Italian Classic

The Godfather. Dir. Francis F. Coppola

Feat. Al Pacino (Michael Corleone), Marlon Brando (Vito Corleone), Diane Keaton (Kay Adams-Corleone), James Caan (Sonny Corleone)

Paramount Pictures, 1972.

Francis Coppola’s 1972 film The Godfather is an ultimate classic. When I hear the term “family values” I oftentimes think about the Corleone Crew in this film. This movie focuses on the family’s patriarch and mafia boss Vito Corleone. Vito is all about respect, business, and most importantly his family. Hence why he is deemed as “the Godfather”.

Starting from the beginning where we saw Vito’s daughter getting married to the bloody war with the other crime families across New York, Vito remained in charge. Whenever people mention the mob I oftentimes think about The Godfather. The characters in this film (Sonny and Michael) react to many different things.

Take Sonny for example.Sonny who is the oldest reacts once his father was shot. He wanted to hunt down whomever killed his father. He also reacted when his sister was beaten by her husband. The term “I would die for you” can be used to describe Sonny. When Sonny was going through a checkpoint while going to find his brother in law, he was shot dozens of times. What was weird about the assassination was after he was shot a good fifteen times, he still maintained to exit the vehicle. He wanted to put up a fight; Sonny Corleone does not back down.

Now Michael Corleone changed the most in the film. At first he really did not show up that much in family affairs, but then he took on the lead role for his father’s business. Michael really went from this guy who was kind of shy, to the mob leader. He was the one who took the job as the “killing leader”; anyone who messed with the family was subsequently killed.

This movie is a classic. I have nothing bad to say about The Godfather. This film portrays how important family values are. When someone messes with your family, you fight back. When someone messes with an italian mob family, you kill them.