Katie Cavanaugh: The Godfather

Katie Cavanaugh

Ms. Taylor

APLAC Period 1

12 February 2012

The Godfather: A Classic

                Click on your television on a weekend night, flip through the channels, and you’re more likely than not to find a showing of The Godfather.  Turn on said channel and you’ll find yourself watching a critically acclaimed, organized crime drama centering on the Italian American Corleone family, one deemed “The Greatest Movie of All Time” by both Entertainment Weekly and Empire magazines (IMDb.com).  Flip past The Godfather and you’re still likely to end up watching it, just in modified, modernized version: think The Jersey Shore, Mob Wives, or The Real Housewives of New Jersey. 

However, the original, directed by Frances Ford Coppola and released to the American public in 1972, embodies the very depth, thematic brilliance, and genuine performances so many of its successors are criticized for lacking (TVGuide.com).  Using the ever-appealing sheen of the gun-toting Mafia and the distinct glamour of life lived outside the law’s bounds, this film, much like a good Mafia hit man, draws an audience in seamlessly and then, almost before they know what has happened, engrosses them in a profound, multi-faceted drama about the evolution of an entrancingly imperfect family.  By capturing viewers in such, and then proceeding to lead them through action-laced events to an ending rich with thematic value, The Godfather is a definitive classic American film.

                Society evolves constantly, second by second, especially in reference to the various technologies and ways of communication seemingly sprouting instantaneously.  A classic film has to have staying power and, to do so, has to appeal to audiences over a wide time span with its thematic richness. In essence, such a film must focus on issues that, no matter the time or place, are wrestled with by humans on a basic level.  Classic films must also be the product of inspired casting: strong performances from actors portraying realistic, genuine, fresh characters are necessary for a movie to be considered classic. And a movie can scarcely be considered classic if it fails to take on an innovative role in society.  Classic movies define new genres for future cinematographic endeavors and have cultural longevity within American society. 

                By playing upon a combination of the ideas of family, individual evolution, and moral strength in the face of a corrupt community, The Godfather creates the kind of rich thematic experience that affects a viewer on a personal level and makes the film itself classic. Opening with the wedding of “Don” Vito Corleone’s daughter, Don, the head of a New York mafia ‘family,’ appears entirely in control of those around him, despite the lurking realization that his power is beginning to erode.  Don Vito, played to brilliant believability by Marlon Brando, believes in the old-school morals that are quickly becoming a thing of the past in the organized crime of the late 1900s: family, loyalty, and respect.  These antiquated views, along with gambling and alcohol, are forces of the past.  However, Don Vito refuses to abandon them and denies the family involvement in the narcotics business of the future, at the expense of high profits.  The family patriarch can scarcely view this as a moral victory, though, as his youngest son Michael, once an innocent bystander to his family’s atrocities, becomes  head of the family mafia and institutes a far more ruthless rule than that of his father.  Don Vito’s difficulty to evolve in the face of changing times is just as pertinent today, as people struggle to adapt to society’s demands while also retaining their own morals.  Watching the Corleone’s struggle to define a moral code and witnessing the transformation of Michael from a war hero opposed to his family’s life of crime to becoming exactly what it was he once condemned is the kind of thematic material that makes a viewer question the basis of their own values and fallibility. 

                The Godfather also reaches the level of a classic movie by featuring distinct, complex characters free from stereotype, although they may have consequently formed some of their own.    While The Godfather is certainly a drama about organized crime, it is not a film about mobsters: it is a film about people.  The raspy voice, deliberate movements, and penetrating stare of Marlon Brando as Don Vito create for the audience a complete person, something more than just the stereotypical gangster.  This is not a man who is heartless or irresponsible: in his own words, “A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man” (IMDb.com).  Don Vito is, in many ways, everything the typical man aspires to be: he puts family first and despises displays of weakness.  Yet the moments that transcend most from the film directly to the audience are those when Don Vito displays his wordless sympathy for Michael as he is forced to assume the family throne, showing an understanding of the burden of power and responsibility in a most natural way.  By casting actors and actresses with the capacity to portray such complicated characters down to every movement and every word, The Godfather creates a set of relatable, unforgettable characters, ones we see reflected in ourselves and those around us. 

                A classic movie can be played any time and be both enjoyable and relevant.  Often, what makes these films have continued relevance is that they have made an imprint on the culture of society itself.  The Godfather, perhaps more so than any other film in recent history, remains relevant and has cultural longevity.  In fact, it can be argued that The Godfather created the “gangster movie” genre and inspired the current American fascination with the lives of Italian-Americans who, like the Corleone family, walk the line between right and wrong, law and transgression, moral and corrupt (TheGodfather.com). 

                Certainly The Godfather’s successors, shows like the aforementioned Jersey Shore or Mob Wives, fail to have such substantive value as the film but they do reflect the ever-prevalent questions explored in the movie itself.  In a society where politicians and businessmen could increasingly be easily confused with the morally just, but ruthless mafia men featured in the film, The Godfather brings up issues that are still very much at the front of cultural context.  For example, how does one define family, and what should one be willing to do to protect theirs?  What makes something moral? How tightly should one hold to their morals? What does it mean to be lawful? How does one reconcile who they want to be with what society is pushing them to become? 

                These aren’t questions The Godfather has answers to; only ones that it brings to the forefront of the viewer’s mind.  And because these questions are almost always relevant, if not more so today than when the movie was filmed, The Godfather is a classic.  Because, while, yes, this movie has great themes, genuine characters, and has stayed the test of time, it is the ability of The Godfather to make a viewer evaluate, and perhaps even change, their own way of life, that makes it truly classic. 

Works Cited

IMDb.com. "The Godfather (1972)." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). 12 February 2012 <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068646/>.

TheGodfather.com. "About the Films- The Godfather Timeline- 1990s." TheGodfather.com. 12 February 2012 <http://www.thegodfather.com/>.

TVGuide.com. "The Godfather: A Flim Review." TV Guide. 12 February 2012 <http://movies.tvguide.com/the-godfather/review/124688>.