THE GODFATHER

US, 1971, 175 minutes, Colour.
Marlon Brando, AI Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, Richard Conte, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Alex Rocco, Al Martino.
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

The Godfather provides three hours of absorbing drama, horrifying in its comment on American life and the impact of organised crime, illustrating the abuse of power and its capacity for corrupting. The Italian/Sicilian atmosphere in its emigrated (as well as original) forms is convincingly communicated and the hold "family" loyalty has on the next generation is powerfully shown in the presentation of Michael (AI Pacino). Marlon Brando is an authentic Don Corleone whose influence pervades the whole film. The supporting cast makes the frightening proceedings credible. The film is to be recommended to thoughtful audiences - with an advance caution about some violent blood-letting.

1. Did this film deserve all the praise it received, to become the biggest box office success of its time? Why? What was great about the film?

2. Did the film give insight into the mentality of the Mafia? Their code, beliefs, ambitions, lust for power?

3. Comment on the contribution of the colour, decor (New York, the homes, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, the hospitals, cafes, Sicily), the musical themes, the tracking styles of camera work, the editing, eg. for the initial wedding, the final baptism. Comment on the quality and the convincing nature of the acting?

4. The Mafia had its own code of morality, unacceptable to outsiders. How was the moral attitude of the audience guided to assist the behaviour of the Corleone family and others: by comment, by violent statement, irony etc.? By introducing Kay as an outsider (as the audience is introduced)?

5. The significance of the title 'God/father' and the Godfather's role? As God? As the puppet-master, as the credits indicate? The influence of the Godfather and his role in the family? The nature of family and family bonds? Questions of loyalty and love as applied to ambitions and business?

6. Comment on the morality of the film. The rationalisation of immorality in the family? The family code and its logical application? Virtues for ordinary people within the framework of an amoral code? Audience response to this morality?

7. The members of the Corleone family appeared as respectable citizens, not obviously like the gangsters of the 30s. Was this a gangster film? Or, because of the respectability of the characters, was it more a film about capitalists and business? An insight into America? The themes of greed, power, exploiters, corruption?

8. Comment on the human feeling within the film? From the family loyalties, to dependents on the Godfather, to the Godfather's ambitions and feelings for his family, power and love, death and sorrow etc?

9. How important was the theme of the contrast of the old world and the new world? In the life of Don Vito himself The transition from the 30s to the 40s2 The introduction of drugs etc.? The opening up of Las Vegas? Sonny and Tom Hagen and their new ideas compared with the Don? The transition as embodied within Michael?

10. How well did the film portray Italian and Sicilian background? Did this explain the code and the attitudes of the Italian Americans? The influence of the Italian migrants in America?

11. The impact of the violence on the film? The visualisation of such violence? The murders, the horse's head, the mental and psychological violence? The Godfather as an echo of the violent America of the 70s?

12. How vital was the portrayal of Marlon Brando as the Godfather? His submerging of himself and his personality in the physical and mental attitudes of the Godfather? The initial presentation, the opening sequences and interviews, Don Vito with his family, his hold over his sons, trying to persuade Michael, his relationship with his wife? His not wanting to change because of the drugs? The impact of his being shot and his hospitalisation? His continued hold over the family? His old age? The importance of the sequence with the children in the garden, the humour, the emotional impact of his death? Audience response to this?

