Revisiting The Godfather for the AFI Project

From March 30, 2008:

What's the AFI Project, you ask? For more information, or if you just enjoy my bemused ramblings, read here: http://www.spout.com/blogs/pippin06/archive/2008/3/1/25756.aspx

The Godfather is on the following AFI lists:

The Original Top 100 (#3)
100 Most Heart-Pounding Movies (#11)
100 Movie Quotes: (#2 - Don Corleone, Vito and Michael: "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse.")
25 Film Scores (#5)
The Revised Top 100 (#2)
10 Top 10's (#1 Gangster)

The Godfather is such a good movie, it has universal appeal among men and women, young and old, people of all types. It unfolds and plays out like an opera, complete with mayhem and tragedy. It asks the viewer to sympathize with the head of a mafia family and to watch as the youngest, prodigal son becomes corrupted by those who sought to keep him uncorrupted. It has one of the most flawless stories ever put to film, and I love it immensely.

Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando, in the role of his career) keeps his family in line and his friends at bay by doing them favors in exchange for other favors, many with a violent aftertaste, though he does so in the name of "business" and good intentions. When a young businessman named Salazzo, loyal to a rival crime family, approaches Don Corleone with a proposition to get into the narcotics business, and Vito refuses, war between the families breaks out, led primarily by Vito's oldest hot-headed son, Sonny (James Caan). Young Michael (Al Pacino, in his breakthrough performance), the family favorite and a "citizen" with a good reputation, becomes embroiled when Vito's on death's door after being hit by Salazzo's men. Michael kills Salazzo and a corrupt cop in cold blood, and so begins his descent and eventual path to corruption. The film also features Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen, adoptive son to Vito and his conciglieri and advisor, and Diane Keaton as Kay, Michael's girlfriend-turned-wife, who knows what she gets into without really acknowledging it.

This movie is nothing short of brilliant. It's another bona fide masterpiece. It's one of the most quotable movies on the face of the planet. While re-watching the film, I was reminded of the cute but mediocre "She's Got Mail" starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Tom Hanks' character in that movie has a fondness for quoting the Godfather, and he brings up a few, not the least of which includes "go to the mattresses." The horse's head looks fake, but it still gives me the willies.

What makes this movie so epic is the whole entire mixture of ingredients. All of the performances are brilliant, particularly Brando. The score is unique and recognizable. The art direction and cinematography, recreating postwar New York and Little Italy with shadowy tones and gold hues, gives the entire film a level of sinisterness and the viewer the feeling that no happy ending is in store for anyone concerned because the Corleones mess with morality in ways that will not bring them prosperity. The viewer can't help but watch the action unfold because the story is told so masterfully.

I can't say enough to extol this movie. The best test is the fact that it clocks in at about three hours, but I never feel time go by when I watch this film.

I own the movie, I would give it a perfect 10, and so many people (rightfully) love it, that I don't think there's too much more to say other than it deserves its position on all of the above lists and more. The Godfather is timeless, it holds up well, it's entertaining and engrossing, and it's a movie that no one can refuse as a classic.