Movie+Review+-+The+Godfather

__The Godfather__, a 1972 crime and, believe it or not, family drama, is about the life, family, and business of Vito Corleone. Vito is the "don" of his family and one of the major heads of New York's mob families. When his life is threatened, his family- specifically his youngest son, Michael who never intended to join the family business- gets involved in order to get revenge or justice on those who want Vito dead. Michael pushes the limits of the traditional way of life that the Corleone family upholds and ultimately takes over and begins to run things his own way.

The characters and character development in this film are extremely well acted. When the movie begins Michael Corleone, played by Al Pacino, is the only member of the family who not only does not get involved but he also seems mildly embarrassed to recognize or talk about his family's work. He is an innocent character save for his heroism in the military. Throughout the movie Michael gets progressively more evil, slowing losing his morals and becoming a son of the mob. Pacino does a notable job of changing his innocent disposition to an evil one in such a natural way so that viewers do not seem to realize a sudden, sharp change. Other characters also show intense development throughout the movie, such as Sonny Corleone- Michael's older brother, played by James Caan. His temper is established through the movie and also aides the script by his scenes proving as foreshadowing to the plot itself. The renowned Marlon Brando, who plays the don himself, does a fantastic job of portraying the attitude, beliefs, and morals of the Corleone family. Although not originally welcomed into the film by the producers, the director, Francis Ford Coppola, made the good decision of keeping him in the film.

The script of __The Godfather__ was excellent, due partially to its beginnings as a best-selling novel. The crime movie has almost has elements of suspense, the viewer may, at times, feel that they are in the dark about the plot. This just adds to the greatness of the film. The script makes you feel for the characters that, when you get down to it, are criminals. This movie has you rooting for who otherwise would be classified as the bas guys. In the film, the music sometimes tells a story of its own. At points in the film there are no words, simply music to portray the emotions and feelings of those in the scene. The ending scene is a prime example of this. The music rises and falls in conjunction with the actions of each character.

The cinematographers on this film were outstanding. The way in which the camera would begin so focused on an item and slowing pan out to reveal the whole scene without the viewer once noticing a difference is incredible. The camera keys in on the what seems to be the most minuscule, insignificant object at the time, but in time turns out to be vital.

The editing shines through most prominently in the one of the final scenes. Six things are going on at the same time and each shot flows together so neatly to give equal emphasis to each. It allows you to follow six different stories at the same time, without once missing a piece and also showing that these six things happened simultaneously.