife and the audience realizes that power has consumed every good thing in him. Gordon Willis's cinematography, so dark that Paramount executives initially complained they could not see the actors' eyes, became the visual standard for prestige cinema. The baptism montage, intercutting a christening ceremony with a series of murders Michael has ordered, is one of the most brilliantly constructed sequences in film history.
Fun Fact
Paramount wanted anyone but Brando for the role, considering Robert Redford, Laurence Olivier, and Ernest Borgnine. Brando's screen test, where he stuffed cotton balls in his cheeks and slicked back his hair, changed their minds. The cat that Don Vito pets in the opening scene was a stray that Brando found on the studio lot and picked up; the cat's purring was so loud it nearly obscured the dialogue and had to be partially dubbed. Coppola was almost fired multiple times during production for going over schedule.
Parent Note
The violence includes shootings, a horse head in a bed, garroting, and the climactic baptism massacre. The film depicts domestic abuse, extramarital affairs, and the casual cruelty of organized crime. Strong language is used throughout. The nearly three hour runtime demands attention and patience. The moral universe is complex: the Corleones are sympathetic despite being murderers, which is part of the film's unsettling power.
Quick Facts
- Year
- 1972
- Type
- 🎬 Movie
- Category
- Classic Drama
- Age Group
- Adults (Ages 18+)