The Godfather Trilogy Analysis - Essay Example

here) (Your here) (Type of assignment e.g. Test assignment) (Due The Godfather Trilogy Analysis The Godfather Trilogy is inarguably the most revered trilogy in the history of movies. The Godfather itself is regarded as a landmark in filmmaking and is only beaten by Citizen Kane when it comes of all-time great movies. The Godfather Part II has its own place in highly ranked movies and stands very high. However, the second sequel of the movie is usually considered to have failed to live up to the standards set by the first two movies in the trilogy. Perhaps the major reason of The Godfather’s success is the character of Vito Corleone played by Marlon Brando. He was not the first choice of the director, Francis Ford Coppola, or the producers. He wore cotton balls in his mouth at his own behest and surprised everyone. He was complemented the brilliant performances of Al Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall. The movie begins with a medium shot of a minor character, Bonasera, but his dialogue is very important in the context of the movie itself. His first statement is “I believe in America” and then he goes on to explain his difficulties. Right away, the audience is intensely familiarized with Vito Corleone. He is an intelligent leader who is not afraid of using force when it is required. The logo of the trilogy is a hand holding the strings of a marionette. This applies to Don Vito as refuses to be controlled by the State and provides services to the people which are denied to them by the State. The camera work of The Godfather is very artistic. The extreme long shots are used to show locations. These are often used at the beginning of a scene to establish a shot in a sequence. For instance, the extreme long shot of a toll booth set up the scene to be taken place where Sonny is murdered by gunmen. Long shots are also used to show locations and establishing shots in a sequence but they are also used to show relationships. For instance, Michael and Kay are shot in a long shot from the front when they are walking and having a chat. Medium long shots are used to almost the same effect. They are used where the location is smaller. For instance, the assassination attempt on Vito Corleone is set up with a medium long shot of Vito from the right side when he is selecting some fruit from a shop. Medium and medium close-up shots are used to focus on a character while he is in an important dialogue. The close-up shots in the movie are very cleverly executed as they capture the exact state of mind of a character. Close-ups of objects are also well executed. Perhaps the most important close-up of an object is the close-up of the gun used by Michael to shoot Sollozzo and McCluskey. The lighting of The Godfather is of paramount importance. It is mostly dark in closed rooms when important matters are being discussed. Lighting is cleverly used to set the mood of the scene. At the very beginning of the first part, Don Vito says, “We are not murderers” but the lighting and sniffing of the rose says silently to the audience, “yes they are!” In the happy dancing scene that follows, the audience watches Clemenza for the first time and he looks like a fun loving person while actually he is a criminal and a cold-blooded killer. The initial lighting shows him to be otherwise. As the matters become lighter in importance, the light gets brighter and helps in developing a lighter mood. The whole trilogy is pregnant with irony. The role of sound accentuates the irony. The best example is that of the baptism at the end of The Godfather. Michael orders his men to kill the heads of all the rival families. As he is asked by the priest if he renounces Satan and he replies in affirmation, Clemenza shoots Don Stracci three times on his orders. Then Michael affirms that he renounces Satan and Moe Greene is shot dead at the same time. He makes further declarations regarding the denunciation of Satan and the audience watches Don Cuneo, Tattaglia and Barzini being murdered by Michael’s men. He is in the church where the bells ring in a very ironic manner which shows that Michael is entering into a life that he never wanted. Instead of being purged and purified, he is officially becoming evil in the church. That is one of the hallmarks of the trilogy. Another important aspect of The Godfather is that it is a gangster movie and it has a lot of elements that are common to the movie genre. What sets it apart from many other gangster movies is the fact that it is the story of Michael who never wants to be gangster but is forced to be a crime boss because of the prevailing circumstances. Perhaps what really pushes him into this type of life is the fact that he is born in this family. The movie shows Michael’s origins as humble and his rise to power is shown by flashbacks which do not feature Michael. They contain his father and his life. The circumstances are created due to Vito’s dealings and his death. Also, Michael’s character is novel to the gangster genre because he does not get destroyed like many other gangsters and crime bosses in other movies due to greed and corruption. (Barsam et al, 2010) The Godfather uses remarkable symbolism. The Corleones are sent a dead fish by the Tattaglias when they are wondering where Luca Brasi is. The dead fish means that Luca Brasi is dead, “sleeping with the fishes”. Due to this scene, the audience has now a general awareness that dead fish is sent by the mafia when they have killed someone. Also, in order to “whack” someone, the most desolate place is chosen. For instance, Paulo is murdered in a very deserted place by Clemenza. Coppola has incorporated many elements of the reality in the trilogy. At the beginning of The Godfather, Luca Brasi is seen practicing what he is going to say to the Don. Legend has it that the actor, Lenny Montana, was not supposed to practice like this. He was delivering his dialogue to Brando when he accidently flubbed his line. That gave Coppola the idea that it was much more realistic with an element of nervousness. Also, the time when the Corleone family is waiting to hear from their rat in the police department, different levels of anxiousness can be seen. They find some time to have a small meal and in much more relaxed clothes. Sonny loses his shirt and paces back and forth. Tessio is seen to be in a relaxed mood and having his meal. Michael is also worried but at this time, his involvement in the business of the family is almost nothing. Therefore, he sits and watches what others are doing. Realism can be greatly observed in the character of Don Vito. He has spent a life of crime and has gained sufficient amount of experience. He knows exactly how to act and react. His first move is always to ask the other person nicely for what he wants. He never looks to resort to violence right away. If he faces refusal, he makes him “an offer that he can’t refuse”. When