Works Of Genius 12.12.02: The Godfather Posted by Cassius on 12.12.2002
An easy one to start.
Mark Cassius Presents: Works Of Cinematic Genius
The Godfather (1972)
Main cast:
Marlon Brando
Al Pacino
James Caan
Robert Duvall
Diane Keaton
Talia Shire
Richard S. Castanello
Screenplay:
Francis Ford Coppola
Mario Puzo
Producer:
Albert S. Ruddy
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
“My father is no different than any powerful man, any man with power, like a President or a Senator.”
““Do you know how naïve you sound, Michael? Presidents and Senators don’t have men killed.”
““Oh. Who’s being naïve, Kay?”
When the greatest actor of a generation becomes identified with one character, and is imagined in a face that was heavily made up, and a voice changed dramatically, and it is assumed to be his true appearance – it shows you both how good an actor Marlon Brando truly was, and how iconic and incredible The Godfather (1972) truly is.
The Godfather was not the first classic gangster movie, there had been the likes of Little Caser (1931) and On The Waterfront (1954) (another Brando classic), but it is now identified as not only the greatest crime film of all time, but according to the many visitors of imdb.com, the no. 1 film ever made.
The Godfather is the best instance of a film meeting unanimous critical praise and record-breaking box office receipts. For three years, until Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) unceremoniously gobbled up it’s competition, Coppola’s magnum opus was the highest grossing film of all time. And now, thirty years on, it is never seen off the top ten of almost any major ‘greatest films of all time’ lists, whether they be by multiplex and Blockbuster visitors and seated alongside the likes of Star Wars (1977); or those who love to read subtitles during their visits to the cinema, and seated alongside the likes of 8½ (1963).
Why The Godfather (1972) is so unanimously praised, perhaps more so than any other film ever made, is a difficult question to tackle. There are so many contributing factors as to why this is a classic film, that a 200-page plus book could be written about them.
When Francis Ford Coppola first became involved in the production of the film, Paramount Pictures did not have high ambitions for the film. It was to have a $2.5 million budget, the source material of Mario Puzo’s was changed greatly (it was put in modern times instead of 1945, it was set in New Mexico instead of New York), and hired a director in only his fifth film, whose previous work had included one of the last Fred Astaire musicals Finian’s Rainbow (1968) and low-budget character drama The Rain People (1969) – he was hardly the big-name auteur who would have the studio’s full confidence and backing.
However, Paramount Pictures soon found a near-phenomenon on their hands, as popularity for Puzo’s novel sky-rocketed, and it became one of the most successful novels of the past few years. Suddenly, Paramount had a picture that a lot of people were curious to see, and a director they had little or no confidence in. Worst of all, his casting decisions were seen as terrible.
Whilst the studio were willing to let Coppola cast Duvall (who had appeared in Rain People) as Tom Hagen, and newcomer Keaton as Michael’s lover, Kay. The role of Michael and Vito became a true contest of wills between Coppola and Paramount. The studio wanted light-haired heartthrob Robert Redford to play the dark Italian Michael. They also put forward Ryan O’Neil, Martin Sheen (real name: the very Italian sounding Ramon Estevez) and James Caan, who Coppola desperately wanted to cast for the role of Sonny (a role which Robert De Niro auditioned for), for screen-tests. It seemed the studio would cast anyone rather than Coppola’s choice, the unknown Al Pacino – who had done mostly stage work at this point.
The biggest battle Coppola had, though, was in the role of Vito. Coppola knew that a character as overbearing and God-like as Don Corleone needed to be filled by an actor who carried the gravitas that Pacino would later have. It was decided by Coppola and Puzo that it needed to be filled by the actor perceived as the best in the world, and at the time there were only two choices: Marlon Brando and Laurence Olivier. Olivier, due to his illness and refined Shakespearean tones, was crossed off the list of two early on. This left Coppola with having to convince his already annoyed executives that the actor with the worst reputation there is possible is perfect for the lead and title role. This led the head of Paramount Stuidos to declare that “As head of Paramount Pictures, Marlon Brando will not appear in this motion picture”.
Finally, the studio balked at Coppola’s requests: Coppola’s castings were allowed, the new screenplay was written by Coppola and Puzo, the setting was 1945 to 1947 and the budget was increased by $4 million to cater for the now required period costumes.
