IN THEATERS JUNE 4th and JUNE 7th

TCM Big Screen Classics Presents

“The Godfather”

A Special 45th Anniversary Event

 

 

This iconic film about a New York mafia family’s rise to power in the years following World War II stars Marlon Brando as the family’s patriarch, Don Corleone, and features career-making performances by Al Pacino, James Caan, and Robert Duvall. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, it’s based on Mario Puzo‘s best-selling novel. This searing and brilliant film garnered seven Academy Award nominations and won three, including Best Picture of 1972.

 

 

I’ve stated for years that if you want a blueprint for the rules of life, a screening of “The Godfather” is mandatory. In an interview about the making of the film, Coppola revealed that his idea was to approach the Corleone family like a king and his sons. I believe focusing on the family dynamics versus “the mob” gave more depth and layers to the characters and the audience’s involvement in the film.

 

 

Cinematographer Gordon Willis initially turned down the opportunity to film The Godfather because the production seemed “chaotic” to him. After Willis later accepted the offer, he and Coppola agreed to not use any modern filming devices, helicopters, or zoom lenses. Willis and Coppola chose to use a “tableau format” of filming to make it seem if it was viewed like a painting. He made use of shadows and low light levels throughout the film to showcase psychological developments.

Willis and Coppola agreed to interplay light and dark scenes throughout the film. Willis underexposed the film in order to create a “yellow tone.” The scenes in Sicily were shot to display the countryside and “display a more romantic land,” giving these scenes a “softer, more romantic” feel than the New York scenes. (Wikipedia)

 

 

Although many films about gangsters preceded “The Godfather”, Coppola’s heavy infusion of Italian culture and stereotypes, and his portrayal of mobsters as characters of considerable psychological depth and complexity was unprecedented.

 

 

Coppola took it further with The Godfather Part II, and Part III. The success of those films, critically, artistically and financially, opened the doors for numerous other depictions of Italian Americans as mobsters, including films such as Martin Scorsese‘s Goodfellas and TV series such as David Chase‘s The Sopranos.

“Goodfellas” (1990)

 

“The Godfather” is widely regarded as one of the greatest films in world cinema and one of the most influential, especially in the gangster genre. It was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 1990, being deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and is ranked the second greatest film in American cinema (behind Citizen Kane) by the American Film Institute. (Wikipedia)

 

So, whether this would be your first viewing or you’re a lifelong fan, get your tickets here and check out “The Godfather” on the big screen for this special, limited-time performance!