10th Favorite Movie - The Godfather Part I & II

Make sure you have read the first post in this series ("My 50 Favorite Movies") before you read on...

Along with Citizen Kane and Casablanca, The Godfather is often considered to be the best movie ever made. The Godfather Part II, which director Francis Ford Coppola made two years later in 1974, is often touted as the best sequel of all time with many people even preferring it to the first film. You may think that you remember hearing about or even seeing a Godfather Part III, made 17 years later starring Coppola's daughter, Sofia (who is a much better director than actress). But I encourage you to pretend that never happened. Trust me, it is better that way.

When I was in the 11th grade, The Godfather I & II were not just my favorite movies, they had consumed part of my life. For an english assignment that year, we were to read a book and then see the movie version and draw comparisons between the two. I chose Mario Puzo's book The Godfather, and the films starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, James Caan, Rovert Duvall, Talia Shire, Diane Keaton, James Cavale, Bruno Kirby and a host of others that it was based on. The result was a FIFTY page paper. No joke. In a famous Fitelson family story from that time, my dad came home from work for lunch one day to find a teenager he had never seen before sitting on his couch and watching his television with his son nowhere in sight. I was in the computer room in the back of the house working hard on the paper... while we were both supposed to be at school. My friend had heard I was "cutting" and wanted to come along. I'll never forget the feeling I had in my stomach when I heard the front door open and close that day and my dad saying "Well, hello there" to my friend. Sorry about that, dad.

These films are darn near perfect. I think the first one overall is superior to the second, however, my favorite scenes in the series are the ones in the second of Robert De Niro playing the young Don Vito Corleone. It is amazing how De Niro plays the role with Brando in mind (who played Corleone in the first film) but still makes the character his own, all without saying a single word in English. I also have to give a shout-out here to one of favorite actors, the late Bruno Kirby, who holds his own alongside De Niro.

I think a very underrated scene in the second film is the last one of the movie. Everyone talks about the murder in the boat out on Lake Tahoe, which was quite haunting and all, but I think the follow up scene to that is even more powerful. There is a flashback to the time before Michael was involved in "the family business", a family birthday party for Vito. Apparently they couldn't afford to bring Brando back for the scene or he was too busy/flaky, so he does not appear in it. Instead, everyone else is waiting around the table for him to come home. Seeing how the characters have transformed since then - especially Michael - is really moving. I recently saw a list somewhere of the "Best Film Endings" and was pleased to see this scene on there.

I must have said all I have to say back in the 11th grade about these movies, so if you want to hear more, let me know and I can loan you the paper. I still have it somewhere... I think I got an A- on it. The minus was because we were not supposed to go over 20 pages. Whoops. Sorry about that, Ms. Casey.