Movie Review-The Godfather

The Godfather is certainly full of violence, power, obligation, corruption, crime, and most importantly, family honor and loyalty. The story is about the Corleone family in the boroughs of New York City. We see the family is dominated at first by patriarch "Don" Vito Corleone. This role is played by Marlon Brando (who won a Best Actor for this film), and is probably one of the most imitated roles of our times. Brando plays the head of one of the five Italian-American families involved in crime. The movie is really about the “Mafia-family” and its ups and downs over the years. You will notice though, that the word “Mafia” is never used in the film, but rather “family”. (Just as “Play it again, Sam” is never said in Casablanca). Godfather Corleone is set in his family’s ways, dealing with the business of alcohol and gambling and doesn’t really want to see the “wave of the future” approaching, which is the drug trade. It is because of this, that eventually he is dethroned as the Godfather, and Al Pacino takes over in a more brutal and persistent manner. It was amazing to see the change from his Pacino’s introduction at the wedding, as an honored war veteran and Ivy League gentleman, to Don Michael Corleone, Head of Family, and one of the most volatile Corleones.
The entire film was able to intertwine family events with day to day business of “family “events. Traditions bestowed upon the Corleone family, and business as usual for the “Mafia family” seemed to be paired side by side. There was a family wedding, shopping, and a baptism; while at the same time over 20 people were brutally killed in the film. It was evident that this film shows how America could be desensitized to the violence or crime going on around them, or even the aloofness paired with it. I had been told for years that I HAD to see this movie, but I went into it with no expectations, but by the time it was done, I felt like a member of the family with no way out, unless I wanted to dishonor the Corleone name.

3.5 STARS