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The Godfather (film)

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:This article is about the film. For the novel on which the film is based, see The Godfather (novel). For the main article of the video game based on The Godfather, see . For other uses, see Godfather.
The Godfather is a 1972 film adaptation of the novel of the same name, written by Mario Puzo, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. The film's story spans ten years from late 1945 to 1955. This movie is universally regarded as the definitive Mafia film. It is consistently ranked amongst the finest movies of all time. It is currently ranked as third best film by the [American Film Institute], and, as of June 19, 2006, rated number one on the top 250 films on the Internet Movie Database with a 9.1/10 rating.
Contents

Plot

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film begins at the wedding of Don Vito Corleone's (Marlon Brando) daughter, Connie (Talia Shire), to Carlo Rizzi (Gianni Russo) in late summer of 1945. According to tradition, no Sicilian can refuse a request on his daughter's wedding day, so the Godfather is meeting people who come to see him and granting various "favors." One of the favors is asked by Don Corleone's godson Johnny Fontane (loosely based on Frank Sinatra), a crooner who wants Corleone's influence to break into the movie business -- more specifically, with a movie he'd be perfect in, but cannot land the lead role as it is being produced by Jack Woltz, with whom Johnny had a falling-out in the past. After Don Corleone tells Fontane to rest and let him take care of everything. Meanwhile, the Don's youngest son Michael (Al Pacino), who has returned from service in World War II, tells his girlfriend Kay (Diane Keaton) about the ways in which his father 'coerces' rivals ("With a gun to his head, my father assured him that either his signature or his brains would be on the contract."). He tells her, "That's my family, Kay. Not me."

Later, the Family consigliere, Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), a German/Irish street kid and friend of Don Corleone's oldest son, Santino or "Sonny" (James Caan), whom the Don took in and raised as his own, goes to Hollywood, and "persuades" the producer Woltz to cast Fontane in the movie by leaving the head of the producer's prize racehorse, Khartoum, in his bed. When Tom returns to New York, influential heroin dealer Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo asks Don Corleone for protection and a million dollars in financing for the heroin business. Because he is concerned that politicians and policemen in his control will not see narcotics as the same kind of innocent pursuit as gambling, prostitution and bootlegging, Don Corleone refuses to be involved, but Sonny (who is Don Corleone's underboss, undisciplined and hotheaded), breaks ranks during the meeting and expresses interest in the deal. Luca Brasi, Don Corleone's unfailingly loyal enforcer, is sent to obtain information from Sollozzo's apparent backers, the Tattaglia Family, and he is soon killed by them and Sollozzo as part of a previous plan to kill Don Corleone.

After Don Corleone's refusal, Sollozzo unsuccessfully attempts to assassinate him, and detains Tom to act as a messenger to deliver an offer of a new deal to Sonny. Sonny refuses to consider the deal, waiting to see what information Luca Brasi will have -- but Brasi's bullet-proof vest is delivered to the Coreleone home wrapped around a dead fish: a Sicilian message that means "Brasi sleeps with the fishes." The Corleone Family now begins to prepare for the possibility of all-out warfare with the other Mafia families (called "going to the mattresses", because the "soldiers" will hide out in tenements sleeping on mattresses). Meanwhile, Don Corleone's caporegime Peter Clemenza (Richard S. Castellano) has Paulie, the Don's bodyguard, killed, since Sonny is sure that Paulie betrayed him.

Michael, who is recognized by the other families as a "civilian" who is not involved in the family business, goes to have dinner with Kay, and then on to visit his father in the hospital. When he gets there, he finds no police guard, and none of his father's men guarding him; they've all been arrested or sent away by the police. Michael realizes that his father is being set up for another assassination attempt, and convinces a nurse to help him move the old man to another room. Once there, he tells his father "I'm here. I'm with you now," -- a declaration both that he is with the old man at that moment, and that he no longer intends to remain the innocent and uninvolved "civilian" outside the family business. This brings tears to the Don's eyes. Although Michael has called for help, he's afraid that something will happen before it gets there, and he enlists the innocent Enzo the baker, who has shown up to pay his respects to the Don, to stand outside the hospital with him, looking menacing and pretending to be carrying guns. A car pulls up, obviously there for the assassination attempt, but pulls away after a visual confrontation with Michael and Enzo. Almost immediately after, clearly by plan, police cars come screeching up with corrupt Police Captain McCluskey (Sterling Hayden). McCluskey rousts Michael, who confronts him and accuses him of being in the pay of Sollozzo. For this, McCluskey has his officers hold Michael steady while he breaks his jaw with a single punch.

