"The Godfather" on Blu-ray

[playtheblues]

And now the real thing - the restored "Godfather" on Blu-ray.

 

So much has been said about Coppola's masterpiece that I will spare you more comments about its "Shakespearean" greatness (I must stop labelling works of art that I find great "Shakespearian"). Cineasts are sucked into every sequence of the movie - I am not talking about the less successful part III - like a musicophile (such as Heiter ) are totally absorbed from the very first note of an opera or piano concerto by Mozart. Even prominent movie directors like Steven Spielberg felt when he saw Godfather I that he might as well give up movie making - he would never reach Coppola's level of storytelling.

 

For me Michael Corleone's transformation from the somewhat introvert nice young family boy to the lonely ruthless murderer even of - as he says in part III - his own mother's son is truly "Shakespearean" (again) and so is the tragic irony: the more he was trying to "protect" his family the more he destroyed it.

 

Technically, you might at first be a little bit disappointed at the Blu-ray version because its not that high-def. But then you grow into how well the atmosphere of the movie is captured by the restored and blu-rayed colours and you are completely thrilled.

 

Well worth the 4000 Baht.

[Guest lazyphil]

a vast improvement to your earlier momma mia suggestion!

[devils reject]

You paid 4000 baht for a Blue Ray?

[playtheblues]

You paid 4000 baht for a Blue Ray?

 

Prices at Boomerang in Bangkok are fixed and non-negotiable, and there was no alternative cheaper price here in Bangkok. Maybe it was 3600, maybe 4000, for three movies plus quite a lot of extras (the commentaries are very interesting) Part III I could leave without, though.

 

It's like being with a very beautiful woman, whatever you pay you get more value than you paid for :smirk: .

[The_Munchmaster]

The Godfather blu ray box set is £30 (~Baht 1500) on Amazon.uk and $50 (~Baht 2000) on Amazon.com.

[playtheblues]

The Godfather blu ray box set is £30 (~Baht 1500) on Amazon.uk and $50 (~Baht 2000) on Amazon.com.

 

Thanks for info. Bangkok blu-rays are indeed overpriced, but in this case I don't care so much.

[Steve]

And now the real thing - the restored "Godfather" on Blu-ray.

 

So much has been said about Coppola's masterpiece that I will spare you more comments about its "Shakespearean" greatness (I must stop labelling works of art that I find great "Shakespearian").

 

I'm a HUGE fan of the movie. Can pretty much quote most scenes. Read a lot about it. Apparantly Puzo used actual mafia stories and composites of mafiosos for some of the characters in the book.

 

Its not as original in concept as we may think but still a masterpiece.

 

The one great thing about the movie is how close it resembles the book. The book had far more detail, understandably, and there are some things that were changed but for the most part its an exception because it was close to the book when most Hollywood films take a far departure from the books the movies are based on.

 

Michael Corleone is said to be modeled in part on Bill Bonanno who was the son of Joe 'Bananas' Bonanno. Vito was part Joe Bonanno but mostly Carlo Gambino. The day of the wedding scene where he grants favors was supposedly taken from Carlo Gambino doing the same at a cafe in Little Italy.

 

The story of the band leader being made an offer he can't refuse was based on a similar story of Genovese capo Willie Moretti who ran their operations in north New Jersey and took a fellow New Jersey resident, Frank Sinatra under his wing and helped him get out of a contract from Tommy Dorsey using the same methods.

 

I had a film class in school and the movie was discussed and I recall the instructor saying that most thought The Gofather was Vito but he said why couldn't it Michael? How he became 'the' Godfather.

 

Other characters that are closely related to real life are:

 

Johnny Fontaine - Frank Sinatra

Jack Woltz - Harry Cohn, head of Paramount Pictures

Johnny Ola - Vincent Alo (Genovese mobster who help set up casinos with Meyer Lansky)

Hyman Roth - Meyer Lansky

Moe Greene - Bugsy Siegel

 

[sayjann]

'The story of the band leader being made an offer he can't refuse was based on a similar story of Genovese capo Willie Moretti who ran their operations in north New Jersey and took a fellow New Jersey resident, Frank Sinatra under his wing and helped him get out of a contract from Tommy Dorsey using the same methods'

 

it was Woltz in the film who had those famous words said about him.

not a band leader but a film producer/director who in the book was a paedophile.

 

the Sinatra link shows how a poor Italian kid from NY can make it big if the connectons are in order.

but we all know Sinatra never had any help from his friends getting a film role which kickstarted his career.

[Steve]

Sinatra is from Hoboken, just across the river from NYC. I've heard that it was Moretti and other mafiosis that got him gigs at small venues to keep money in his pocket. His wife is a cousin of a guy in Moretti's crew I think as well.

 

Moretti also had strong ties to Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis when they were a team. If memory serves me right I think they performed at his daughter's birthday or wedding or something like that.

 

Interesting thing about Moretti is that later on in life he suffered from dymensia and alzheimers and the mob killed him in case he muttered any secrets.

 

Just like Vito Corleone, it was said that Carlo Gambino never spoke in the phone. He always used human couriers to issue orders. When he met with his capos at the end of the meeting was when they discussed people who may be whacked and 'Don Carlo' as he was called had to give the okay or not. The capo would only say a name and Carlo Gambino nodded yes or no. In case there were listening devices he would never be caught on tape sanctioning a hit.

 

In Philly, we had a mob boss named Angelo Bruno years ago. He was known as the 'gentle Don' because he killed only as a last resort. When he did have someone killed he was very elaborate. He used 3 different crews and two states to do one murder. He had one crew do the actual murder. He told another crew to dig a hole across the river in New Jersey.

 

The crew that did the murder was told to put the body in a certain hole in New Jersey. After that was done, the next day he told a third crew to go to New Jersey dig in a certain hole and there will be a body, dig it up and bury it somewhere else.

 

In order to get caught the police would need an informant from all three crews. The Philly police does not have jurisdiction in New Jersey so the FBI would have to investigate it. The crew that did the digging and the third that dug up the body had no idea who the person was. He often had the faces disfigured with acid as well. Since capos were not allowed to meet without the boss there, neither crew knew the whole situation.

[Steve]

 

it was Woltz in the film who had those famous words said about him.

not a band leader but a film producer/director who in the book was a paedophile.

 

 

Are you sure? I recall in the book and the movie, Michael telling Kate at his sisters wedding the story of the band leader and how his father and Luca Brasi told him either his signature or his brains will be on the contract if he didn't sign it.

 

Later on Woltz said to Ton Hagen that he knew the story of the bandleader and "..I ain't no bandleader' when Hagen, acting on behalf of Vito, wanted Johnny Fontaine to get the part in the film.

 

The film in real life for Sinatra was 'From Here To Eternity'

 

As for as Woltz, in the book he banged this little girl actress whose mother wanted her to be in movies. Girl was like 12 or something like that.