Cinema
The Godfather
Francis Ford Coppola · 1972
Synopsis
New York, late summer 1945. Don Vito Corleone, who heads one of the city's five mafia families, is marrying off his daughter Connie and, following Sicilian tradition, receives petitioners that day, since he cannot refuse anyone. His youngest son, Michael, back from the war decorated, in his Marines uniform, introduces Kay to his family and tells her: “That's my family, Kay. That's not me.” Virgil Sollozzo, linked to the Tattaglias, then asks Vito for his political protection and his money for a heroin traffic; Vito refuses, although his eldest son Sonny is in favour.
Context
The studio repeatedly threatened to dismiss the director, who speaks of three or four occasions, and opposed the choice of Marlon Brando, whose recent films had failed, and of Al Pacino, then little known. The film was the biggest success of 1972 and for a time remained the biggest in history. Brando refused the Oscar for best actor in 1973 and sent Sacheen Littlefeather to refuse it live in his place; she presented herself as Native American, and her sisters have disputed these origins since her death.
Who it is for
A film of two hours fifty-five minutes, the first instalment of a series of three; the third came out in 1990, sixteen years after the second.
Prizes and reception
Three Academy Awards in 1973, including Best Picture, five Golden Globes, added to the National Film Registry, and second on the American Film Institute's list.
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