Michael is about to be arrested, despite being a war hero with no record in the rackets, when Tom Hagen shows up with "private detectives" licensed to carry guns to protect Don Corleone, and threatens McCluskey with having to explain his actions in court if he interferes with them. McCluskey withdraws from the scene, and the Don is safe for the moment. Realizing that Sollozzo will not rest until his father is dead, Michael volunteers to kill Sollozzo and his bodyguard, Captain McCluskey, during a meeting designed to end the conflict. Sonnys man in the police precinct discovers where the meeting is going to be held, a Bronx restaurant, and Clemenza has a pistol planted in the bathroom there for Michael to use. During the meeting, Michael excuses himself to go to the bathroom, retrieves the weapon, murders Sollozzo and McCluskey at point blank range and leaves the scene.

Michael is sent to Sicily, under the protection of Vito's old friend and business partner Don Tommasino, to avoid arrest for the murders. There, he meets and marries the beautiful young virgin Apollonia, who is later killed by a car bomb meant for Michael. Back in America, Don Corleone returns home from the hospital and is heartbroken to learn that Michael, for whom he had political aspirations and therefore wanted to keep "clean" and away from the family's illegal operations, was the one who killed Sollozzo and McCluskey. In New York, the temper-mental Sonny severely beats his brother-in-law, Carlo, for abusing Connie. After Carlo beats Connie a second time, Sonny sets off alone to seek his revenge on Carlo. Unbeknownst to Sonny, Carlo has betrayed him to the Barzini Family. Don Barzini's men assassinate Sonny as his car sits at a toll booth. Instead of perpetuating the revenge cycle, Don Corleone (now more or less recovered from the assassination attempt) seeks peace with the warring Five Families so his youngest son can return home. Don Corleone realizes that it was Don Emilio Barzini, not Philip Tattaglia, who was behind the war and Sonny's death. The Don says to Tom, "Tattaglia's a pimp. He never could've out-fought Santino. But I didn't know until this day that it was Barzini all along." Now with his safety guaranteed, Michael returns from Sicily and woos and marries his former girlfriend Kay, telling her that his father's ways are over, and that in five years, the Corleone Family would be completely legitimate.

The ailing Don Corleone places Michael in charge of the Family, since the next oldest brother Fredo, who has been sent to Las Vegas for his health and to learn the casino business, is the weakest and least intelligent of the brothers. The caporegimes Clemenza and Salvatore "Sally" Tessio (Abe Vigoda) complain that in the new set-up, they're being pinched and pushed around by the Barzini Family, and want permission to strike back. When Michael refuses, because "things are being negotiated" that will settle matters, they ask the Don's permission to start their own Families, as it was once promised they could. The Don asks their forebearance, and tells them they should be "friends" to Michael. Michael tells them he has plans to leave behind the family's (olive oil importing) business in New York and become "legitimate" in the Nevada casino business, and that once the move to Las Vegas is made, Clemenza and Tessio can break away to form their own families. In Las Vegas, in the hotel/casino partly financed by the Corleones and run by Moe Greene (based partly on Bugsy Siegel), Michael calls in the Don's marker with Johnny Fontane, asking him to sign a contract guaranteeing multiple yearly engagements at the casino, and requesting that he get his Hollywood friends to do the same. Fontane is happy to repay the Don's favor.

But Michael's offer to buy out Moe Greene is rudely rebuffed, since Greene believes the Corleones are weak, and he can get a better deal from the Barzinis. Fredo attempts to intercede with Tom Hagen, who tells him the Don is semi-retired, and Michael is in charge of the family business. Moe leaves, and Fredo tells Michael, "You don't come to Las Vegas and talk to a man like Moe Greene like that!" Michael's response is pointed and chilling (as well as prescient): "Fredo, you're my older brother, and I love you. But don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever." Michael returns home, and, in one of the film's most tender scenes, Vito Corleone, while advising Michael about strategy and possible assassination attempts, confesses that he had hoped his youngest son had not been drawn into the family business. Although dreaming Michael would one day be governor or senator, Vito admits "there wasn't enough time." While playing in the garden with his grandson Anthony, Don Corleone dies.

