When the director of the Godfather Francis Ford Coppola was directing the Godfather, there had to be some worry not only with him but with the actors and producers that for the first time Hollywood was be showing the inside world of the Mafia and some of the most dangerous people on earth. There had to be some concern about possible retribution and even some backlash from Italian Americans who thought that this movie might show all Italians in a bad light and not just the murderers and criminals that are in the Mafia. On top of the greatness of this film, even considering doing a project like this took a great deal of courage.
When I think about the Godfather, released in 1972 and Godfather 2, released in 1974, and even Godfather 3 released in 1990 many great scenes and dialogue immediately come to mind. Without a doubt, I think that the scene where Michael Corleone comes out of the bathroom with a gun and is about to shoot two deserving lowlife at close range is the most tension filled scene that has ever been shot for any movie. The camera angles, the depressing dark environment of the restaurant, the look on Corleone's face for the minutes before he stood up and shot these two men, the close range shooting of the police officer shot in the neck and forehead and Sollozzo in his forehead and then Micheal walking almost calmly out of the restaurant, while throwing away the gun.
When people are asked about the Godfather, more than likely the first scene they think about is the horse's head scene that was horrible and shocking, but very effective. Killing an animal must be very easy for people who can kill a person almost as if it was like brushing your teeth and this was made very clear in this scene. What I remember the most about this scene is not only the screaming of the movie producer but the nauseous sounding version of the Godfather theme that was played before he discovers the horses head in his bed.
Other scenes that stand out as some of the best ever filmed include Sonny Corleone's assassination at the toll one of the most brutal murders ever filmed but true to the type of killings that the Mafia considered commonplace.
Throughout the Godfather trilogy, the pattern of killing for revenge provides the greatest insight into the precarious world of living within a Mafia family. If you kill indiscriminately as if you are in a war, it is inevitable that one day your time is coming.
I also remember Godfather 3, that was released in later 1990 and was never as critically acclaimed as the previous two films as having one of the greatest scenes of acting I have ever seen when Michael Corleone's daughter was killed at the end of the movie. This has to be the most difficult scene Al Pacino ever had to film and his emotions were the most real and grief filled I have ever seen. The end of this movie and the Godfather trilogy showed that after all the bad things that Micheal Corleone did in his life, in the end, he had to pay the ultimate price with his own daughter being murdered right in front of him. In the end, all of us want to believe that if you do evil to others that one day you will have to pay a price for what you did and this one scene at the very end of the Godfather trilogy showed that better than any film ever has.
For me, the ultimate measure of the greatness of any film are the pictures that come into your mind and the dialogue and the music that you remember and no movie has as much of this as the Godfather. What is most remarkable about the first two Godfather movies is that the first one came out 45 long years ago, and to this day, no movie has come close to approaching how great these two films are. The entire cast of this movie, many who have long past, would all have to agree that the highlight of their entire acting careers was the miracle of them being cast in the Godfather.
The Godfather 3-Movie Collection
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