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Analysis of The Godfather movie
Analysis of The Godfather movie
American culture in the 1950s and 1960s
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The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is a family mafia story established through an analogy of the pre- and post- World War II gang scene, filled with organized crime in America. Set in 1940’s New York, The Godfather ultimately changed the viewpoint on American culture at the time, emphasizing the importance of tradition and respect, and how defying society’s expectations can pose a threat to those seeking the American Dream, a stark contrast from the revolutionary 70s.
The film begins with the iconic opening scene in which Don Vito Corleone, the head of the family, carries out family affairs on the day of his daughter’s wedding. Don Corleone and his son, Sonny are both approached by Bonaserra, ironically an undertaker, and beseeches The Don to execute justice against the two men who violated his daughter’s honor. Don Corleone rejects this as he thinks this man has not respected him enough. After all, the head of the Corleone family deserves respect. As the audience for this film, we also see the labeling and generalizations throughout the characters’ casual conversations, indicative of the era and traditional Italian culture. The Godfather is praised for its
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Not only that, but he has positioned himself as a leader of the community. However, it can be said that Michael, Don Corleone’s son and a military veteran, had completely unraveled that success once the family business had fallen into his lap. In an increasingly more unethical and illegitimate manner, Michael failed to acknowledge the importance of family values and respect for others and started to mix his personal vengeance with business, which Don Corleone would highly disapprove of. This helps us see the comparison of Michael Corleone and how his actions and contradicting moral values represent the corruption and failure of the American
"It's undeniable that the dominant pop-culture images of Italian-Americans have been the mobster and the related, anti-working class stereotype of the boorish gavone" (De Stefano 32). Textually, Tony Soprano is just this. He is an Italian-American, living in a suburban New Jersey town, the head of the local Mafia family. He is anything but working class, as he is continually portrayed as the mobster dealing with "business." He is involved in murders, blackmail, illegal gambling and racketeering. Inter-textually, there are frequent references to Mafia popular culture. Tony and his gang regularly recite lines from The Godfather and refer to each other as "Donnie Brasco." Tony's relationship with his therapist parallels that of the satiric Mafia film, Analyze This and comments are made to that effect. These inter-textual references draw attention to the traditional Mafia portrayals in film and television and acknowledge the existence of this stereotypical depiction of Italian-Americans in visual media. The producers of The Sopranos go as far as to include comedic extra-textual references, drawing upon the social commentary of ethnic stereotyping. When Tony's therapist and her family make a toast over dinner to the "20 million Italian-Americans" who have nothing to do with organized crime, we see here a representation of the opposition by Italian-Americans to the Mafia-stereotype. Sub-textually, the covert commentary within the series runs deep. Running between the lines are sub-plots dealing with family val...
They wear fancy suits, drive luxurious cars, and parade around with different women each day. Although being a gangster has some advantages, everything comes with a price. Tom and Matt were such successful gangsters that they attracted enemies from other gangs. The audience watches as Tom and Matt walk down the street, and suddenly gunshots are heard, Matt has been shot and killed. The audience may have assumed all the violence and tragedy would end there but the death of Tom only sparked a bloody mob war. This film was one of the first films of its time to show a mob war which were very common during the 1920s. Competition was one of the biggest parts of being a gangster. Al Pacino who played a famous gangster in the movie The Godfather says in the film, “Everybody loves you until you become competition.” Gangsters were perceived as powerful men who were above the law and who could handle anything, but that is not always the case, especially for Tom. In the end of the film, Tom reign as a gangster comes to an end. He wanted to get revenge for his friend Matt, but it only resulted in his death as well. Some people aren’t as tough as they think they
The classic gangster film focusing on a host of norms defined by some of the first gangster films. This genre originated as an escapism from the negative depression era. People would flock to see the gangsters go from rags to riches with their glitzy lifestyle and beautiful women. As Shadoian puts it, “The gangster’s fizzy spirits, classy lifestyle, and amoral daring were something like Alka-Seltzer for the headaches of the depression” (Shadoin 29). Not all this came easily for the gangsters though, bloodshed is defined as a part of business with guns a constant motif. Despite these negative outcomes, it’s easy to see how this genre was such a great elusion from the everyday where the American Dream seemed like it might not even exist anymore.
In The Godfather, family honour is one of the main themes of the text. The don says to his son Sonny when the family talk with Sallazo about a drug deal after Sonny's outburst "don't ever let anyone outside the family hear what your thinking". After Michael who becomes the new don and finds out that his brother in law was disloyal to the family he has him killed. Before he kills Carlo, to reassure him that he wont be harmed he says "I would'nt make my sister a widow". Sustaining the family honour is more important to michael than his own sister. Michael says to his brother Fredo after he took sides against the family, "Your my oldest brother and I love you but don't ever take sides against the family" The family's honour supersedes all things because the family is nothing without its honour. In Romeo & Juliet too, honour is also a main theme. When the Montagues bite their thumbs at the Capulets, the Capulets quarrel and fight with them so that the family name is not digraced. Gregory of the Montagues says to Sampson "I will bite my thumb at them which is a disgrace to them if they bare it". Something as small as a rude gesture to the families is seen as disgrace or dishonourable if they bare it.
