The Godfather: dir: Francis Ford Coppola (1972)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my23rf7OOHY (play while reading)


I really did deliberate over what to review for my first of the year (and first of this ridiculous idea) review. Should I start with a classic, such as CITIZEN KANE or CASABLANCA? How 'bout a modern day classic, like JAWS or SCHINDLER'S LIST? A personal favorite, like GLENGARY GLEN ROSS or DISTRICT 9? A guilty pleasure, like BLACK BELT JONES or REIGN OF FIRE (yes, I admit it, I like this movie. McConaughey chews more scenery than the Iron Giant chews heavy metal. Awesome!). Or a fun MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER type of film, like SPACE MUTINY or NUKIE. After swirling these ideas around my head like the Cygnus circling the drain of THE BLACK HOLE, I finally came up with the film that AMC has made a holiday staple, and, in my humble opinion, is the greatest film of the modern age of filmmaking, THE GODFATHER.

Ok, now listen - nothing is going to be said in this missive that hasn't been said a million times. I just FREAKING LOVE THIS MOVIE. I mean, it's one of those movies that, no matter what scene is running when you walk into the living room of your uncle's house on Christmas Day, you are instantly hyp-mo-tyzed into sitting down and watching the rest of the movie, and Buddha help you if THE GODFATHER PART 2 follows. Damn you, AMC!!!!

The rise - and fall - of Michael Corleone from young war hero into his father's son is so wrought with allegory and symbolism that you'd need a year of blogs to chart it. And man, the film doesn't feel over 35 years old (1972, the year of my birth, and most decidedly over 35....dammit). It never fails to shock (I don't care how many times I see it, EVERY TIME Sonny pulls up to that tollbooth I scream "Keep going, you bastard!!"), surprise (the death of Luca Brasi, who, according to the vampire Abe "Fish" Vigoda, "sleeps with the fishes", not the fish) and delight ( the scene where Michael and Enzo the baker scare off the thugs sent to finish off the Don is my favorite scene in the film outside of the "taking care of family business" montage - the juxtaposition of Enzo's shaking hands as he lights his cigarette with Michael's steely calm is the exact moment where you see the trajectory of his life to come). And the theme of family overriding everything - something that Michael ignores, to his eventual emotional downfall (if you acknowledge the existence of a 3rd Godfather movie, which I do not) in THE GODFATHER PART 2 by killing his brother Fredo - is prevalent throughout the film.

And the cast? Yes, it is one of Brando's finest moments, maybe his last great moment (his wacko turn in APOCALYPSE NOW is sort of appropriate but it always feels like it's out of another movie, and I'm sorry, Marlon, I know you practically invented method acting, but it's kryp-TAHN, no KRYP-tin, like lipton, so fuck you and your island and KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!). The emergence of Pacino as one of the great actors of all time (even though he aged into a different dude - seriously, look at Pacino in this movie and tell me the old Pacino looks ANYTHING like him. He looks more like his character in DICK TRACY than he does as a yound dude. Weird.), James Caan, post-Boo Radley Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Coppola's sister Talia Shire, Abe "Who wants to live forever" Vigoda and Sterling "precious bodily fluids" Hayden all stand out in their own moments.

Also featured in this cast is one of my favorite actors of all time, the brilliant but dead-before-his-time John Cazale as the ill-fated family retard Fredo. I mean, look at the body of work of this guy before his untimely death from cancer - THE GODFATHERS 1 & 2, THE CONVERSATION (brilliant scenes with Gene Hackman), DOG DAY AFTERNOON (nominated for a Golden Globe for best supporting actor), and THE DEER HUNTER, his swan song, in which it's evident in many scenes that the man was on life support. It's heartbreaking to watch, man. During the filming of DEER HUNTER, he became engaged to co-star Meryll Streep, and Streep pretty much saved his role in this film. When the studio found out that Cazale was basically having daily conversations with the Grim Reaper, they wanted director Michael Cimino to fire him. When Streep found out about this, she threatened to quit the film herself (in an oscar-nominated role), so the idiot studio heads relented. Shortly after filming wrapped, Cazale died. Fucking heartbreaking, considering the whole "What if..." scenario. Pacino called him his "acting partner" and could have acted w/him for life. He did more as an actor in 7 or 8 years (5 feature films, ALL nominated for Best Picture, and 3 - THE GODFATHERS 1 & 2, ironically, THE DEER HUNTER, winning the Oscar) than most actors do in 30 year, or, in the case of ironing boards like Josh Hartnett and Channing Tatum, ever.

Whoops. Sorry to turn this into a blow-fest for Cazale, but I love the man's work. To try to bring things back home, just get on AMC and watch the damn movie, or better yet, get the DVD and just bask in a master director in his prime, a master actor in his last great role, and the emergence of a generation of award-winning actors and actresses. And so, in closing...

HERE'S WHAT YOU WILL SEE:

-James Caan banging his big-nosed cousin
-Robert Duvall with more hair than he's had in his life since, including that Nazi dude he played in THE EAGLE HAS LANDED.
-Horse head. Classic.
-Talia Shire before Stallone told her he did it.
-Marlon Brando dying with an orange in his mouth (ah, how art imitates life...)
-Moe Green getting shot through his Buddy Holly glasses
-That old dude at the wedding at the beginning singing that Italian song and doing that nasty-looking move with his hand that no one ever needs to see their great-grandpapa do - you know the part I mean!

HERE'S WHAT YOU WON'T SEE:

-James Caan alive at the end of the movie
-Luca Brasi actually killing anyone, thereby not really living up to his reputation built up by Michael's story at the wedding (though to be fair, it's implied that he light-sabered the ill-fated hors Khartoum's head).
-Diane Keaton's butt (shapely and Woody Allen-ed at this point)
-Marlon Brando's butt (bulgy and cheesecaked at the point)

Final Grade: A+++ = highest mark - that's right, I made it up, so hurray for me and screw you, make your own grade, Mr. Kotter!