The Godfather (1971)
Country: US
Technical: col 175m
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, James Caan, Diane Keaton
Synopsis:
After the war a New York mafia don resists the encroachment of the drugs racket and refuses to share his political and judicial clout; an assassination attempt is made against him, his son and successor is killed following a gang war and his youngest son takes his place despite his father's hopes of better things for him.
Review:
Coppola was a gamble for the studio and one they almost did not stand by, but he made this study of a Sicilian family something rather personal, investing many of his memories of the period and of his own family in the film. As a consequence the fact that they are murderers is often cited as the principal irony of the film; however, I like to see it as the tragedy of Michael and how Vito's dreams for him ('That's my family, Kay, it's not me.') are thwarted as he becomes the decisive new head of the family. There is also a sense in which the film is both a critique of the limitations of American justice, politics, etc. and an illustration of the American dream in reverse: the Corleones, and those like them, build wealth and success but by abusing the system.
Country: US
Technical: col 175m
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, James Caan, Diane Keaton
Synopsis:
After the war a New York mafia don resists the encroachment of the drugs racket and refuses to share his political and judicial clout; an assassination attempt is made against him, his son and successor is killed following a gang war and his youngest son takes his place despite his father's hopes of better things for him.
Review:
Coppola was a gamble for the studio and one they almost did not stand by, but he made this study of a Sicilian family something rather personal, investing many of his memories of the period and of his own family in the film. As a consequence the fact that they are murderers is often cited as the principal irony of the film; however, I like to see it as the tragedy of Michael and how Vito's dreams for him ('That's my family, Kay, it's not me.') are thwarted as he becomes the decisive new head of the family. There is also a sense in which the film is both a critique of the limitations of American justice, politics, etc. and an illustration of the American dream in reverse: the Corleones, and those like them, build wealth and success but by abusing the system.
Country: US
Technical: col 175m
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, James Caan, Diane Keaton
Synopsis:
After the war a New York mafia don resists the encroachment of the drugs racket and refuses to share his political and judicial clout; an assassination attempt is made against him, his son and successor is killed following a gang war and his youngest son takes his place despite his father's hopes of better things for him.
Review:
Coppola was a gamble for the studio and one they almost did not stand by, but he made this study of a Sicilian family something rather personal, investing many of his memories of the period and of his own family in the film. As a consequence the fact that they are murderers is often cited as the principal irony of the film; however, I like to see it as the tragedy of Michael and how Vito's dreams for him ('That's my family, Kay, it's not me.') are thwarted as he becomes the decisive new head of the family. There is also a sense in which the film is both a critique of the limitations of American justice, politics, etc. and an illustration of the American dream in reverse: the Corleones, and those like them, build wealth and success but by abusing the system.