The film “A Bronx Tale” was set in the Bronx during the early 1960’s. There was alot of racial discrimination and mob interactions that manifested themselves on the streets of New York. This made the 1960’s a particularly dangerous time period to live in New York. Calogero, a nine year old Italian boy, and his family were caught in the middle of these interactions. Calogero’s family lived two feet from a bar that the mob conducted their business in. Sonny was the head of the Italian mob. He was portrayed as a Machiavellian leader of the Bronx. Sonny shot a man just outside Calogero 's stoop. Detectives questioned Calogero because he was the only eyewitness to the crime. Calogero lied when the detectives asked if the gunman was in the lineup of suspects. Calogero’s father, Lorenzo, told him that he did a good thing for a bad man, but he did not understand what his father meant. Calogero only understood that
The story begins as "Don" Vito Corleone, the head of a New York Mafia "family", oversees his daughter's wedding. His beloved son Michael has just come home from the war, but does not intend to become part of his father's business. Drug dealer Virgil Sollozzo is looking for Mafia Families to offer him protection in exchange for a profit of the drug money. He approaches Don Corleone about it, but the Don is morally against the use of drugs, and turns down the offer. Being this only request Don Vito has turned down, displease Sollozzo and has the Don shot down. The Don barely survives, which leads ...
The Godfather is most notably one of the most prolific films of its time. This "gangster" film displayed many transformations of permeating color to give the viewer observable cues in its mise en scene that drew one right into the movie. The dramatic acting set the tone of the film with a score that lifted the viewer right out of their seat in many scenes. The directing and cinematography made The Godfather ahead of its time. The nostalgic feel of family importance and the danger of revenge lets us into the life of the Mafia. Even though no other techniques would have given the viewer a feeling of inside the mob like the mise en scene of the power the godfather held, the characters are reinforced literally and figuratively because the story views the Mafia from the inside out, and the cinematography of the film gives it a dangerous and nostalgic feel.
Loyalty, the root of any mob family, something that Francis Coppola’s, The Godfather so strongly believes in, whereas Martin Scorsese’s, Goodfellas is more of a fend for yourself type of atmosphere. The Corleone family sets up loyalty as if it was a commandment. Whether it is staying loyal to one’s
Many of the film’s important scenes begin with one key character, Don Vito Corleone and the word “Godfather…” The setting is very dark as the film opens and a man is asking for the Godfather’s help. Though the Don is not happy about the request he grants it, letting the man know that when the time comes he will have to do him a service as well. As the movie continues the audience is shown that it is a very special day; it is Connie Corleone, the Godfather’s daughter’s wedding day. This is an important factor in understanding why Corleone has granted this request, because of the tradition that “no Sicilian can refuse anyone’s request on his daughter’s wedding day.” With this line comes the insight that the family and the culture find old world tradition very important. Throughout the movie several people come to Vito Corleone asking for favors and services to be rendered.
Vito Corleone, also known as the Godfather, satisfied all people’s requests on his daughter’s wedding day. The Godfather has three sons. Sonny, the Godfather’s oldest son, was an irritable man and lusted for girls. Fredo, the second son, was a cowardly man. Michael, the youngest son, was a hero during World War II. After the wedding was ending, the Godfather came back to New York and met a gangster named Sollozzo. Sollozzo wanted to involve the Corleone family in his business of narcotics. Sollozzo hired a killer to assassinate the Godfather on the street after the Godfather refused his offer. When Michael went to the hospital, he saw no people there to protect the Godfather. He decided to move his father to another room with a nurse because
Different groups of the Mafia are called “families” because all of the members are related. Each family is led by a capo, or boss, whose authority is very absolute. Some caps may be called “godfathers” because the capo serves as a godfather for children of members of the “family.” Most Mafia leaders own legitimate businesses. Ownership does not involve racketeering, because running a business honestly allows owners to receive respectability (or at least a bluff). Underneath the boss is the sottocapo, or underboss, and a consigliere, or counselor. The consigliere is an older member of the “fa...
It is the Godfather that demands the family stick with family and never side with any one out side of the family no matter the situation. Vito the Godfather would remind them family is family and no one will miss treat or use any member of the family. He proves this point when his godson comes to him about a problem with a director name Jack Woltz. Because Jonny Fontane is the godson the Godfather Corleone will send his step son who is consigliere to the family to California to advise the director to hand the part over to Fontane.
“Godfather Death” is a fairy tale collected by two German brothers, the brothers Grimm, during the 19th century. The tale is of the 13th child, a boy born to a poor family. In the search for a Godfather for the boy, his father interviews God, Satan and Death himself. While Death proves to be fair in choosing everyone he visits, he makes a deal with the boy who grew to be a doctor.
“Scarface”, an original gangster film created by Brian De Palma, has captured audience’s attention by remarkable editing shots and the superb use of mise-en-scene. “Scarface”, originally released December 9 of1983, is a drama revolved around the life of Tony Montana who is played by Al Pacino. Tony gets his name by the scar on his face going over his right eye. He was born in Cuba who immigrated to the United State who then starts his life in Florida from the bottom of the drug cartel to soon making his way up to becoming one of the most powerful cocaine cartel leaders in Miami. What made this film so realistic was because at the time, Miami was becoming a huge crime scene to cocaine smuggling and drug wars. According to Answers.com, this time was brutal and the people associated with this lifestyle were known as “Cocaine Cowboys” (par.3). It was a time where it wasn’t unusual to see and hear about drug related deaths. Brian De Palma captured all of this by his utilization of editing style and application of precise mise-en-scene.
I believe the reason that, 'The Godfather', is such a great film is because it lets audiences decide whether they like the characters or not. Too many movies made about organized crime begin with some seemingly random act of violence. 'The Godfather', however, lets it be known from the start to judge the characters in the film based on what type of person they are instead of the criminal activities they may engage in.