The Godfather is about to turn 50 and has been playing in theaters this weekend. I highly recommend that you catch a showing of it.
This post is mainly just to talk about The Godfather. I know that it is probably one of the most, if not the most iconic movie ever made and everyone and their grandmother has seen it and know of it's greatness. It is no way an underrated gem and is perhaps the film that is most agreed upon as being great.
I saw Godfather for the first time about 8 years ago when I was a teenager. While i may not have been able to grasp every single nuance or complexity of the film, I was still completely blown away by it. It was I think my first real adult film, my first time watching a really mature film that was also universally raved on by both critics and audiences alike. I think 14 year old me was still able to love it because of how straightforward the story is in someways, about a good man who turns evil and becomes a successor to his Don father. I always remembered the big moments whether it be the horses in the bed, shootings in markets, restaurants and toll booths or the legendary baptism scene. It always stuck to me as a bonafide masterpiece, an undoubtedly great work of art and the movie that I will always think of when someone asks me what is the greatest movie of all time.
The 50th anniversary allowed me to see this movie in theatres for the first time. I jumped at the opportunity to see it in theatres and I was genuinely astounded. While on surface The Godfather may not seem as essential of a film to watch in theatres as 2001: A Space Odyssey or Lawrence of Arabia due to how visually impressive those movies are, I think seeing it in a dark room with a large screen with no pause button got me fully immersed in the film and made me in awe of how epic the storytelling is and how detailed the whole film is. Every single line of dialogue feels memorable and has rightly become iconic. The cuts can either smoothly transition you into another scene or be dramatic as hell, filled with wonderful irony and masterful connection (one particular was Connie crying in pain while getting beaten by her husband to Mama Corleone holding a crying baby while answering the phone).
While the movie's plot can be summarised by a simple one line, it fills out the complexity with characters with such a large amount of depth that they feel real and you can't help feel connected with them. Sonny and Tom can argue and bicker with each other in regards to how to move forward when the Family is in danger, but they also feel like more of real brothers than Sonny with Michael or Fredo. Tom informing Vito that Sonny has been murdered is such a heartbreaking scene where Tom is wondering how to inform a father that his son has died while also grappling with losing a brother while Vito shows him comfort and kindness in a way that only a father can to a son even ignoring his own pain. Michael's noticing his hand is not shaking outside the hospital compared to Enzo, even though he is supposed to be just as much of an outsider to the mafia game as Enzo the baker. Was being a mobster always in him, did his father getting shot made him grow confident about fighting back, was it his Marine training kicking back in after sensing danger ? Michael and Kays entire relationship where in the beginning he happily brings her into the family photo while at the end he yells at her and shuts her out when she asks about his family business. Fredo crying like a little child upon seeing his father being gunned down and also being pushed around by Moe Green so badly that he had to be saved by his younger brother which also increased his resentment towards him and led to his big betrayal in Part 2. Bonasera asking Vito for help to provide justice for his child and later on Vito asking Bonasera for help to fix his child's face, even though Vito himself decided to forego justice for his own child.
There are so many little things and details in the movie that just stuck out to me that I can't stop thinking about. How the movie portrayed two weddings, a funeral and a baptism covering all cycles of life in this way. Michael looking older and more cruel after his return from Italy. The Baptism scene which could probably be considered to be the greatest example of crosscutting ever. How the movie is able to branch the gap between the pulpy violence and allure of the mob with its highbrow themes in regards to immigrants, capitalism and downfall of a man which is why I think it has been able to get really high positions on both populist sites like IMDB and critical sites like Sight and Sound. How it's sequel might have been responsible for popularizing the idea of sequels and how Godfather might be responsible for the massive amounts of franchising that is happening in movie business today.
Regardless of anything, while The Godfather may not have revolutionized anything, it does feel the most iconic and the most important American movie. It does feel to me the representative American movie, which is why it is so beloved by everyone.
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/t2tse6/the_godfather_is_about_to_turn_50_and_has_been/
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