rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 1972
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola; produced by Albert S. Ruddy; screenplay by Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola
Starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, James Caan, Diane Keaton, Richard S. Castellano, Sterling Hayden, Talia Shire, John Cazale, Sofia Coppola
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
How can you compare movies like 'Citizen Kane', 'Vertigo', '2001: A Space
Odyssey', 'Pulp Fiction' and 'The Godfather'? How can you say what movie is
better? I am not sure and therefor I am not sure if 'The Godfather' is the
best movie for me. Together with 'Pulp Fiction' it is the movie I enjoy the
most after seeing it a lot more than once. Every time you can see something
new and every time you can enjoy classic scenes like I enjoyed them the
first time.
The opening sequence is the first great thing in the movie. It is one of the
most famous sequences in the movies. Marlon Brando is Don Vito Corleone, the
head of the Corleone family. It is his daughters (Talia Shire) wedding and
Sicilian traditions tell us that he can't refuse reasonable requests from
his guests. It is the first part of one of the greatest performances I have
seen. Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), one of the sons of Vito Corleone,
arrives on the wedding together with Kay (Diane Keaton). He is a war hero
and doesn't want to have anything to do with the family's business. Two
other sons are Sonny (James Caan) and Fredo (John Cazale). Tom Hagen (Robert
Duvall) is the family's consiglieri, the great help of the Don.
We learn that there are five major families in the city of New York. Because
the Corleone family doesn't want to get involved with a guy named Solozzo
(Al Lettieri), he deals in drugs, a war between the families is the result.
An attempt on the life of Don Vito Corleone fails, but he is badly wounded.
Now Solozzo and the family that supports him want to set a meeting, but only
with Michael who is not involved in the business. Michael decides to do the
meeting and to kill Solozzo and the corrupt Captain McCluskey (Sterling
Hayden), both responsible for the attempt on his fathers life. After this he
has to escape to Sicily for a while.
One classic scene after another fills the screen. You will remember the
wedding, the "offer he can't refuse", the head of the horse, Luca Brasi, the
way Michael becomes the main character in the family business, the beautiful
scenes set on Sicily, every scene with Marlon Brando, the closing sequences
with a baptism and a lot of death and the closing door, the last shot in the
movie. It is all brilliant. Together with a great score, a beautiful
cinematography, one big fake punch by Sonny, an almost flawless direction by
Francis Ford Coppola, and Brando who is accompanied with great actors like
Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton and especially Robert Duvall make this
probably the best movie ever made.