The Godfather

This is a story about tradition, heritage, and the strength of the family. This is a story about ties of honor, loyalty to one's word and respect for the elders. In turn, this is also a story about a criminal clan, of reasons that depend on the caliber of a weapon, of blood washed at the point of revenge.

Between honor and death this story is debated. At the same time, it is the chronicle of a family throughout the twentieth century, an epic saga covered with glory as much as of ambition and evil. It is the story of the Corleone family, in the Italian-American mafia film ever made.

"The Godfather" revolves around the fall of its main character, the patriarch Vito Corleone (Marlon Brandon). The first scene of the film teaches us the full regalia of his power, key word when it comes to understanding his personal businesses and relationships. That omnipotent power gives him the strength to administer justice in his own way, to straighten outrages, to apply a law not written in any code.

In the flashbacks from the sequels, Francis Ford Coppola explains how he reached the summit and how many men were left behind to reach that position where everyone fears and respects him; because everyone, like it or not, owes him something. The director prefers to show him and his family at the top, this narrow place surrounded by cliffs on all sides. From there on, the street is just downhill and the film is the story of the succession of control, something that comes as natural as it is unexpected.

The trigger for these events is not only the age factor of the godfather, but a change in the business profile. Unsatisfied by the profits from traditional businesses like gambling and liquor, the mob needs to move forward to narco-traffic. Don Vito Corleone refuses to accept this change, thus leading to a series of violent events that aim to change his mind, even, if necessary, at the expenses of his own life.

After an attack to Don Vito, his eldest son, Sonny (James Caan), temporarily assumes power, but he ends up slaughtered, sot hat Don Vito proposes a truce between the five Mafia families of New York and agrees that the drug  business should be allowed and supported.

Since then the business will be taken on by his youngest son Michael (Al Pacino), an universitarian and war hero who had been unrelated to the business until then. The violent deaths of his brother and his first wife, and later the one of Don Vito, force him to take over the power and command of his family business.

It is notable how Michael slowly starts changing his passive and distant attitude, to become aware of the role that he should take over as head of the family. During the baptize of one of his nephews, he will become godfather and it is during that moment, symbolically, that he has his men eliminate the other crime bosses.

When Michael swears to his second wife he had nothing to do with the recent crimes and, minutes later, Clemenza, one of his most loyal murderers, kisses his hand and greets him as Don Corleone, the transition will be complete. Michael Corleone is the new godfather.

The film’s key for being successful lies in the profound respect for his characters. The director cares about motives and reasons of the protagonists. There is no being condiscending or ironic about the lives of the outlaws, no treating them as inferiors or condemning them to be defeated.

Here we are on their side, sharing their experiences, their parties, their moments of joy and tough losses, perceiving a human side that had always been denied. Avoiding giving mixed messages, Coppola draws a clear line between good and evil, but the two parts cross it so often that they end up deleting it, as in real life.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Writers: Mario Puzo (screenplay), Francis Ford Coppola (screenplay)

Stars: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and James Caan