The Godfather

Michael: "How bad do you think it's gonna be?"
Clemenza: "Pretty goddamn bad. Probably all the other families will line up against us. That's all right. These things gotta happen every five years or so...helps to get rid of the bad blood."

release year: 1972
genre: drama
viewing setting: home Bluray 5/7/23

synopsis: In the 1940s and 1950s, the Corleone mob family experiences various successes and failures as it tries to hold power and keep the peace.

impressions: I hadn't seen this since the 1990s, so it was time. It's better than I remembered, a sweeping crime drama that hearkens back to another time in America. The various plots and subplots, people trying to get ahead, people trying to stay alive...this is truly epic in scope. And the sets and clothing are all authentic too. This is quite simply an amazing story. The events of the final twenty minutes, where Michael deals with all his problems at once, are powerful and gripping.

acting: I can't possibly list all of the major players, so I'll name the ones who made the greatest impression on me. Marlon Brando is the aging leader who must make hard decisions for the greater good. Al Pacino is the son who ends up taking over, and really changes from non-involved military hero to dead-serious criminal. James Caan is another son who's hot-headed and acts on emotion instead of logic. Robert Duvall is the family organizer/spokesman who runs a lot of the day-to-day affairs. Richard Castellano is a higher-up who has a lot of experience and knowledge about these things. Talia Shire is the sister, who doesn't run anything and has domestic problems. Richard Conte is the head of a rival family, who underestimates Michael.

final word: Epic crime drama, complex but entertaining.

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