Release Date: March 14th, 1972
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Writers: Francis Ford Coppola, Mario Puzo
Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Talia Shire, Diane Keaton, Sterling Hayden, John Cazale, Richard Castellano, John Marley, Richard Conte, Al Lettieri, Abe Vigoda, Gianni Russo, Rudy Bond, Morgana King, Richard Bright, Alex Rocco, Tony Giorgio, Vito Scotti, Julie Gregg, Angelo Infanti, Franco Citti, Saro Urzi, Sofia Coppola, Joe Spinell
Studio: Paramount
Genre: Crime, Drama
Rated: R

Francis Ford Coppola's classic Gangster movie is a film that contains, what I consider to be, the greatest opening in cinematic history. It's not the kind of big action sequence that would open something like a Bond film, nor is it a traditional gangster movie prologue where the main character narrates for you. No, the opening of The Godfather is much more memorable and more unique than that. It sees a man, a man who will seemingly become unimportant to the story as it progresses, and with a slow pan out from his eyes he utters the words "I believe in America..." As the scene progresses it becomes clearly evident that what this man meant to say was, "I believed in America", as he begins to describe how his daughter was brutally beaten when she tried to keep her integrity. How he went through all the right channels only to see the courts let these boys go. Just as he finishes describing these horrible events the camera pans out just enough to reveal another man in the room, a man he has now come to for help. The second man has a much more authoritative presence about him, and then we learn who he is. He is The Godfather, Don Vito Corleone, head of the local Mafia family. This is where the other man is forced to turn, he'd placed all his confidence in America and tried to live by their laws. However the American justice system failed him when he needed it most and so now it was only criminals who could grant him the justice he wanted to find.

This scene is important because it sets the tone for the rest of the film. It's not a scathing judgement call designed to expose the realities of life in the mob, but rather it's a personal drama that deals with people who have decided to live in a different class of society. This very tone made sure that when it was released it caused a stir of controversy among people who claimed it romanticized life in the mob too much. Maybe that argument is not completely hollow though as the film certainly has a romantic atmosphere. It's the story of Anthony's fall from grace, showing him go from a man who tries to live a good life to a cold and calculating killer. Yet it's played out like a family drama, you feel like a member of that family and Anthony's fall from grace feels more like his acceptance of responsibility. Of course this was an essential approach due to the type of film that The Godfather is. It's a drama, and a character led drama at that. As such the enjoyment of the film comes from becoming involved in the characters. You have to at least feel like you're looking at people you like, because if you are going to care about what is happening to the characters then you must first care about the characters themselves. Thankfully though that is the case as right from the opening shot you find yourself completely absorbed into the story of the Corleone family.

There are a number of factors involved that accomplish this, not least the cinematography by Gordon Willis that is uniformly excellent throughout. He intentionally softens the colors in each frame in order to really draw you into the period that the film is set, but this also has the effect of softening the story's harsher aspects. It helps to romanticize the entire Corleone family business so that even in moments where a man finds a nasty surprise in his bed, you still find yourself sympathizing with the man who gave the orders. This is backed up well by the movies score, particularly that classic theme song that is both romantic and sad in equal measures. Those two things are combined so perfectly throughout the film that they create an atmosphere that has remained unmatched in the 30 years since the film was first released. However the atmosphere is merely the surface gloss, it's the area that you immediately recognize after watching the film but it's not the only thing that has made the film one of the greatest movies ever made.

The real emotion is through the story that forces you to care about it's characters, and the actors who play those characters. You see, we have to face facts here and admit that most of the characters in The Godfather are not good men. They're not even decent men, but rather they are the kind of scum that people protest about. They are the people who will bully you in order to get their own way, and will place you in danger if you try and refuse them. They may appear all friendly and loving when they are offering you a favour, but if you don't repay that favour then they'll give no second thoughts about killing you. That's the lives they've chosen to live and just because they refuse to deal in drugs doesn't make the Corleone's anything more than marginally better than any other Mafia family. However Francis Ford Coppola never shows you that side of their lives. Throughout the film we know that the Corleone's deal in women and gambling, but they're viewed as harmless vices. You never see a woman forced in prostitution, never see a man lose his family to a gambling addiction because the family heads never get directly involved in those things. What we see is the family, the drama's inherent in the family business and we quickly find ourselves becoming involved in that family. That's the beauty of the story that Mario Puzo originally crafted in his novel that the movie is based on. It's not the story of Gangsters, it's the story of a family business, and the eventual passing of this business from Father to son.

Of course this means that, as a character based drama, the film needs the actors to be believable if it's to really succeed. Thankfully, and I don't know how Coppola has managed it, but he has gotten the perfect actor in every role. Even the relatively minor roles have been well cast, and even the actors who have done bad things in the past have been successfully directed to give just the right performance. Obviously in a film this epic I can't go into all of them but even to just scratch the surface of the direct family members reveals something special. James Caan spent some time with the real gangsters in order to get into the role of Sonny and it really shows through in his performance. You really believe that he is this experienced man with a weakness for being a little too hot headed and he adds weight to the films side story. Coppola's little sister, Talia Shire plays the daughter of the family, Connie, and she really shines. It's funny because her casting was originally made by Coppola who thought he was going to be fired, and so hired his own sister whom he thought was too attractive for the role. Well attractive or not there's not many people who could portray the vulnerabilities of Connie so well. The most memorable of the smaller family members is easily the adopted son Tom Hagen though. Robert Duvall was amazing at making a character who keeps a calm quiet demeanor one of the scariest roles in the film. Just see the scene where he has dinner with the Hollywood executive to see what I'm talking about.

However the best cast roles are also the films more important roles. Marlon Brando in the role of The Godfather himself has created one of the most memorable performances in history. His performance is up there with Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, or Anthony Hopkins in Silence Of The Lambs in terms of how often it's been imitated. It's strange to see now because when the film was being made Coppola was nearly fired by the studio's when they saw Brando's performance, and it was only quick wits on Coppola's part that kept them both in work. Brando is amazing though, he really does become Vito Corleone for the entire running time of the film. Not just because he was a relatively young man who was believable as an old experienced father of a gangster family, but because of the little things he did. A perfect example is found in the opening scene where the Don is seen stroking a cat, it was Brando who grabbed the cat believing it to be a perfect prop, and little things like that throughout the film are the things that make Vito Corleone such a memorable character.