From left to right: Al Pacino (Michael), Marlon Brando (Don Vito), James Caan (Santino), John Cazale (Fredo).
Enlarge
From left to right: Al Pacino (Michael), Marlon Brando (Don Vito), James Caan (Santino), John Cazale (Fredo).

During the funeral, Corleone Family caporegime Tessio conveys a proposal for a meeting with Don Barzini, on Tessio's turf so Michael will be safe. As Vito Corleone told him and Tom Hagen confirms at the funeral, Michael's enemies will attempt to kill him by using a trusted acquaintance to set up a meeting once Vito Corleone and his important political connections are gone. Michael then arranges for the murders of the other families' heads (Philip Tattaglia, Emilio Barzini, Victor Stracci, and Carmine Cuneo), Moe Greene (whom the other families support), and Sal Tessio (for betraying Michael to Barzini) —- and those murders are carried out while Michael is standing up as godfather to his nephew, Connie and Carlo's second son, Michael Francis Rizzi. The film's climactic scene involves intercutting between the brutal assassinations and the church, as Michael recites the traditional vows of baptism.

Afterwards, Michael confronts Carlo about Sonny's murder, and tricks him into admitting his role in setting up the killing -- and Carlo is then strangled to death by Clemenza. Later, Connie accuses Michael of ordering Carlo's murder. Kay is witness to Connie's hysterical confrontation. She questions Michael about Connie's accusation, and he answers vehemently, "Don't ask me about my business, Kay." She insists, and Michael appears to relent, for "just this one time." Michael then lies outright and assures his wife that he had no role in Carlo's death. Kay is relieved by Michael's denial. However, as the movie ends, her fears are perhaps reawakened as she watches Clemenza and new caporegime Rocco pay their respects to Michael, kissing his hand and addressing him as "Don Corleone." The door closes on her shocked face, implying that Michael has become what his father did not want him to be: the Godfather.

Spoilers end here.

Production

The film was released in 1972 and was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, whose several prior films had none of the same impact upon the public, although he had won an Academy Award for co-writing Patton in 1970. Most of the shooting spanned from March 29, 1971, to August 6 of that year. A scene with Pacino and Keaton was shot in autumn. Due to skepticism about the film's expected success, a modest budget was set for the film, forcing the crew to use regular lighting as opposed to production lighting. This lent a more realistic appearance to the film.

There was intense friction between director Coppola (who was at least the third choice to direct) and the studio, Paramount Pictures, and several times Coppola was close to being replaced. Paramount maintains that their scepticism was due to a rocky start to production, though Coppola believes that the first week went extremely well. Paramount perceived that Coppola was failing to keep up to the production schedule, frequently made mistakes in production and casting and insisted on unnecessary expenses. The studio strongly opposed the casting of Al Pacino and Marlon Brando, insisting both be made to perform in multiple screen tests and that Coppola consider other actors. Despite this intense pressure, Coppola managed to defend his decisions and avoid being fired. The final cut was seemingly remarkably free from the changes the studio had previously demanded.

Casting

Puzo helped in the making of the movie and its sequels and co-wrote the screenplay. The producers originally wanted Robert Redford or Ryan O'Neal to play Michael Corleone, but Coppola demanded Al Pacino. Pacino was not well known at the time, and the studio did not consider him right for the part. Pacino was only granted the role after Coppola threatened to quit the production. A young New Yorker named Robert De Niro also auditoned, not only for Michael, but for the roles of Sonny, Carlo, and Paulie Gatto.

The role of Don Vito Corleone was memorably acted by Marlon Brando, who won an Academy Award (which he famously did not appear at the Oscars to accept, in protest of Hollywood's portrayal of Native Americans) for his portrayal of the aging Don. Originally, Laurence Olivier was wanted by Paramount to play Vito Corleone, but he was unable to sign on due to health problems. Coppola chose Brando over Ernest Borgnine, as the former won him over in his screen test. Many of the actors playing the supporting roles were largely unknown or minor actors; however, they rocketed into the limelight with the success of The Godfather. Al Pacino and Robert Duvall, in particular, went on to enjoy highly acclaimed careers. Duvall, Pacino, and James Caan were each nominated for their performances with Academy-Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor, but lost out to Cabaret's Joel Grey.

