By Brandon Nolta

I have an admission to make: Up until now, I have never seen THE GODFATHER. Despite being an avowed movie fan, I have managed to miss Francis Ford Coppola’s classic repeatedly over the years. Partly, this is because I managed to catch Scorsese’s take on Mob films in the 1990s—GOODFELLAS and CASINO—and then later THE DEPARTED, and didn’t feel like I needed more Mob in my viewing life. Actually, that’s the whole reason right there, as I’m not interested in Mob stories, and those films took care of that for me. However, the great films are always about more than what they are about, and THE GODFATHER is such a part of American film grammar, the very language of cinema, that it seemed like an egregious oversight not to see it. So, I put THE GODFATHER and THE GODFATHER PART II on my Netflix queue, and waited for these classics to arrive.

The scene opens on the wedding day of Connie Corleone (Talia Shire), daughter of Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), the local godfather. Family and friends are gathered in from everywhere, including Vito’s son Michael (Al Pacino), who is determined not to follow in his father’s Mafia footsteps, enlisting in the Marine Corps in an effort to stay clear (well, that and to fight in WWII; the movie begins in 1945). Michael thinks he can stay clear because he’s the youngest of the Corleone boys, behind brothers Sonny (James Caan) and Fredo (John Cazale). Throw in Michael’s lifelong friend Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), Corleone lawyer and consigliore, and Michael’s girlfriend and future wife Kay (Diane Keaton), and one of Hollywood’s greatest casts ever assembled is complete.


Now, Coppola has the stage set for a long, unblinking look at how one Mafia family (though the word “Mafia” is never used) does business on the cusp of a new era in organized crime: high-volume drug trafficking. To fully describe the plot of this 175-minute epic, even in synopsis, would probably take longer to write than it does to watch, given the numerous plot threads and characters involved. Suffice it to say that some of the most enduring images and quotes of the last 35 years appear in their rightful context: the use of oranges to foreshadow death, the gunning down of Don Vito in the street, the horse’s head in the bed of a Hollywood producer, the offer that can’t be refused, Luca Brasi sleeping with the fishes, and more.

It’s tough to see sometimes, considering how much effect Coppola’s magnum opus had on everything that came after, but one of the greatest achievements of THE GODFATHER was to give criminals a human face. These guys might be cold-blooded murderers, drug runners and traffickers in all sorts of unsavory stuff, but they are humans, with families and hobbies and doubts and all those things that regular folks have and do and feel. Don Vito rules his empire from the shadows, but he doesn’t act randomly and he does have scruples; Vito refuses to get involved in the drug trade, over the objections of Sonny and Tom Hagen. Sonny’s a violent hothead, but he’s loyal to his family and feels guilt on occasion. Michael’s an intelligent, cultured soul, but he has the wherewithal needed to kill two men in cold blood.

Every character has depth and richness beyond their crimes, and equal credit must be given to the brilliant screenplay by Coppola and Mario Puzo, adapting his novel, and the fantastic cast, led by Brando and Pacino in masterful displays of underplayed skill. As bombastic as he’s been in recent years, it’s wonderful to be reminded of just how much Pacino can do with the right character. Michael is a study in contrasts, and Pacino brings all those to light without raising his voice or straining for effect. Brando, still years short of his really weird period, brings pathos to Don Vito; despite his ruthless acts, he clearly is deeply pained when told of Michael’s involvement in the shooting of Sollozzo, who ordered the hit on Vito, and it’s all in his face. Caan and Duvall also turn in fine work, Duvall particularly in his devotion to a family he knows he’ll never truly belong to, but nobody turns in less than their A-game.


THE GODFATHER is consistently listed as one of the greatest films ever made, right up there with CITIZEN KANE, and while I didn’t enjoy watching THE GODFATHER like I did KANE (a movie that kept me enthralled from start to finish), I can’t argue with the weight of critical opinion in this case. From the writing to the set design to the cinematography to the acting, every piece is crafted and polished, fitting together like fine clockwork. 175 minutes flows by, and you know you’re in the presence of greatness.