I've decided to begin in the familiar territory of Classic Hollywood- and few would argue the Classic status of The Godfather.( I can hear them now- You mean you've NEVER seen it?) And, since much has been said about the sequel being better than the first, I've seen both.I think that among many other things, this franchise has become what it is, because of its sheer scope and how it captures the entanglements of its characters with each other, their Nation and themselves.
In the first film, we are invited into Don Corleone's office, which we find out is also his home and from there, the lines between Family and Business are permanently blurred. In the same vein, it also humanizes characters of whom we only know caricatures- the villains in the dark trench coats, the hit men, the crime bosses- by making them our brothers, cousins, son-in-laws- unambiguously entering the realm of moral ambiguity.
The second film explores, simultaneously, the young Vito Corleone's roots and rise to power as well as his son's Michael's descent into corruption. While it follows the legacy of the first film in its honest, three dimensional treatment, it just goes deeper into the characters' personal motivations and really raises compelling questions about choice and the extent to which we really choose to become who we are.
In contrast to what some critics have said that the film "glorifies" criminals like the Mafia, I think that The Godfather actually dispels our own myths about normalcy and "good" people. It is after all, an uncomfortable thought to consider that we, and people close to us, are capable of things we consider evil, given the right circumstances. More importantly, it makes us think of what those "circumstances" may be, and if perhaps those are already present in our lives, and as such, perhaps such choices have already been made.
And that's the question I'm left with after watching this Godfather double feature-
No comments:
Post a Comment