Lambie Reviews The Godfather

Year: 1972
Accolades: One of 1001 Films You Must See Before You Die; Won a Whole Bunch of Oscars; Basically Considered on of the Greatest Films Ever

There's no denying it. The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola's epic tale about the mafia set during the 1940's and 1950's, is a masterpiece. It is, quite simply, a stunning film. And it's very easy to see why it is so highly regarded. At nearly three hours long, it actually doesn't feel like a drag, even if there are long stretches of time in which not a lot happens. The reason is that there's always a sense of foreboding in every scene. You just want to keep on watching because you don't know whether one guy or another is going to get whacked by a rival mafia family. You may not know who all these people are (there are a lot of characters and it can be difficult keeping track of them all), but you still get the gist of who belongs to what mafia family.

At the same time, if someone you have come to know and love does unfortunately get killed off, you just know there is going to be vengeance. But you are always left wondering just how revenge will be served, and it sometimes takes a while for the film to get there because it takes a while for the characters to get there. Doing things the best way is sometimes about having patience, and the main character, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), demonstrates it in huge quantities (sometimes out of necessity).

Everything about this film adds to the epic and grand nature of it. The cinematography is a masterpiece in itself, ranging from the vast to the claustrophobic, always putting us in a place where we feel slightly uncomfortable by what is going on both on screen and in the character's heads. Very few films can do that, yet Coppola makes it look easy. The soundtrack has pretty much become an iconic mafia theme tune in pop culture, even if here it adds to the texture of the film rather than telegraphing the mafia.

It's not just the soundtrack. There are so many things about the film that have become iconic. The dialogue, waking up with the horses head, getting the fish in the mail, the brutal executions of mafia members. It's all here, and it all either began here or became popularised here. Even when you know what's coming (e.g. the horses head), it still lands much more of a punch than you think.

By putting the main character in a position to become the new godfather of the Corleone family business, the film puts itself in the potentially awkward position of glamorising the mafia by making the protagonist a high ranking member of the mafia itself. How the film avoids this, in my opinion, is by showing Michael Corleone's eventual decline from good standing citizen to head of the Corleone family where he has become consumed by ambition, power, and revenge.

The final shot of the door closing on his wife epitomises the cold person he has become and the emotional and social sacrifices he has made to reach a position of such uncontested power. In the end he wins out over his rivals, but we are left wondering whether it was all for the best.