The Godfather (1972)

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard S. Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte, Al Lettieri, Diane Keaton, Abe Vigoda, Talia SHire, John Cazale

More info: IMDb

Plot: Vito Corleone is the aging don (head) of the Corleone Mafia Family. His youngest son Michael has returned from WWII just in time to see the wedding of Connie Corleone (Michael's sister) to Carlo Rizzi. All of Michael's family is involved with the Mafia, but Michael just wants to live a normal life. Drug dealer Virgil Sollozzo is looking for Mafia Families to offer him protection in exchange for a profit of the drug money. He approaches Don Corleone about it, but, much against the advice of the Don's lawyer Tom Hagen, the Don is morally against the use of drugs, and turns down the offer. This does not please Sollozzo, who has the Don shot down by some of his hit men. The Don barely survives, which leads his son Michael to begin a violent mob war against Sollozzo and tears the Corleone family apart.

My rating: 10/10

Will I watch it again? Duh.

I'm a little behind with some flicks I've watched but haven't gotten around to adding to the blog but after watching SCARFACE (1983) last night I feel compelled to talk briefly about the first two GODFATHER movies. I'm probably in the minority that SCARFACE isn't a very good movie and THE GODFATHER is better than its sequel (if only a little bit).


There's nothing I can add that most people don't already feel about this picture. It's brilliant in every way. The acting across the board is magnificent, the script, Nino Rota's score, the cinematography, the works. Brando is a piece of work like no other. Watching this film takes me to a place in time I'll never be able to visit otherwise. It's my gangster security blanket and the granddaddy of the genre that will never be toppled...not even by its sequel.