"The Godfather" on Blu-ray

[playtheblues]

Interesting notes. However, to put "Godfather" back into perspective, this movie is not a reportage or a documentary about the mafia. It's a work of art of , as I said, Shakesperean dimension.

 

Part of this "Shakesperean" greatness is that the characters cannot be reduced to being just mafia figures, as little as Hamlet can be reduced to a man with an Oedipus complex (Freud' s reductionist and totally wrong interpretation).

 

Every work of art has a unifying form. Mozart (he got the term from his father) called it the "thread" , and in some ways this might be similar to what movie directors call the "spine" of a movie.

 

As I see it Michael Corelone's character development from the wedding party scenes in the beginning to the final zooming in to his utterly lonely face after murdering Fredo is such a unifying spine (as is the tragic irony), but maybe other viewers find other "threads" which make it a supreme work of art and not plain documentary , it's such a rich movie with so many layers.

 

France Ford Coppola certainly knew his Shakespeare not least since his university theater studies and if you check on the net you will find a lot of references to the character development of Richard III when the "Godfather" is discussed (I have only seen the R III movie in the 1950ies which I don't remember much of so I cannot comment on this link).

 

And Coppola grew up in a world dominated by fine arts and the aesthetics. His father was first flutist in the great Detroit Symphony Orchestra and then moved to the even greater NBC Symphony in New York (and thus must have played under none less than Toscanini?).

 

One can imagine how much FFC must have appreciated Nino Rota's music for the "Godfather"!

 

The references which you make to the real mafia are nonetheless

very interesting but as you say it was above all Mario Puzo who did the research on these facts. As to the movie, how realistic it might ever be, I once again would like to quote Oscar Wilde's dictum:

 

"In art everything matters except the subject".

 

 

[dddave]

My former girlfriend in the US grew up in Newark, NJ and has a younger brother who still sells used cars there. While he is no "wise guy", some of the genuine articles and more than a few wannabe's circulate among his personal and business acquaintances.

Twenty years or so ago, I attended a number of social events there such as weddings and anniversaries where some of these characters were also present.

It was one of clearest examples of "life imitating art." I have ever witnessed. To a man, they walked, talked and dressed the movie roles to a fault. They talked about the GODFATHER and GOODFELLAS (Also a great movie.) endlessly and clearly held it as the pattern for there own persona's.

The HBO series; "THE SOPRANOS" captures this pretty well.

 

As an aside, Carmella, Tony Sopranos wife is portrayed so perfectly. I can close my eyes and hear my GF's Sister in Law, an Italian-American product of NJ Catholic parochial schools.

[playtheblues]

It was one of clearest examples of "life imitating art." I have ever witnessed. To a man, they walked, talked and dressed the movie roles to a fault. They talked about the GODFATHER and GOODFELLAS (Also a great movie.) endlessly and clearly held it as the pattern for there own persona's.

 

 

That is exactly the point!

 

At the same time as Coppola reinvokes his very intimate personal memories of an Italian wedding scene in the beginning of "The Godfather" he REINVENTS the scene and makes the atmosphere of it more intense and more real than life itself. Art is more real than life and life imitates art.

[sayjann]

 

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' date=' 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. [/quote']

 

we are both correct.

Michael tells Kay the story of the bandleader and says he was made an offer he could'nt refuse.

when Johnny Fontaine speaks to the Godfather abot the film role he is told he will get the part because Woltz will be made 'an offer he can't refuse'

and that of course leads to the head of the racehorse Khartoum being put into the bed of Woltz.

still one of the best film scenes IMO.

 

but to be accurate it is the Godfather who utters the immortal quote in the film about Woltz.

Michael uses the quote in the telling of a story which is a few Years old.

[playtheblues]

"still one of the best film scenes IMO"

 

Yes it is, and probably one of the most studied film scenes ever in film schools, like some of the best Hitchcock scenes (such as the shower knife murder in "Psycho").

 

Still, after once again having watched the final scenes of "Godfather II" I am even more impressed with that sequence. I also rewatched the opening sequence of "The Godfather" . I said earlier that the unifiying element in these movies is the character development of Michale Corleone.

 

But one might as well say that the unifying element is the theme of DEATH.

 

Watching "The Godfather" makes me feel depressed amid all the excitement. It's like seeing a theater perfomance of "King Lear", there is something relentless and very, very dark about it. A world of violence and death creating more violence and death without any forgiving or clemency.

 

Leo Tolstoy objected to the non-religious, non-compromising portrayal of relentless cruelty, yes evil and darkness in the tragedy of "King Lear".

 

He would have said the same about "The Godfather".

 

 

 

.

[Guest lazyphil]

thank goodness for the godfather. it helped pay for apocalyspe now!

[playtheblues]

To begin with it payed for itself: Paramount initially had lots of doubts about the "Godfather" project, including having Coppola as the director. One must of course take into account the precarious situation of the movie industry in the late sixties and on, not least for Paragon itself.

 

Anyhow I think "Apocalypse" is a great movie.

[allistar]

On your second or third viewing of "Godfather," click on the director's commentary. For about a third of the film, Coppola points out scenes that have to do with Paramount Exec. wanting to get rid of him. He also points out several scenes that are "flawed" but he didn't have the money or time to re-shoot them. Did you know there were two cinemetographers on Godfather? The main one (who worked on all 3 Godfathers) and then one for the studio shots at a later date. Lots of other interesting trivia that he tells thoughout the film.

[Steve]

I love The Godfather as well as other mafia movies. I lived near an Italian American area, played little league over there due to my best friend being Sicilian.

The one thing I do realize is that the mannerisms you see in mafia movies are really Italian American mannerisms. The Italian Americans who hav nothing to do with the mafia have those mannerisms.

Puzo and Coppola created an epic. It is great but Puzo did use actual or rumored events in the book and he did model some of his characters on actual people. Its unavoidable not see it. It doesn't make the book and movie any less intriguing.

One thing I learned early on was that there was a difference, big difference at that, between Sicilians and Italians that descended from Italy, especially northern Italy from cities like Milan or Turin.

My friend was Sicilian. The parents of one girl he liked wouldn't allow their daughter to date him because he was Sicilian and they were 'scousers' of Italy to put it in perspective for our British friends.

As a term of endearment they add 'ie' to your name. I was 'Stevie' to the adults. (I notice with UK folks they add 'o' as a term of endearment. Stevo)

I learned stugots, gungots, and other phrases early on.

The one thing that is related to the mafia is that its noticable from the onset that its impolite to ask private questions. If you befriend someone long enough you'll learn little family or neighborhood secrets. My best friend never asked us why such and such has a different last name but you're brothers as well. In time he learned all about our family. Its a trust issue I think. You build credibility over time. My friend was an only child and his mother could not have any more children. Only children are fairly uncommon in Italian families. This information was rather personal but he was friends with our family for years.

 

Watching mob movies reminded me so much about my friends neighborhood.

 

Like all groups they have their own mores, customs and protocol.

[playtheblues]

 

"I love The Godfather as well as other mafia movies"

 

I love Hamlet as well as other plays about princes of Denmark.

 

Godfather is, as I have pointed out, far more than a mafia movie. This is what raises it high above movies like Godfellas which is just a clever and entertaining movie about the mafia.

 

Apart from our diverging perspectives I enjoy reading your stuff about Siciliani mafia type life style!