Visual Arts and Film Studies

The Godfather Trilogy Analysis

The Godfather Trilogy is inarguably the most revered trilogy in the history of movies. The
Godfather itself is regarded as a landmark in filmmaking and is only beaten by Citizen Kane
when it comes of all-time great movies. The Godfather Part II has its own place in highly
ranked movies and stands very high. However, the second sequel of the movie is usually
considered to have failed to live up to the standards set by the first two movies in the trilogy.
Perhaps the major reason of The Godfathers success is the character of Vito Corleone played
by Marlon Brando. He was not the first choice of the director, Francis Ford Coppola, or the
producers. He wore cotton balls in his mouth at his own behest and surprised everyone. He
was complemented the brilliant performances of Al Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall.
The movie begins with a medium shot of a minor character, Bonasera, but his dialogue is
very important in the context of the movie itself. His first statement is I believe in America
and then he goes on to explain his difficulties. Right away, the audience is intensely
familiarized with Vito Corleone. He is an intelligent leader who is not afraid of using force
when it is required. The logo of the trilogy is a hand holding the strings of a marionette. This
applies to Don Vito as he refuses to be controlled by the State and provides services to the
people which are denied to them by the State.
The camera work of The Godfather is very artistic. The extreme long shots are used to show
locations. These are often used at the beginning of a scene to establish a shot in a sequence.
For instance, the extreme long shot of a toll booth set up the scene to be taken place where
Sonny is murdered by gunmen. Long shots are also used to show locations and establishing
shots in a sequence but they are also used to show relationships. For instance, Michael and
Kay are shot in a long shot from the front when they are walking and having a chat. Medium

long shots are used to almost the same effect. They are used where the location is smaller. For
instance, the assassination attempt on Vito Corleone is set up with a medium long shot of Vito
from the right side when he is selecting some fruit from a shop. Medium and medium closeup shots are used to focus on a character while he is in an important dialogue. The close-up
shots in the movie are very cleverly executed as they capture the exact state of mind of a
character. Close-ups of objects are also well executed. Perhaps the most important close-up of
an object is the close-up of the gun used by Michael to shoot Sollozzo and McCluskey.
The lighting of The Godfather is of paramount importance. It is mostly dark in closed rooms
when important matters are being discussed. Lighting is cleverly used to set the mood of the
scene. At the very beginning of the first part, Don Vito says, We are not murderers but the
lighting and sniffing of the rose says silently to the audience, yes they are! In the happy
dancing scene that follows, the audience watches Clemenza for the first time and he looks
like a fun loving person while actually he is a criminal and a cold-blooded killer. The initial
lighting shows him to be otherwise. As the matters become lighter in importance, the light
gets brighter and helps in developing a lighter mood. The whole trilogy is pregnant with
irony. The role of sound accentuates the irony. The best example is that of the baptism at the
end of The Godfather. Michael orders his men to kill the heads of all the rival families. As he
is asked by the priest if he renounces Satan and he replies in affirmation, Clemenza shoots
Don Stracci three times on his orders. Then Michael affirms that he renounces Satan and Moe
Greene is shot dead at the same time. He makes further declarations regarding the
denunciation of Satan and the audience watches Don Cuneo, Tattaglia and Barzini being
murdered by Michaels men. He is in the church where the bells ring in a very ironic manner
which shows that Michael is entering into a life that he never wanted. Instead of being purged
and purified, he is officially becoming evil in the church. That is one of the hallmarks of the
trilogy.

Another important aspect of The Godfather is that it is a gangster movie and it has a lot of
elements that are common to the movie genre. What sets it apart from many other gangster
movies is the fact that it is the story of Michael who never wants to be gangster but is forced
to be a crime boss because of the prevailing circumstances. Perhaps what really pushes him
into this type of life is the fact that he is born in this family. The movie shows Michaels
origins as humble and his rise to power is shown by flashbacks which do not feature Michael.
They contain his father and his life. The circumstances are created due to Vitos dealings and
his death. Also, Michaels character is novel to the gangster genre because he does not get
destroyed like many other gangsters and crime bosses in other movies due to greed and
corruption. (Barsam et al, 2010)
The Godfather uses remarkable symbolism. The Corleones are sent a dead fish by the
Tattaglias when they are wondering where Luca Brasi is. The dead fish means that Luca
Brasi is dead, sleeping with the fishes. Due to this scene, the audience has now a general
awareness that dead fish is sent by the mafia when they have killed someone. Also, in order
to whack someone, the most desolate place is chosen. For instance, Paulo is murdered in a
very deserted place by Clemenza.
Coppola has incorporated many elements of the reality in the trilogy. At the beginning of The
Godfather, Luca Brasi is seen practicing what he is going to say to the Don. Legend has it
that the actor, Lenny Montana, was not supposed to practice like this. He was delivering his
dialogue to Brando when he accidently flubbed his line. That gave Coppola the idea that it
was much more realistic with an element of nervousness. Also, the time when the Corleone
family is waiting to hear from their rat in the police department, different levels of
anxiousness can be seen. They find some time to have a small meal and in much more
relaxed clothes. Sonny loses his shirt and paces back and forth. Tessio is seen to be in a
relaxed mood and having his meal. Michael is also worried but at this time, his involvement