Throughout the film’s production, the presence of Paramount studios remained staring over Coppola’s shoulder, and they were fully prepared to fire him and continue the film with a second director, one who even followed Coppola around during the first few weeks of production. On top of that, there was talk of introducing a different director for all the scenes of violence, because they did not believe Coppola (who admits he dislikes violence in film) to be up to the task. Pacino himself remembers that he was on his way out because the studio perceived him as boring, until they saw the rushes of his intense performance in the scene where Michael murders the New York police chief and Sollozo (Al Letteri).
With all this back story to the film’s production echoing the back story that the film itself carries (and is partially covered in Part II), it is a miracle that Coppola created a film that is such a triumph in acting, writing, filming, editing and, of course, directing.
Whilst the second and third parts of the trilogy are focused on Michael, this is a film where the whole Corleone family are the focus. The wise head Vito; the hot-tempered heir Sonny (Caan); the distant and intelligent Michael; the calculated and objective voice of reason Tom Hagen (Duvall); the slow and sympathetic Fredo (John Cazale); and the overprotected daughter Connie (Shire). Add to this Keaton’s Kay; the non-Italian outsider who is dropped into this unusual family through her love for Michael. It is a testament to these performances and the attention they were each given that three of the five Academy Award nominations for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ were taken by Pacino, Duvall and Caan.
There is also fantastic support from the likes of Vito’s long-time associates Clemenza (Castello) and Tessio (Abe Vigoda) and Connie’s new and abusive husband Carlo (Gianni Russo) who is desperate to become a part of the Corleone business. This is quite simply, the greatest performance of an ensemble cast, ever. Many of the above give career-best performances, and each character feels fully realised – Pacino is not playing Michael Corleone in this film, Pacino is Michael Corleone; Caan is Sonny; Duvall is Tom.
The Corleone family, we must never forget, is a family of crime – and we witness Michael become drawn into this family more and more. Michael becomes the focus of attention in the second half of the film, and yet he is the most distant at the start. He wears an army uniform, having returned from the war, at Connie’s wedding day, whilst all the others are wearing suits. His girlfriend Kay is not Italian and Michael himself clearly does not want to be part of his family’s business. Michael tells the story of how his father helped his godson Johnny Fontaine (clearly based on Mafia-friendly Frank Sinatra) out of his contract with these immortal lines:
“My father made him an offer he couldn’t refuse . . . Luca Brasi held a gun to his head while my father assured him that either his brains or his signature would be on the contract.”
This is the closest we see Vito being a character who one fails to sympathise with. Michael knows what his father is capable of, whereas to everyone else he is the kind, compassionate head of a family who, on the day of his daughter’s wedding, grants favours for those who seek them.
However, circumstances lead to Michael travelling on a downward spiral to the point of no return. After being beaten by the police chief, Michael shoots him and his mob-associate Sollozo (who had attempted to murder Vito). After this, Michael flees to Sicily, where he falls in love with, and marries, a local girl – only for her to be murdered by a bomb intended for him. The attempted killing of his father, the death of his new wife and Sonny all following in such rapid succession force upon Michael responsibilities and great feelings of anger that means that the Michael who Kay has fallen in love with has gone. He becomes emotionless and monotone, as well as intimidating and calculating.
The Corleone family are a royal family, one of the ‘five families’ and Vito’s successor was always chosen to be his eldest son – Sonny. When Sonny is gunned down, Michael is handed the job (it passes the ill-prepared Fredo) and gradually he becomes more and more engrossed in this dirty world of extortion, union control and murder. By the end of the film, his eyes are cold, reflecting his soul and heart. This is brilliantly conveyed in the final sequence of the film where Michael is present at the christening of Connie’s son, and replying to the priest’s questions of his belief in the Lord, Christ, etc. Michael’s ‘I do’ replies are interspersed with scenes of the heads of the five families being murdered at Michael’s command as not only revenge, but also Michael’s desire for total dominance – from wanting to be nothing like his father, Michael now goes beyond his father’s past actions.
