The Godfather (1972)

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The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo from Puzo's 1969 novel of the same name. The film stars Marlon Brando and Al Pacino as the leaders of a fictional New York crime family, and chronicles the Corleone dynasty between 1945 and 1955, centring on the transformation of youngest son Michael Corleone from a reluctant outsider into a ruthless Mafia boss. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made, particularly in the gangster genre, it was the highest-grossing film of 1972 and won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

The story opens in 1945 with the words "I believe in America", spoken by an undertaker pleading for justice, as the lavish wedding of Connie Corleone — daughter of ageing Mafia patriarch Vito Corleone, the "Godfather" — takes place outside. In keeping with Sicilian tradition that no Sicilian can refuse a request on his daughter's wedding day, Vito hears petitioners in his darkened study, while his war-hero son Michael, newly returned from the Marines, looks on as a detached observer and assures his girlfriend Kay Adams that he wants no part of the family business. Among the wedding guests is the singer Johnny Fontane, whom Vito helps land a coveted film role by having consigliere Tom Hagen leave studio boss Jack Woltz a grisly warning — the severed head of Woltz's prize racehorse in his bed.

When narcotics trafficker Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo seeks the family's political protection and capital for a drug operation, Vito refuses, fearing it will cost him his political connections. In retaliation, Sollozzo has Vito gunned down in the street, though the Don survives.

With his father hospitalised and hot-headed eldest brother Sonny Corleone taking control, Michael is drawn into the conflict. After foiling a second attempt on Vito's life and being struck by a corrupt police captain, Michael volunteers to murder Sollozzo and the captain at a restaurant meeting, fleeing afterward to Sicily. There he marries a local woman, Apollonia, only for her to be killed by a car bomb intended for him. Back in New York, an all-out war between the Five Families escalates: Sonny is ambushed and riddled with bullets at a highway tollbooth, and the grieving Vito convenes a meeting of the families to broker peace, deducing that rival don Emilio Barzini orchestrated the violence.

Michael returns home, reconciles with and marries Kay, and gradually assumes command as his father's health fails. After Vito dies of a heart attack in his tomato garden, Michael consolidates his power in a single bloody stroke: as he stands as godfather at the baptism of Connie's child, his men simultaneously assassinate the heads of the rival families and other enemies, including Barzini. Having had his treacherous brother-in-law Carlo and the disloyal capo Sal Tessio eliminated, Michael lies to Kay about his role in the killings. In the film's closing image, the door of his study is shut in her face as his men kiss his hand and address him as "Don Corleone", confirming his complete corruption.

Details

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Writer/Screenplay: Screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo, based on the novel The Godfather by Mario Puzo

Producer: Albert S. Ruddy


Running time: 175 minutes

Certificate: R

Budget: $6-7 million

Box office: $246-287 million

Genre: Crime, Drama

Released: March 15, 1972

Music Composer: Nino Rota

Cast

Soundtrack

The film's celebrated score was composed by Nino Rota, with the closing wedding sequence arranged and conducted by Coppola's father, Carmine Coppola. Rota's mournful, Sicilian-inflected themes became inseparable from the film's identity.

  • "Main Title (The Godfather Waltz)" — composed by Nino Rota
  • "Love Theme from The Godfather (Speak Softly Love)" — composed by Nino Rota, lyrics by Larry Kusik
  • "The Pickup" — composed by Nino Rota
  • "The Halls of Fear" — composed by Nino Rota
  • "Sicilian Pastorale" — composed by Nino Rota

Rota's original soundtrack was initially nominated for an Academy Award but was disqualified after it emerged he had reused a theme from the 1958 Italian comedy Fortunella; he later won the Oscar for his score to The Godfather Part II (1974).

Related

Trivia

  • Paramount Pictures resisted casting Marlon Brando, whose reputation for being difficult had hurt his career; Coppola persuaded executives by filming a screen test in which Brando stuffed cotton wool into his cheeks to create Vito's bulldog jowls. For filming he wore a custom dental appliance instead.
  • Al Pacino was a little-known stage actor at the time, and Paramount repeatedly pressed Coppola to replace him; the studio's doubts faded after the restaurant scene in which Michael murders Sollozzo and McCluskey.
  • The cat Brando cradles in the opening study scene was a stray found on the Paramount lot; its loud purring nearly drowned out his dialogue and required portions to be re-recorded.
  • The line "Leave the gun, take the cannoli" was largely improvised by Richard S. Castellano.
  • The singer Johnny Fontane was widely believed to be based on Frank Sinatra, who was reportedly furious about the portrayal.
  • At the request of the Italian-American Civil Rights League, the words "Mafia" and "Cosa Nostra" were removed from the script.
  • Coppola felt his job was in jeopardy throughout the shoot and believed he was close to being fired on several occasions.
  • Gordon Willis's deliberately dark, underexposed cinematography earned him the nickname "the Prince of Darkness" and was initially a source of friction with the studio, which feared audiences would not be able to see the actors.
  • Many of the film's interior scenes were shot on location in New York City rather than on studio sets, contributing to its authentic period atmosphere.
  • The horse's head used in the Woltz scene was real, obtained from a dog-food company; co-star John Marley's shock in the scene was said to be genuine.
  • Real organised-crime figures were reportedly fascinated by the production, and several visited the set during filming.

Critical Reception

The Godfather was met with widespread critical acclaim on release and its reputation has only grown over the decades. It holds an approval rating of around 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 100 on Metacritic, indicating universal acclaim. The American Film Institute ranked it the second-greatest American film of all time on its 2007 "100 Years...100 Movies" list, behind only Citizen Kane, having placed it third on the original 1998 list. The film won three Academy Awards — Best Picture, Best Actor for Marlon Brando (who declined the award in protest of Hollywood's treatment of Native Americans), and Best Adapted Screenplay — from eleven nominations. Performances by Brando and Al Pacino, Gordon Willis's shadowy cinematography and Nino Rota's score are frequently cited among the finest in cinema history.

Commercially the film was a phenomenon. Produced on a modest budget of around $6-7 million, it grossed an estimated $246-287 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1972 and, for a time, the highest-grossing film ever made, briefly overtaking Gone with the Wind. Its success rescued the finances of Paramount Pictures and helped usher in the era of the modern Hollywood blockbuster.

The film's cultural impact has been profound and enduring. In 1990 it was among the first 25 films selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Lines such as "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse" have entered the popular lexicon, and the film's iconography — the horse's head, the baptism massacre, Rota's waltz — remains instantly recognisable. It reshaped the gangster genre, revitalised the careers of Brando and Coppola, launched Pacino to stardom, and is routinely cited by directors and critics as a benchmark of American filmmaking.

Reviews

  • IMDb: 9.2/10
  • Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
  • Metacritic: 100/100
  • Letterboxd: 4.6/5

Links

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