Sonny dies and Michael becomes the only available option for his succession, Vito gives Michael some pieces of advice that greatly show his experience. He tells Michael about the future meetings which he must always avoid because he would be assassinated in them. He also tells Michael as to how he should detect the traitors in his company. This advice makes Michael able to realize later that Tessio is a traitor and he gets him killed. The Godfather tends to surprise the audience in a refreshing manner. It is mostly seen that when something is planned in movies in front of the audience, there are some twists and surprises that make the plan fail or be successful in a manner that is unknown to the audience in advance. Whenever a plan is made in front of the audience, the audience starts to expect to be surprised. In The Godfather, plans are usually made in front of the audience and their execution varies. For instance, Michael’s plan to assassinate Sollozzo and McCluskey makes the audience expectant of something dramatic because of the amount of indifference and nervousness shown by Michael. However, the plan is executed perfectly. Michael does exactly what he intends to do. The perfect execution of the plan surprises the audience. Similar is the case with Vito’s assassination of Don Fanucci which, although, is not planned in front of the audience but it can easily be anticipated. Once it is established that everything goes according to plan in the movie, Michael’s bodyguard fails in murdering Hyman Roth which surprises the audience again. The Godfather 1 and 2 were released in 1972 and 1974 respectively but they show the time of the 1950s. Coppola has done a brilliant job in recreating that time of the 1950s with the cars, streets, dressing and priorities. The same goes for the recreation of the time of the 1900s in a village of Sicily and of the Italian community in America of the 1920s. In both movies, a function is taking place at the beginning of the movie. The shot of the central activity of the function shows the participation of the characters that attempt to make the party lively. There are also some intelligent shots of the silent observers and the people who have the sole purpose of meeting the Don and they care less about the rest of the function. In The Godfather Part II, Frank Pentangeli is seen sleeping at the party. A natural reaction of an old man to liquor is shown in the best manner. While being in the most important of scenes, both movies do not seem to deviate from the trivial activities of life. For instance, while being in an important meeting and having his birthday celebrated at the same time in Cuba, Hyman Roth asks for a “smaller piece” of cake as his condition and health would not allow him to eat a bigger one. Also, the most important characters are shown like ordinary characters when they are in ordinary business of life. For instance, Kay is shot like a minor character in the beginning of The Godfather Part II when she is having her picture taken with her kids. The Godfather Part III was released in 1990. It takes the story of Michael Corleone to completion. It is also directed by Francis Ford Coppola. In terms of form, it employs almost similar techniques of the previous two movies. The shots are cleverly taken to depict the relations, reactions, and emotions. It employs the same mise-en-scène that is regarded as typical of The Godfather trilogy; the dark setting in a closed room where important matters are being discussed. A new character called Vincent Mancini (played by Andy Garcia) is introduced. He is the illegitimate son of Sonny. Perhaps the first of the problems of this movie was a contract dispute with Robert Duvall which forced the writers to show that the character of Tom Hagen is now dead. Tom Hagen is a very important character in the trilogy. In the first part, he loses the privilege of being consigliore to the Don when Michael comes into power. In the second part, he is questioned in a very skeptical manner by Michael when he learns that Hagen has received an offer. Hagen tells Michael that he plans to stay but it can be sensed that Hagen wants to leave. Moving through the trilogy, the audience anticipates a square-off between Hagen and Michael in the third part but it never happens. A character called B. J. Harrison replaces the role of Hagen. Had Duvall agreed to the terms of the contract offered to him, Hagen would have had a heavy participation in Michael’s charity affairs. Francis Ford Coppola admits that the story of The Godfather was completed in 1974 in The Godfather Part II. He was in some financial straits which compelled him to create the third installment. Therefore, there were some innate difficulties in creating a sound plot. The character of Vincent seems to be out of place in this movie. He is Sonny’s long-lost illegitimate son. The characters of Michael and Kay seem to be one-dimensional. Michael is looking for redemption for his life that is tainted with crime. Kay consistently blames Michael for her suffering and her children’s problems. Michael’s other side is never depicted in the movie. Connie’s character also shows little growth. The story of the movie has often been criticized as being based on continuity rather than being a stand-alone story. One of the major factors why the third installment is not ranked as high as the first two is the performance of Sophia Coppola. Her performance lacked life, intensity and everything else that is expected from an actress who is playing one of the most important roles in the movie. Coppola has often been accused of nepotism but he strictly denies it. A string of actresses was lined up for the role but due to one reason or the other, none of them were cast. The going of role to Sophia was the last resort for Coppola. Unfortunately, she was unable to do justice with her role. Despite these weaknesses, The Godfather Part III is still a great movie to watch. It is directed brilliantly by Coppola who has used all the resources available to him at the optimum level. There are still many respects in which this movie relates to its prequels. Its form is almost similar and probably takes a lot of ideas from the previous movies but the content makes it a movie of a much lower standard than the first two. However, it still has the honor of completing a masterpiece. References Barsam, Richard and Dave Monahan. Looking At Movies. W. W. Norton & Company Ltd, 2010. Print. The Godfather. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Perf. Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Diane Keaton. Paramount. 1972. DVD. The Godfather Part II. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Perf. Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, and Diane Keaton. Paramount. 1974. DVD. The Godfather Part III. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Perf. Al Pacino, Andy García, and Diane Keaton. Paramount. 1990. DVD. Read More