13 How well portrayed were the other characters?
- Michael: the youngest son, that he was not subdued by the Mafia, his army service, his independence, the choices open to him, his loyalty to his father, the hospitalisation as influencing him, his willingness to be the assassin, the Sicilian experience, his happiness and marriage, the attempted murder, his return and control, what had changed within him, his mercilessness, his deceiving of Kay, the final irony of the Baptism and the assassinations, finally assuming the role of the Godfather? How skilful were the details of AI Pacino's performance?
- Sonny: the contrast with Michael and Tom Hagen, the carefree attitude, boisterous, sexuality, willing to do deals, his role in the family and influence, differences with his father, the irony of his assassination?
- The contrast again with Tom Hagen? The non-Italian? Yet being absorbed into the family, the quality of his advice, the hold over the others, his ability to efface himself, the continued influence with Michael? How dangerous a man? The insight into his character?
- Clemenza, the fat ordinary Italian, loyal, but finally a traitor? Tessia and the comparison with Clemenza, his role at the end with the final meeting? The insight into the ordinary Mafia men via these characters?
- Barzini: the rival chief, the skill and deadliness, the ruthlessness, the suave dealings at the meetings, the grief at the funeral, but he was a loser?
- Kay: a non-Italian American, her love for Michael, her trying to under stand his work, her horror at the Mafia way of life, her asking the truth and being told
a lie? The comparison for Michael's character with the presentation of Kay?
- Connie and Carlos: their role in the family, Carlo being used by the brothers, his infidelity to Connie, the fights, the hysterical attitudes between them, the insight into the effect of the pressures of Mafia life?
- Johnnie: his role as a singer, the influence of the Godfather to Los Angeles, Tom Hagen helping him, his career based on such violence as with the horse's head?
- Sollazzo: the new man, the go-between, trying to do deals with drugs etc.?
- The Tataglia family - the rivalry with the Corleones, their powerlessness to succeed?

14. How impressive was it that the first 27 minutes were concerned with the wedding sequence and the Don's interviews? The revelation of power, the talks with the dependent people, the arrangements and favours, and the contrast with the festivities of the wedding, feast, dancing, religious overtones? How skilful a beginning of the film was this?

15. How important was it that the next immediate contrast was Hollywood? The interview with Woltz? The picture of Hollywood and the pressures by the Mafia? The dramatic impact of the horse's head sequence: the gradual tracking down the bed and the gradual discovery and the horror? The impact on audiences and its influence within the film?

16. The encounters between Sollazzo and the Don and the moral implications of drug-pushing? The implications for business, the changing ways?

17. The reason for shooting the Don, the making the path clear for Sonny's acceptance of drugs? The way that the shooting was filmed, the ordinariness of the Don in the markets with the fruit, the violence of the shooting?
18 The impact of the hospital sequence: the atmosphere of fear? The Don not being guarded? The possibilities of assassination? The impact on Michael?

19 How was Michael's changing of character worked dramatically and credibly into the details of the plot? How well was he introduced? The indications for gradual change? What motivated his change?

20. The portrayal of Mc Clusky and the implications of corrupt police? The worker's bodyguard? The dramatic build-up to the assassination of Sollazzo and Mc Clusky in the restaurant? The skill of Michael's planning? The drama of the actual assassination?

21. The impact of the shooting on Michael? The effect on his conscience? Its logic within the framework of law and loyalty within the family?

22. The importance of the Sicilian sequences? The change of tone and pace from America? The old world background and the way it was portrayed? Yet the similarities with bodyguards, assassination attempts? The importance of Michael's marriage and happiness? The sequences of happy Italian life and customs? The sinister undertones of all this with the Mafia?

23. The dramatic impact of the assassination of Luca Brazzi and his being strangled in the bar?

24. The recovery of Don Vito and his influence within the family? The strength and resilience of the man?

25. The relationship between Sonny and Carlo? The inevitability of Sonny's assassination? The dramatic impact of the visualisation of this? The effect on the audience?

26. Comment on the board meetings and the presentation of the bureaucracy of the families? The interactions between the men? Their ambitions and their style? The paralleling of ordinary legitimate meetings? The sinister amorality underneath the picture of normality?

27. The romantic touch between Michael and Kay? Did it come too late? Kay as an attractive girl? Her patience in waiting for Michael? His deceiving of her? Audience reaction to this?

28. How important were the final sequences with Don Vito? His advice to Michael, the experience of his age, the tranquillity of his death?

29. How did the sequences in Nevada show the changing world in which the Mafia worked? The work of Fredo in [as Vegas? The style of Moe Green? The Jewish conflict with the Italian Mafia? The business deals and the exploitation in Las Vegas?

30. How well did the film use the funeral not only as epitaph to the Don but also to further the dramatic impact of the film? Rivalries at the funeral? The codes and betrayals? The consequences of this?

31. How impressive was the filming of the Baptism and the assassinations? The dramatic impact? Was it too facile? Or was it most effective, a culmination for this film?

32. The significance of Carlo's death and the effect on Connie?

33. The finale with Kay? The audience being left with this?

34. How did audiences feel after three hours of film, the transition in Michael, and the final kissing the hand of the new Don?