Day 28: ‘The Godfather’ 1972

‘The Godfather’ 1972

Oh, what a night. This has been planned for weeks now and finally the event of watching The Godfather (1972) has arrived. This evening has been much anticipated and I was richly rewarded. Again, I didn’t do any reading on the movie beforehand, allowing the movie to speak for itself.

Is it one of the greatest films ever made?  Absolutely.

It’s after midnight now, my wife’s in bed and I’m going to watch it all over again, now, for as long as I have the energy. I think the aspect of watching the film I enjoyed the most was watching Brando, Caan, Pacina, Talia Shire, and some of the smaller parts, like Abe Vigoda’s role. There’s a professionalism that is consummate even though the filmmaking doesn’t quite have the sophisticated look of another great gangster film, Once Upon a Time in America (1984). Like all other excellent gangster films they had the benefit of hindsight. What Coppola did was visionary, and he realised that what Mario Puzo had done was also visionary.

More to come.