in the business of the family is almost nothing. Therefore, he sits and watches what others are
doing.
Realism can be greatly observed in the character of Don Vito. He has spent a life of crime and
has gained sufficient amount of experience. He knows exactly how to act and react. His first
move is always to ask the other person nicely for what he wants. He never looks to resort to
violence right away. If he faces refusal, he makes him an offer that he cant refuse. When
Sonny dies and Michael becomes the only available option for his succession, Vito gives
Michael some pieces of advice that greatly show his experience. He tells Michael about the
future meetings which he must always avoid because he would be assassinated in them. He
also tells Michael as to how he should detect the traitors in his company. This advice makes
Michael able to realize later that Tessio is a traitor and he gets him killed.
The Godfather tends to surprise the audience in a refreshing manner. It is mostly seen that
when something is planned in movies in front of the audience, there are some twists and
surprises that make the plan fail or be successful in a manner that is unknown to the audience
in advance. Whenever a plan is made in front of the audience, the audience starts to expect to
be surprised. In The Godfather, plans are usually made in front of the audience and their
execution varies. For instance, Michaels plan to assassinate Sollozzo and McCluskey makes
the audience expectant of something dramatic because of the amount of indifference and
nervousness shown by Michael. However, the plan is executed perfectly. Michael does
exactly what he intends to do. The perfect execution of the plan surprises the audience.
Similar is the case with Vitos assassination of Don Fanucci which, although, is not planned
in front of the audience but it can easily be anticipated. Once it is established that everything
goes according to plan in the movie, Michaels bodyguard fails in murdering Hyman Roth
which surprises the audience again.

The Godfather 1 and 2 were released in 1972 and 1974 respectively but they show the time of
the 1950s. Coppola has done a brilliant job in recreating that time of the 1950s with the cars,
streets, dressing and priorities. The same goes for the recreation of the time of the 1900s in a
village of Sicily and of the Italian community in America of the 1920s. In both movies, a
function is taking place at the beginning of the movie. The shot of the central activity of the
function shows the participation of the characters that attempt to make the party lively. There
are also some intelligent shots of the silent observers and the people who have the sole
purpose of meeting the Don and they care less about the rest of the function. In The
Godfather Part II, Frank Pentangeli is seen sleeping at the party. A natural reaction of an old
man to liquor is shown in the best manner. While being in the most important of scenes, both
movies do not seem to deviate from the trivial activities of life. For instance, while being in
an important meeting and having his birthday celebrated at the same time in Cuba, Hyman
Roth asks for a smaller piece of cake as his condition and health would not allow him to eat
a bigger one. Also, the most important characters are shown like ordinary characters when
they are in ordinary business of life. For instance, Kay is shot like a minor character in the
beginning of The Godfather Part II when she is having her picture taken with her kids.
The Godfather Part III was released in 1990. It takes the story of Michael Corleone to
completion. It is also directed by Francis Ford Coppola. In terms of form, it employs almost
similar techniques of the previous two movies. The shots are cleverly taken to depict the
relations, reactions, and emotions. It employs the same mise-en-scne that is regarded as
typical of The Godfather trilogy; the dark setting in a closed room where important matters
are being discussed.
A new character called Vincent Mancini (played by Andy Garcia) is introduced. He is the
illegitimate son of Sonny. Perhaps the first of the problems of this movie was a contract
dispute with Robert Duvall which forced the writers to show that the character of Tom Hagen

is now dead. Tom Hagen is a very important character in the trilogy. In the first part, he loses
the privilege of being consigliore to the Don when Michael comes into power. In the second
part, he is questioned in a very skeptical manner by Michael when he learns that Hagen has
received an offer. Hagen tells Michael that he plans to stay but it can be sensed that Hagen
wants to leave. Moving through the trilogy, the audience anticipates a square-off between
Hagen and Michael in the third part but it never happens. A character called B. J. Harrison
replaces the role of Hagen. Had Duvall agreed to the terms of the contract offered to him,
Hagen would have had a heavy participation in Michaels charity affairs.
Francis Ford Coppola admits that the story of The Godfather was completed in 1974 in The
Godfather Part II. He was in some financial straits which compelled him to create the third
installment. Therefore, there were some innate difficulties in creating a sound plot. The
character of Vincent seems to be out of place in this movie. He is Sonnys long-lost
illegitimate son. The characters of Michael and Kay seem to be one-dimensional. Michael is
looking for redemption for his life that is tainted with crime. Kay consistently blames
Michael for her suffering and her childrens problems. Michaels other side is never depicted
in the movie. Connies character also shows little growth. The story of the movie has often
been criticized as being based on continuity rather than being a stand-alone story. One of the
major factors why the third installment is not ranked as high as the first two is the
performance of Sophia Coppola. Her performance lacked life, intensity and everything else
that is expected from an actress who is playing one of the most important roles in the movie.
Coppola has often been accused of nepotism but he strictly denies it. A string of actresses was
lined up for the role but due to one reason or the other, none of them were cast. The going of
role to Sophia was the last resort for Coppola. Unfortunately, she was unable to do justice
with her role.

Despite these weaknesses, The Godfather Part III is still a great movie to watch. It is directed
brilliantly by Coppola who has used all the resources available to him at the optimum level.
There are still many respects in which this movie relates to its prequels. Its form is almost
similar and probably takes a lot of ideas from the previous movies but the content makes it a
movie of a much lower standard than the first two. However, it still has the honor of
completing a masterpiece.

References
Barsam, Richard and Dave Monahan. Looking At Movies. W. W. Norton & Company Ltd,
2010. Print.
The Godfather. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Perf. Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan,
Robert Duvall, and Diane Keaton. Paramount. 1972. DVD.
The Godfather Part II. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Perf. Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert
Duvall, and Diane Keaton. Paramount. 1974. DVD.
The Godfather Part III. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Perf. Al Pacino, Andy Garca, and Diane
Keaton. Paramount. 1990. DVD.