The violence of this film is necessary; as the world that we are entering is one where it is a common part of business – murders of one family are reciprocated until deals are made to halt with hugs and kisses (this is surreal to those who are not involved in such practices). Coppola has always hated violence, and is uncomfortable whenever he watches them in his films, especially when his real-life sister Shire is beaten by Carlo. Therefore, it is this hatred of violence that means Coppola desires each scene to be memorable and for them to have a point. Whilst Sonny’s death is essentially a copy (and Coppola admits to this) of the final scene of Bonnie And Clyde (1967) it is now better remembered than it’s inspiration because Caan’s performance has been so engrossing. Sonny had been seen as the centre of the film since the shooting of Vito had left him in the acting position of ‘Godfather’, and the audience is shocked by his gruesome. This is a device similar to Hitchcock’s infamous murder of Vera Miles in Psycho after following her perspective since the start of the film. Now that the seemingly invincible tough-guy Sonny has been killed, no one is safe. The fact that his death is so gory, Sonny jolts as bullets riddle his entire body, is necessary to perceive how heartless these people in the crime world are. When violence is on screen, it is there for a reason – it is not violence for violence’s sake. An obvious example of this is after Tessio is unveiled as a snitch, he is surrounded by mobsters, and walks away realising his fate, after failing a final plea of a pardon from Tom Hagen. There is no need to see his death, he anticipates it and all that needs to be seen is seen.
Through stirring and unforgettable music (composed by Nino Rota and conducted by Francis’s own father, Carmine), non-intrusive yet strong editing, beautiful cinematography (the brightness at the opening summer wedding day is contrasted with the later sequences, which are echoed by the dark tones of black and grey and autumn weather later in the film), a screenplay filled with memorable lines that will be forever quoted and referenced in future films and TV shows – the behind-the-scenes crew are what allow this film of fantastic performances to go beyond a simple ‘classic’ and become an ‘all time best’. There is not a fault in this production.
The Godfather will forever be the highlight in the filmography for almost everyone involved in it.
For Brando, it created a role that he forever be associated with, and be regarded as one of the finest leading performances ever – which is ironic, when it must be said that Brando is not present for great chunks of the film, be he not there (the horse’s head sequence), in hospital (Michael’s first killing) or dead (the execution of the Mafia heads). It is ultimately Michael’s story more than anyone’s, and yet through the gravitas that both Don Vito and Brando himself exude it is he who will forever be associated with the film.
For Pacino, The Godfather would be the launch pad for a variety of roles that would cement his place as one of the all-time greats, but Michael Corleone will forever be his magnum opus, a role will never be so perfectly written for one person – and to think it could have been Robert Redford who .
For Coppola, what would follow is a decade of unbridled success in the mini-classic The Conversation (1974), the possible even better sequel The Godfather Part II (1974) and the unforgettable (again in legend and on screen) Apocalypse Now (1979). However, since then he has yet to reproduce the magic of that decade where he was untouchable, even detached from the ‘Movie Brats’ of the period because he was perceived as much more mature by the media. The closest he would come to his past deeds, in my opinion, would be in the criminally underrated The Godfather Part III (1990), but that is for another column.
Till then, we can always sit down and view this film; wishing at the same time to never come in touch with a Corleone, and be a part of a family just like it. As the wise Vito said: ‘A man that doesn’t spend time with his family can never really be a man.”
Major awards: Winner:
Best Film (Academy Awards)
Best Actor – Marlon Brando (Academy Awards)
Best Adapted Screenplay (Academy Awards)
Best Film, Drama (Golden Globes)
Best Director, Drama (Golden Globes)
Best Actor, Drama – Marlon Brando (Golden Globes)
Best Screenplay (Golden Globes)
Best Score (Golden Globes)
Best Score (BAFTA)
Best Motion Picture Score (Grammy Awards)
Nominated:
Best Director (Academy Awards)
Best Supporting Actor – Al Pacino (Academy Awards)
Best Supporting Actor – James Caan (Academy Awards)
Best Supporting Actor – Robert Duvall (Academy Awards)
Best Score (Academy Awards)
What the critics said: “‘The Godfather’ is told entirely within a closed world. That’s why we sympathize with characters who are essentially evil”
-- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
“It’s more than a standard bearer for critics and filmmakers – it’s a monument.”
-- San Francisco Chronicle
“Quite simply the finest gangster film ever made.”
-- Barry Norman
“I never wanted this for you. I work my whole life – I don’t apologize – to take care of my family, and I refused to be a fool, dancing on the string held by all those bigshots. I don’t apologize – that’s my life – but I thought that, when it was your time, that you would be the one to hold the string. Senator Corleone; Governer Corleone. Well, it wasn’t enough time, Michael. It wasn’t enough time.
