No 3- The Godfather

Billy’s review
Rating: 9.3

You know, the older this film gets, the more refined it becomes.

Francis Ford Coppolo’s encapsulation of life in an organised crime empire gave birth to every aspect of modern mafia film: gangsters, guns, gals, double crossing, decapitated horses and good old fashioned Italian cooking.

But where modern incarnations overindulge in a tendency towards violence and philandering, The Godfather downplays guttural living for a more clandestine way of life.

Playing the part of Don Vito Corleone, Marlon Brando excels as an ageing Sicilian-born boss who’s capacity to out-think his rivals puts his family at the fore of the New York underworld.

The film’s focus on respect and accession is typical of today’s gangster genre, but the reluctant relationship between Corleone and his son Michael, immaculately played by a cherubic Al Pacino, develops in an entrancing fashion that’s never quite been recreated since.

This is, without doubt, the pinnacle of a genre that’s been exaggerated, overplayed and rung out to dry over the last 40 years. It makes you wonder just why anyone else bothered trying.

Su's Review
Rating: 8.3

I have never seen the Godfather before. I know it is hard to believe but it just never really appealed to me.

When I heard the film was 3 plus hours long I was a bit dubious. I was certain it would drag on similar to “Once Upon a Time in America” with prolonged wind-flute solos. Thankfully the movie moved along at a good pace and it wasn’t too confusing with the characters names.

Michael Correlone’s stay in Sicily was insightful as to how the family vendettas were a part of their ancestry and blood. When Michael asked Appolina’s father to see her it was funny to see him acting like his father. He was putting it on then, but by the end he was genuinely the Godfather.

This is the second movie I’ve seen with Talia Shire, which is funny since I think they are the only movies she’s ever been in. I didn’t even recognize Al Pacino and Diane Keaton in the beginning because I don’t think I’ve ever seen them so young. Knowing Diane, I thought it was a surprising role for her. It’s not quite Annie Hall or Baby Boom.