The Godfather: Review

The Godfather: Review

Ian and I saw the digitally remastered version of The Godfather at the cinema on Monday evening.  Having heard so much about it, and heard that this is supposed to be the second greatest film of all time, I had high hopes.  Unfortunately, I don’t think the film lived up to them.

The first observation to make is that The Godfather is long.  Extremely long.  It comes in at over three hours, and obviously has aspirations to be some kind of epic.  The story covers a period of some ten years, again indicating some kind of epic aspirations.  It simply didn’t cut the mustard in my view, however.  Maybe I’m just used to more modern, fast paced films, but the whole thing just seemed rather plodding and drawn out to me.

The film opens at the wedding of the daughter of Don Vito Corleone’s daughter.  Known to many as ‘Godfather’, Don Corleone oversees a ‘family business’.  (Interestingly, the word ‘mafia’ is never mentioned in the film).  Corleone’s lot get into a spot of bother when they refuse to embrace the narcotics trade; they viewed drink and gambling as tolerable vices, but were concerned that they would lose their hard-won political influence if they got involved with the drugs trade.

After his refusal to financially support another mafia boss who wants to enter the drugs trade, Vito is gunned down by the rival gang.  He is critically injured, but eventually pulls through.  Whilst he is recouperating, his son, Sonny, takes over the family business.  He attempts to deal with the rival gang, but is subsequently shot himself as he speeds off to deal with his sister’s abusive husband.

Michael, the youngest son, then takes over the family business.  Out of loyalty to his father, he seeks to develop the business, specifically through the acquisition of a casino in Las Vegas.  He is also strongly motivated by a desire for revenge; Michael, the former soldier and only college educated member of the Corleone clan, had previously distanced himself from the business, preferring to make an honest living.  He is drawn into the violence by the shooting of his father and murder of his brother, however.  His involvement seems to be more for vengeance than anything else.  He has his revenge whilst he is at his niece’s christening, for whom he is godfather – which seemed a little clumsy to me.

The idea that a person’s good intentions to avoid evil and corruption can be overturned through a desire for revenge due to the tight bonds of family was, for me, the most poignant element of the film.  For the most part, however, The Godfather struck me as over long and with little clarity of plot.  The whole storyline based in Sicily, where Michael was hiding after murdering a police chief, seemed largely superfluous.  There seemed to be very little direction in the film, and I failed to spot any real reason for the story’s existence.

I can certainly see how the film has inspired subsequent films, and has had an impact on how we perceive the mafia, but I doubt I shall watch it again; I was largely disappointed.