Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli: A Godfather Movie Review

When the typical movie-goer imagines a family film, The Godfather probably doesn't jump to the top of the list. But really The Godfather is, primarily, a film about family. Essentially, the film is a chronicle of not merely one family but the symbolic pursuit of the capitalistic American Dream.

This 1972 film was made a classic by the timeless acting of Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall, John Cazale, and a host of others. The film, directed by Frances Ford Coppola, begins with the presentation of Don Vito Corleone, a man of great power and influence, a leader who relies on reason to a point, and strongmen of deadly force beyond that point. Vito Corleone, as portrayed by Marlon Brando, represents the first indication of the Godfather sagas family-based examination of the American Dream. Though viewers must wait until the second film of this trilogy to learn Vito's history, we are instantly aware that he is, primarily, a family man. He spends his days hosting elaborate weddings for his children, teaching them the ways of the family business, doting on them with mostly unseen but clearly sensed sentimentality, and playing with his grandchildren.

We are next introduced to the four Corleone children. There's Connie, whose wedding starts off the film, and whose marriage heads downhill shortly thereafter. Santino "Sonny" Corleone, the oldest child, is the impetuous lover, always hotheaded, and seemingly always headed fist first into a fight. The next oldest is Alfredo "Fredo" Corleone, the son who longs to be like his father but never seems to get anything right. Finally there's Michael, the youngest son, who wants nothing to do with his father's business and does everything in his power to go in the exact opposite direction of his father's plans for his life. Supporting these characters are Tom Hagan, Don Vito's adopted son and consiglieri (counselor/advisor), Kay Adams, Michael's very un-Italian girlfriend, and a host of other friends, enemies, caporegimes, muscle men, and everything in between.

Though we are first introduced to Don Vito as the head of the Corleone family, it is Michael the film primarily chronicles, following his motion from the idealistic war hero who wants nothing to do with the family business to the powerful Mafia family head with tactics and a sense of "reason" far more ruthless than his father. It is Michael who represents the problematic struggle for an American Dream at any cost. His personal desires, aspirations, and even those he loves the most, must all fall prey to his attempts to maintain control over a family constantly attacked by enemies and traitors. He lives by a code of doing anything to protect his family, and cannot understand why every attempt he makes to legitimize and protect the family only draws him farther into the warped underworld that forms the tangled roots of all he has.

Thus we enter the world of a powerful Mafia family. Yet instead of drawing our attention to the dark and sinister world of organized crime, Coppola constantly pulls us into the images of this cast of characters as a family first. Caporegime Sal Tessio is seen dancing and playing with children; his fellow lieutenant in the family, Pete Clemenza, dances at Connie's wedding, teaches Michael to cook, and is revealed to be a family man with a wife and children. Several key scenes are set at dinner tables. When the leaders of the Corleone family discuss business, they do it over sandwiches, with drinks and laughter. By inserting strong family ties into a film about the mafia, Coppola gives us at once a unique glimpse of the lifestyle of the American mafia and a metaphor for what a New York Times review published after the film's release called "a sorrowful American Dream." In essence, the film did for gangsters what Gone With the Wind did for the Confederacy; it took a controversial side of the American story, and made it epic, relatable, and even romantic.

It would be naïve to focus a look at The Godfather entirely on the beauty and romance of Coppola's film. The Godfather wouldn't be The Godfather without a few classic scenes of violence. Sonny's tollbooth death is a classic scene enough to make anyone a little nervous on the highway. Perhaps one of the most famous scenes of the film, and one of the most controversial, involves a horse head in the bed of fictional director Jack Woltz after Woltz refuses the request of Don Vito Corleone. Arguably the most famous scene of The Godfather is Michael vengeance for the attacks on his family and the murder of his brother, as we witness the methodic vendetta killings of the heads of the five opposing mafia families during the baptism of Connie's baby. Yet even these scenes of violence play into Coppola's representation of a tainted American Dream. While Vito is Don, reason is used to deal with enemies, paired with cunning. No human life is actually taken until hotheaded Sonny takes over. And the body count doesn't really start escalating until Michael, in his distorted attempts to protect his family and legacy, takes control. Through death-both natural (the Don's death while playing a monster for his grandson), unnatural (the brutal killing of Connie's husband as a vendetta for Sonny's murder)-Coppola shows viewers the dangers of a relentless pursuit of what perhaps should remain an unreachable goal.

The Godfather is a timeless classic sure to please audiences for years to come. It is both a gangster film and a family movie. It tells a compelling mafia story, while also revealing a family's legacy and that family's rise and downfall. Its classic lines-"I'll make him an offer he won't refuse", "Leave the gun, take the cannoli," "It's not personal, it's strictly business"-continue to infiltrate popular culture, as do references to all the film's most famous moments.

Fans of The Godfather have several purchasing options, including the recent director's restoration. For purchasing information, check out the following sites:

Amazon.com: : The Godfather DVD Collection

Walmart.com: The Godfather, The Coppola Restoration

BarnesandNoble.com: The Godfather Collection, Coppola Restoration

Buy.com: The Godfather (Widescreen)

Tower.com: The Godfather Collection, Coppola Restoration (Blu-Ray)