A Closer Look at 'The Godfather'

Unfortunately I was unable to make it to Wednesday's class, so I missed out on the discussion about The Godfather. I'm sure everyone missed my input! :)

I mentioned in the last post how much I appreciated the mis en scene in The Godfather, so let me expand on that a bit more. One thing I totally forgot to mention was how excited I was to finally see the horse's head in Jack Woltz's bed!! I really don't have a sick mind, I swear, but I've just heard so much about this scene and seen so many parodies of it in the past. It was even more shocking than I had imagined, and I loved it!

Another thing that made The Godfather particularly enjoyable was that is was one of the only movies I've ever seen where I didn't separate the character from the actor. Since I used to be an actor myself, it's second nature for me to analyze the acting of a film rather than becoming engaged in the characters. This was not the case. What is even more suprising is that many of the actors were well-known, which makes it even more difficult for me to take their characters completely seriously, but I still forgot that Michael was Al Pacino and that Tom Hagen was Robert Duvall. This may be due to the fact that they aren't as recognizable to me in their younger years, but nonetheless it was a refreshing change of pace for me.

On the same note, The Godfather is one of the only films that I did not textually analyze throughout the entire three hours. In fact, I don't think I did much textual analyzation at all! This is very unlike me, but I really enjoyed it. I usually get really antsy when a movie gets to the two hour mark, but the three hours of The Godfather seemed to fly by without any boredom ensuing.

Back to the mis en scene. I really loved the sequence of scenes that took place in Siciliy. It was a flash of light and nature as opposed to the dark, city life that took up the majority of the film. It also really helped to develop Michael's character - especially seeing him fall in love and then tragically lose his wife. It almost justifies his decision to really delve into the "family business." The fact that the setting was in Siciliy made it seem like it was Michael's last chance to escape the horrors of New York City. He was in a beautiful safe-haven (which we learn isn't so safe after all) with a beautiful woman. He could've had a whole new life, but the trouble followed him and forced him back into a life of violence and crime. The film would not be as effective if it were not for this change in scenery.

So there ya have it. I'm tempted to watch The Godfather II and III, but has anyone seen them?! I don't want to ruin the greatness that I was left with after the original...