Since The Godfather and The Godfather, Part II were released some 30 years ago, I expect that virtually everyone has already seen these Academy Award-winning films. (If not, you’ve certainly seen them mocked.) I hadn’t, however, and I’m thrilled to say that both movies live up to their lofty praise. The cast alone almost makes them worth seeing: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Robert DeNiro, James Caan, Bruno Kirby, etc. Add to this superb direction from Francis Ford Coppola and an outstanding screenplay by Coppola and Mario Puzo, and you’ve got an engrossing cinematic experience.
The cascading weight of moral failure and familial dissolution have been perhaps never so compellingly drawn. Highly recommended (with the caveat that like any story about the Mafia there are more than a few killings).
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I would close my review there except for the evocative nature of Coppola’s work. There is something strangely masculine about his Godfather films that I’ve not quite puzzled out. I’ve had the same feeling (though not recently) watching James Bond. I’m not certain if it has to do with larger-than-life, dominating male roles or what, but part of what is conveyed from screen to viewer (at least this viewer) is some kind of notion of importance about oneself. As I say, I’m not quite clear on what emotion is being evoked here, but I’d be very curious if others have a similar, though hopefully less vague, reaction (or have any idea of what I’m talking about).