Cast list

Critical acclaim

The film is greatly respected among international critics and the public. It was voted greatest film of all time by Entertainment Weekly[#endnote_ent-weekly], and #3 of all time by the American Film Institute. It is consistently ranked #1 on IMDB's Top 250. In the 2002 Sight & Sound poll of international critics, it was ranked as the 4th best film of all time. The soundtrack's main theme by Nino Rota was also critically acclaimed; the main theme is well-known and widely-used.

Awards

The Godfather won three Academy Awards: The film was also nominated for eight additional Academy Awards. In addition, it won five Golden Globes, one Grammy, and numerous other awards.

The sequel The Godfather Part II also won an Academy Award for Best Picture, making the Godfather trilogy the only series of films to date to win multiple Oscars in this field. Until won the Best Picture award in 2003, it was the only sequel ever to win an Academy Award for Best Picture.(IMDb.com.) The Godfather Part III was nominated for seven Oscars but did not win any.

Revenues

The film was an enormous box-office hit, smashing previous records to become the highest-grossing film of all time (until that record was surpassed by Jaws in 1975). It made USD $5,264,402 in its opening weekend and went on to gross $81,500,000 in its initial run; nearly fourteen times its budget and marketing campaign. Re-releases boosted its North American total to $134 million.

Sequels

The Godfather Part II

See main article: The Godfather Part II

A sequel, The Godfather Part II, was released in 1974. It consists of two parallel storylines, with the focus switching between the two. The first storyline follows Michael Corleone in the late 1950s, as he deals with a decaying marriage and a growing gambling empire; the other is a flashback sequence following his father, Vito, from his youth in Sicily through the founding of the Corleone crime family in New York and the births of Michael and his siblings. This version of Vito is played by different actors at different ages, but the adult Vito is played by Robert De Niro, who won a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for a role in which; interestingly, he speaks almost no English-language dialogue. De Niro and Brando remain the only two actors to both win Academy Awards for playing the same character. Many critics consider the sequel to be superior to the original film in quality, one of the few film sequels to achieve such acclaim.

The Godfather Saga

See main article: The Godfather Saga

Coppola re-edited the two movies together, in chronological order (adding some previously unseen footage but also toning down the violence), into one long saga for TV broadcast, entitled The Godfather Saga. While easier to understand, many consider this version to be less interesting than the original from a structural or artistic standpoint. Both The Godfather and The Godfather Part II have been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. This is not the case for the third installment.

The Godfather Part III

See main article: The Godfather Part III

In 1990, Coppola released the third film in the saga, The Godfather Part III. This film was successful financially, but critical and fan response was mixed. However, the movie still received seven Academy Award nominations, among them Best Picture and Best Cinematography. The film is also notable for the key role played by Coppola's daughter, the future Academy Award-winning film-maker Sofia Coppola, who was asked to play Mary Corleone on short notice after Winona Ryder became ill. The movie was set in 1979, and focused on an aging Michael Corleone. Parts of the film were very loosely based on real historical events concerning the very short Papacy of John Paul I in 1978 and the collapse of the Banco Ambrosiano in 1982.

Possible production of The Godfather Part IV

A third sequel, titled is said to be released around 2012, the 40th anniversary of the original Godfather. According to DVD commentary on , Francis Ford Coppola states that he has a rough draft for the fourth film in the saga of the Corleones. Half the film will focus on Vincent Mancini-Corleone as the new Don of the family and how he destroys their reputation and business by working in the drug trade. The other half is rumored to be flashbacks of Michael Corleone, Fredo Corleone, and Sonny Corleone's boyhood days, when they discover the truth about their father, Don Vito Corleone, his business, and what really goes on around them. Leonardo Dicaprio is said to being considered for this film, but so far nothing has been made concrete.

Trivia

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Spoilers end here.

Impact

The trilogy had a powerful impact upon the public. Don Vito's line "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse" was voted as the second most memorable line in cinema history in a 2005 [poll], called AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes by the American Film Institute, and it is often parodied. This famous line served as inspiration for the song "An Offer She Can't Refuse" by Reeve Oliver, a band signed to Capitol Records.

Reports from Mafia trials and confessions have suggested that Mafia families began a "real life" tradition of paying respect to the family don by kissing his ring, in imitation of the ending scene of The Godfather.

