I have recently watched the movie “The Godfather” directed by Francis Ford Coppollo. It was a very influential movie in the new Hollywood tendency. This is an incredible movie that has really set the bar for the gangster-genre type films. Francis Ford Coppollo was almost fired in the making of the movie but good thing they did not because he did an incredible job at making this book into a proper film. At the time the film was released it related to the average American, you or your family came to America searching for the American dream. This movie really shows what the price some pay to get the power and money. Vito Corleone has achieved that American dream through a lot of hard and dangerous work, but you begin to see Michael Corleone try to inch his way closer to the American dream.
The Corleone family will sacrifice ethics for money, however one thing they would never sacrifice is family. In the photo above Michael talks to Mo Green (a very big hotel owner in California) without respect because he roughed his older brother up a little. This is very surprising to everyone in the room, nobody talks to Mr. Green like that but Michael did and began to threaten him, because of how he treated his brother. At the end of this scene Michael says to his older brother “Don’t ever take sides with anyone against the family again, ever.”
This was one of the most gruesome scenes. Sonny is driving through a toll but is stopped, all of a suddenly men with guns begin to start firing at him. They hit him too many times to count. This is part of the new Hollywood trend involving violence. They did not leave anything to imagination either, all the blood and screaming made it difficult for some to watch.
The godfathers movie poster has a picture of Don Corleone and some puppet strings. The puppet strings are showing that Don Corleone is the puppet master, this is because he has complete power over everyone. Even when it comes to higher power authority such as the police, he easily makes them do as he says by bribing them.
Collin Biggs wrote a very interesting article on the godfather. He mentions how in the great depression people loved the flashy gangster lifestyle, with all the cars, women, and money. However, in this review he claims that they killed everyone’s gangster fantasy with all the violence that really goes on. That does not mean that America did not root for the gangsters in the movie, it is interesting for the crowd to be wanting the “villain” to prevail. When I watched the movie I was always for the Corleone family coming out on top, and in particular Michael. He was not a good boyfriend and would murder people, but I still see him as a person with morals. This could be because of him originally trying to stay out of the family business.
http://moviemezzanine.com/history-of-film-the-godfather-and-the-godfather-part-ii/
Hey Vince, something I liked off the bat was your introduction. It gave me a good sense about the movie and even captured my interest with the background about the director. I also thought the screen shots and captions you went with really helped me identify what was happening even though I haven’t seen the film. This connects to some of my writings because the films have very serious dramatic scenes. One thing I learned from this post was really about the poster with Don Corleone. I think the way you describe it was very accurate from what I have herd learned about the film. I would like to find about more information about posters or cover photos that describe the movie.
Hi Vince, I enjoyed reading your introduction! When you talked about the director almost being fired, I had no idea that his happened, It got me thinking what he was doing to get himself in a predicament like that. I also enjoyed how you opened your blog post with background on the movie, and talked about what seeing the movie would be like from an audience perspective- this is something I’m going to think about doing more of in my future blog posts! Just like the movie I watched (Carrie) it was pretty gruesome, and was still seen as a very popular film.
Hi Vincent,
We both wrote about The Godfather last week and I really enjoy your take on the film. Your use of specified quotes from throughout the movie provide us with a unique synopsis of the plot. The film was set in a time where tensions between the government and its people were high – unemployment rates had skyrocketed, the Great Depression was in full effect, and prohibition was still strong-arming bored Americans. This historical context allows us to understand how an anti-hero becomes commercially popular and sets the stage for The Godfather to prevail as a film classic through the generations.
Hi Vincent,
I too liked your intro it really did pull me in and make me want to keep reading your blog. I was unaware that Francis Ford Coopula was almost fired on this movie, crazy. I also read that Al Pacino was almost fired this movie was casted so well it would have been a major tragedy to fire either. I really liked your adding the movie poster with the puppet strings. You really nailed it with your description of a puppet master. Ending with a great article and pointing out that Americans were rooting for the gangsters. It is very good story telling when you can make the villain a hero.