Image courtesy of wallpaper-s.orgWhat: Film.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola.
Actors: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton.
Where: At home, hungover, on a Sunday evening on DVD.
Re-watching this 1972 classic, the first of the trilogy that really put Coppola on the map, reminds you what a timeless piece of work it really is. You can’t help but think that if it was made in 2072 it would have the same significance it had when it changed the world of film forever in the second half of the twentieth century. The ‘Movie Brats’ more than knew what they were doing, they lit up this era of Hollywood New Wave cinema.
Lucky for us they did. HBO would not be the force they are today and we wouldn’t have big-hitting Hollywood Directors like Martin Scorsese working in the kind of Television that has shaped popular culture in recent years. No Mad Men, no The Wire, No Rome, No Entourage, No Six Feet Under and most importantly No Sopranoes. And without The Sopranoes, well, we’re not even going there.
Except we have to. David Chase and his gang of writers have taken the content and genuine realism of The Godfather and combined it with the same approach to scoring moving images that Scorsese used in Mean Streets to make The Sopranoes quite simply the best television ever made. We can’t ignore what inspired the making of that TV series that kept us up until 4am time after time. Elements of Chase’s work can be seen in almost every frame of The Godfather.
One of the advantages of a TV series over a film is that you really get to explore deep into the character's personalities. Coppolla doesn’t need 12 one hour episodes to introduce us to Corleone’s mob. After three hours of intense conversation mixed with cold blooded killing, you’re familiar with the whole family. 31 year old Al Pacino is effortless as he stylishly nails the role of Michael Corleone. Robert Duvall impresses as the advisor to the mafia family but both are overshadowed by a breathtaking, Oscar winning performance of Marlon Brando as he plays the big man himself.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola.
Actors: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton.
Where: At home, hungover, on a Sunday evening on DVD.
Re-watching this 1972 classic, the first of the trilogy that really put Coppola on the map, reminds you what a timeless piece of work it really is. You can’t help but think that if it was made in 2072 it would have the same significance it had when it changed the world of film forever in the second half of the twentieth century. The ‘Movie Brats’ more than knew what they were doing, they lit up this era of Hollywood New Wave cinema.
Lucky for us they did. HBO would not be the force they are today and we wouldn’t have big-hitting Hollywood Directors like Martin Scorsese working in the kind of Television that has shaped popular culture in recent years. No Mad Men, no The Wire, No Rome, No Entourage, No Six Feet Under and most importantly No Sopranoes. And without The Sopranoes, well, we’re not even going there.
Except we have to. David Chase and his gang of writers have taken the content and genuine realism of The Godfather and combined it with the same approach to scoring moving images that Scorsese used in Mean Streets to make The Sopranoes quite simply the best television ever made. We can’t ignore what inspired the making of that TV series that kept us up until 4am time after time. Elements of Chase’s work can be seen in almost every frame of The Godfather.
Image courtesy of gonemovies.com
One of the advantages of a TV series over a film is that you really get to explore deep into the character's personalities. Coppolla doesn’t need 12 one hour episodes to introduce us to Corleone’s mob. After three hours of intense conversation mixed with cold blooded killing, you’re familiar with the whole family. 31 year old Al Pacino is effortless as he stylishly nails the role of Michael Corleone. Robert Duvall impresses as the advisor to the mafia family but both are overshadowed by a breathtaking, Oscar winning performance of Marlon Brando as he plays the big man himself.
Rating: 9/10
Comments: Perfectly realistic. This has shaped every mobster film since.
Comments: Perfectly realistic. This has shaped every mobster film since.