The image of the Mafia as being a medieval-style organization with a "royal family" doing favors for underlings is very popular. For example, in John Grisham's novel The Firm, the Mafia is depicted as having an organization wherein the top mobsters marry into the "royal family". However, this image bears little resemblance to the more sordid reality of a Mafia "family", which is depicted in the film Goodfellas.

The Home Box Office series The Sopranos pays homage to The Godfather in a humorous episode where they discuss the feasibility of bootlegging copies of the DVD. Paramount returned the favor by including this clip as an Easter Egg on the Godfather DVD Collection.[link] Moreover, characters in The Sopranos sometimes discuss The Godfather and The Godfather Part II as both favorite films and images to live up to in the less glamorous real world of organized crime. In the series premiere of The Sopranos, Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt) says, "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!"—a line from The Godfather Part III.

Games

See main article:
In March 2006, a video game version of The Godfather was released by Electronic Arts. The player can make his/her own gangster, and soon become the don, and even Don of New York. The game also lets the player kill rival families, make businesses/rackets pay protection, and control New York City. Prior to his death, Marlon Brando provided voice work for Vito. However, due to poor sound quality, a sound-alike's voice had to be used instead. James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Abe Vigoda lent their voices and likenesses as well, and several other Godfather cast members had their likeness in the game. Francis Ford Coppola said in April 2005 that he was not informed of Paramount's decision to allow the game to be made and he did not approve of it and openly criticized it. Al Pacino also did not participate (due to the fact that he was, like Coppola openly against the game.) A board game based on the movie was also produced.

Art

Soon after the game for The Godfather was released, Shepard Fairey released [his print-set rendition of four main characters] Fred, Sonny, The Don and Tom portrayed as figureheads of united states dollar bills. Although there were 500 prints made, only 50 sets were available to the public (numbers 51-100). There is some speculation that the remaining 450 were either given or sold to the employees of Electronic Arts who helped create the game. The print set originally sold for $110 USD, was available from [ObeyGiant.com], and sold out in less than a day.

See also

Related works

Topical

Actors and crew

References

Further reading

  • Burr, T, The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time, New York: Time-Life Books ISBN 1883013682. Lists The Godfather as "the greatest film of all time."
  • Cowie, Peter, The Godfather Book, London: Faber and Faber, 1997

External links

Academy Award for Best Picture: Winners (1961-1980)
1961: West Side Story | 1962: Lawrence of Arabia | 1963: Tom Jones | 1964: My Fair Lady | 1965: The Sound of Music | 1966: A Man for All Seasons | 1967: In the Heat of the Night | 1968: Oliver! | 1969: Midnight Cowboy | 1970: Patton | 1971: The French Connection | 1972: The Godfather | 1973: The Sting | 1974: The Godfather Part II | 1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | 1976: Rocky | 1977: Annie Hall | 1978: The Deer Hunter | 1979: Kramer vs. Kramer | 1980: Ordinary People

The Godfather
Films • The Godfather • The Godfather Part II • The Godfather Part III • The Godfather Saga
Novels • The Godfather (novel) • The Sicilian • The Godfather Returns • The Godfather's Revenge
Corleone Family • Vito Corleone • Carmella Corleone • Tom Hagen • Sonny Corleone • Fredo Corleone • Michael Corleone • Connie Corleone-Rizzi • Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone • Kay Adams • Anthony Corleone • Mary Corleone • Vinnie Mancini-Corleone
Other Families • Emilio Barzini • Ottilio Cuneo • Victor Stracci • Bruno Tattaglia • Philip Tattaglia
Other Characters • Genco Abbandando • Don Altobello • Luca Brasi • Willie Cicci • Don Ciccio • Pete Clemenza • Don Fanucci • Johnny Fontane • Paulie Gatto • Senator Pat Geary • Moe Greene • Khartoum • Rocco Lampone • Lucy Mancini • Captain McCluskey • Al Neri • Johnny Ola • Frank Pentangeli • Hyman Roth • Carlo Rizzi • Virgil Sollozzo • Sal Tessio • Don Tommasino • Jack Woltz • Joey Zasa
Related • Mario Puzo • Francis Ford Coppola • Albert S. Ruddy • Nino Rota • Gangster film • Organized crime • The Mafia • La Cosa Nostra • Five Families • Sicily • Corleone • The Godfather (soundtrack) • The Godfather Part II (soundtrack) • The Godfather Part III (soundtrack) •

 

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