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Life & Arts

'Godfather' a film you can't refuse

Coppola's classic tells brilliant story about family, mob life

by GERONIMO RODRIGUEZ
The Daily Cougar

At a glance, Mario Puzo's The Godfather may seem like a classic mobster story, filled with shady characters who shove people around to get their way and bloody scenes showing guys getting popped for betraying the boss man. But perhaps the true reason why the 1972 film blew up the box office when it was released and is still the master blueprint for a mob film is because Francis Ford Coppola threaded the storyline with the idea that family always came first.

Leave it up to accomplished actor Marlon Brando to portray Don Vito Corleone with a gentle touch. Brando's character strays from the typical mob character, as he is genuine when it comes to protecting his family, not just his mob family. He took Robert Duvall's character Tom Hagen off the streets and put him through law school -- even if it would benefit his business in the long run -- and he did everything he could to keep his son Michael, played by Al Pacino, from joining his gang of soldiers.

He's also a powerful figure in the mob world who always gets his way, whether it's having a movie producer wake up with a bloody horse's head on his bed (it was a real head purchased from a dog food factory), or it's doing someone a favor and, at the time, asking for nothing in return, something that brilliantly opens the film and is later revisited when James Caan's powerful Sonny is killed.

Aside from what audiences witnessed on the screen, the things that went on before and during filming can add up to a film all its own. First, there's Coppola fighting with producer Robert Evans to get Pacino in the role of Michael. Evans preferred Warren Beatty, Burt Reynolds, Robert Redford and even Ryan O'Neal, but Coppola insisted on the relatively unknown actor. Pacino went on to become an A-list actor and even reprised his role in the second and third installments of The Godfather trilogy.

The untouchable Orson Welles was even considered for the role of Vito, but that lasted until Brando showed interest in the role.

As for the director's seat, Paramount brass wanted to replace Coppola with Elia Kazan, but Brando threatened to quit if Coppola wasn't at the helm of the film. Before pre-production began, legendary director Sergio Leone was asked to direct the film, but he refused and a couple of years later said he regretted the move.

Then there's everything that comes with directing the eccentric Brando in the film. To make Vito look like a bulldog, Brando stuffed his cheeks with cotton wool during the screen test and wore a mouthpiece during filming. As for the famous cat that Brando is stroking during the opening scene, the story is the cat was a stray that came onto the set. When the scene began, Brando carried the cat to his mark and held it throughout the scene. The calm cat made for an interesting parallel to a character like Vito's, who is usually viewed as a monster of sorts.

If you want to nail down one scene that epitomizes the shift in power from Vito to Michael, watch closely the scene where Michael is standing outside the hospital after an assassination attempt was made on his father. When it appears as if he and Enzo are guarding the hospital, the baker's hands are trembling so much that he can't even steady them long enough to light a cigarette. Michael, a college dropout and war veteran but never a mobster, pulls out his lighter to help the baker out. After lighting the cigarette, the camera focuses on Michael's face as he notices his hands aren't trembling in a situation where his father's life is on the line.

It'd be unfair to summarize the film in a few words, but when you get down to it, the film is a solid story about how Vito balances family life with mob life, and how he passes it on to Michael.

If you want to experience the true feeling of discovering a cinematic treasure, buy the DVD collection of The Godfather trilogy and watch the first film a couple of times, and then turn on the director's commentary and watch it a couple more times.

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