I have chosen to review the first 15 minutes of probably the best known mafia film of all time: The Godfather. Consistently refer to as one of the best films in cinematic history; The Godfather won 3 Oscars at the 1973 Academy Awards and won a further 19 other awards. Based on the novel of the same name by Italian –American author Mario Puzo and directed by the also Italian-American Francis Ford Coppola. The film opens with a quiet but striking soundtrack, again a very recognisable theme from movie history. A black screen appears, with contrasting white writing upon it for the titles. The screen stays black for a moment, and then we hear the voice of a man, with a heavy Italian accent. The picture fades from black and we see a dull, badly lit close up of a man, obviously the one talking. The camera begins to pull out to better establish the man; the music has stopped by this point. The man is clearly very distraught. He tells a story of his daughter being attacked by some American boys. We also do not know who he is talking to, the camera is still pulling out and in the bottom left of the screen a shoulder of another man begins to appear, we can now see this is an over the shoulder shot.
The man is handed a drink, and at this time we can see some of the setting, and it looks to be like an office, old wooden furniture and pieces of paper are across the room. The man finishes talking “For justice we must look to Don Corleone” And the second man talks. We assume that he is Don Corleone (Marlon Brando), his voice does not sound sympathetic or concerned. The first time we see his face, is around three and a half minutes into the film with a close up shot, he is fairly old, with grey slicked back hair, there is a solemn look across his face, he is dressed in a dinner suit and bow-tie which suggests he is at a formal event and also suggest importance. We then see a long shot to establish the room; they are not alone as there are two other people with them. This also suggests some form of importance. Could these people be here for his protection? The man has now stood up, and we see a shot of Corleone from waist height of the man, not looking down on Corleone. Corleone has a cat sat in his lap, stretching its paws and rolling about, Corleone strokes the cat affectionately continuously, this suggests a caring and loving side to Corleone. He talks for a moment to the man, referring to himself as “The Godfather” and talks about justice and respect, this implies he is powerful. We also learn that this is Corleone’s daughter’s wedding day, this is the reason they are dressed so formally. Next we see a medium shot of the man and Corleone talking, the camera is tilted slightly upwards in Corleone’s direction to show power and respect; the audience literally has to look up to him. Corleone agrees to “bring justice” to the boys who attacked the man’s daughter, and the man extremely thankful of Corleone leaves in a hurry. We assume that “Justice” is a kind of code word for violence and this makes the audience wonder what will happen.
In contrast to the dark room the audience now sees a long high angle shot of a huge garden, filled with people. Snappy, upbeat diegetic music is playing to the crowds. We see mid shots of people dancing and generally having a good time. There is also a shot of the Bride having a family photo including Corleone. The family is quite large and this adds to the idea that he has a caring side to him. In amongst the shots of happy guests dancing and singing there are a few shots of Corleone and the two other men that were with him before, greeting other men at the gates of the house, these men are also very formally dressed, but we get the impression that they are not strictly there for the wedding. These men are shown again, sat around a table smoking cigars not joining in the festivities and heavily surrounded by other men. But no women. A photographer with an old camera takes their picture, and the man at the head of the table clicks his fingers and instantly two men retrieve the film and hand it to him, which he rips up. This implies that these men are not wanted to be spotted here, or most likely don’t want the press to know they are there. To me it suggests that the men are obviously criminals and printing their picture would result in trouble for them.
A long shot follows a young man hurriedly walking towards the gates of the house. This is Sonny Corleone (James Caan), the son of Don Corleone. He shouts at some men that are wandering about in front of the house, and walks over to a man in a black car, a medium shot shows the man pulling out a badge, we assume he is a police officer, Sonny is instantly silent, then spits onto the ground. This shows disrespect for the law. He angrily walks back to the house cursing under his breath, there is another photographer taking pictures of the men stood at the gate. Sonny pushes him up against a car, for no apparent reason and throws his camera to the floor. Realising his outburst two men grab Sonny to calm him down. He regains his composure, and throws dollar bills to the floor where the camera lay and then leaves. This action shows two characteristics to the audience one, that Sonny thinks that he is better than the photographer because he throws the bills to the floor, And two that he has no regard for money; he simply grabs whatever and throws it about carelessly. The idea that the Corleone’s have a huge house also enforce the idea that they have a wealthy background.
Two characters then enter the scene, a man and a woman arm in arm. The man is dressed in what looks to be a military outfit, and again we see neither of their faces. Medium shots show them walking through the crowded garden with people greeting them. This shows he is important to the story and family. A point of view shot from Corleone looking through blinds show the man’s face, he has dark brown hair, parted neatly to one side and bears a striking resemblance to Corleone himself, all around the we can hear guests saying “Michael!” or “ Mikey!”. The use of a nickname suggests he is quite young, as shortened names are often given to children by parents or close relatives at young ages. The couple sit down, and we see a shot reverse shot conversation between the two. We learn that the man’s name is in fact Michael.
A blonde man walks into the shot and the camera pans across to the left with him. The two hug each other and Michael refers to the man as “My Brother”. This shows some family links. The blonde man, Tom Hagen, was also in the room earlier with Corleone, this also suggest so further links between Michael and Corleone. Then Tom tells Michael (Al Pacino) his father wants to see him, and we learn that this must be the son of Corleone.
Michaels date then questions why Tom has a different second name to Michael even though they are brothers. And Michael replies with a story of how Tom was found by his older brother Sonny when they were younger, and he had nowhere to live, so Corleone took him in and called him his own. This explicitly shows that despite a violent and bloodthirsty side to Corleone he has a soft gentle side to him. The woman is amazed. Michael also goes on to say that he “Is a good lawyer, and will go on to become Consigliere” the fact that he has become a lawyer suggests that he has been sent to school which again shows financial stability, and even more so to consider the fact that he is not actually a proper son of the Corleone’s. This also shows that Tom is a smart man.
Out of all the mafia/gangster style films that exist, I would say The Godfather is a perfect source of inspiration to look to but there are some differences between the two. Its plot line is linear. But in contrast The Godfater II has a non-linear narrative with flashbacks to the younger days of Vito Corleone. The film is also male dominated with only females as the wife/girlfriend characters.
