The Godfather is always rated high. I’ve even seen a lot of parodies in other movies but never saw this one. Therefore, I chose to watch this movie immediately after I got this assignment again. In The Godfather, the movie first introduced the first-generation godfather or the don, Vito Corleone. The movie started with Vito running his Italian American crime family business, but as the drug dealer Sollozzo jumped in the business and tried to assassinate Vito Corleone, the second-generation don, Michael Corleone, who was the youngest son of Vito Corleone has come to involved in the business.

At the start of the fim, the first shot was black and only had sound. Then we could see the face of Bonasera, who was a friend of the Godfather, then the camera slowly zoomed out so that the Godfather’s back view was shown in the scene, providing us with a impression of the Godfather’s majesty. The latter wide shot was also my favorite. Don Coleone sat in the middle of the scene, wearing a suit with a rose in the pocket and pating a cat, which indicated his power and loneliness simultaneously. The scenes at the beginning were mostly black or shadowing, but the director also utilized the environment of the scene, such as the louver, to create lightning. After the dark scenes, the director brought us to the wedding of the Godfather’s daughter. All the important roles in the family would appear in this wedding and the director used scripts and shots to show us their personalities and status. For example, when the Corleone family was going to take the family photo, the Godfather asked where his youngest son Michael was and refused to take the photo without him, which implying the Godfather’s favor and expectation on Michael. The eldest son Sonny’s impulsive personality was also being exposed at the wedding while he threw one reporter’s camera on the ground. It was interesting to see how boisterous and bright the outside was; the contrast between the inside where the Godfather discussed business and the outside where all the peace happened hinted the theme of this film: the Godfather and his mafia wanted to turn the crime business into a more legitimate one. Michael Corleone was the one the Godfather wished to make this come true since as Michael came to the wedding, he seemed different from the family’s darkness, wearing a military uniform and always tried to separate himself and his family verbally.

There was some scenes I like the most. At around half of the film, Vito Corleone was shot by Sollozzo and Michael decided to revenge. When Michael was with Sollozzo and the captain McCluskey on the car, his expression in his eyes still looked nervous since he kept looking around. After they arrived at the restaurant, Michael was trying to look firm but still a little bit stiff. As Michael took out the gun from the bathroom, we could hear the train and also see Michael getting ready. The sound of the train exposed Michael’s struggle and nervousness. At this scene, the bathroom door was in the camera, which seemed to imply Michael was no longer that “civilian” Michael anymore. The scenes at the end of the movie were also impressive. The director used montage: the baby of Michael’s sister was being baptized while the Corleones was killing all their rivals. Michael Corleone became the Don Corleone. Michael’s wife Kay was shocked by the fact that Michael killed his sister’s husband and quired him. Michael lied to his wife. Then the scene was Kay stood outside of the office, having the light from the window shining on her while Michael was inside the office with all the dark. The camera was first focus on Michael so even though Kay was at the front of the camera, she was out of focus. Then the camera focus on Kay, then all turned dark, which echoed with the beginning of the movie.

I truly recommend this movie to everyone. There were so many great shots in the movie. The intense plots and amazing acting also enhanced the theme of the movie. If you look deeply, you will find a lot of metaphors and foreshadowing hints, such as the oranges appeared every time when death happened. It would be interesting to look through the scenes again and again and find something new each time about how the director shot and set the tone for the characters’ personalities and future plots.