So Marlon Brando is no more but for most film-lovers, Brando will forever remain etched in memory as the ultimate mafia boss Don Vito Corleone - The Godfather. They will also remember how he refused his Best Actor Oscar over a socio-political issue of native Indians and yet, The Godfather as a movie experience is much, much more than Brando’s stupendous performance as the suave, sophisticated, soft-spoken and steely Sicilian.
The Godfather trilogy is one of the most acclaimed pieces of cinema- well, at least the first two parts certainly are! They won the Best Film Oscars in 1972 and 1974 respectively and even, the not-in-the-same class third part received a Best Film nomination in 1990.
Talking of these films, it is unpardonable not to mention Mario Puzo- who wrote such brilliant scripts, adapting from his (even better) novel- The Godfather. Puzo wrote a riveting crime- family saga spanned over decades. A small Sicilian boy Vito Corleone is packed off on a ship to US to escape the wrath of a local Mafia don who has already killed the rest of his family. After coming to USA the boy grows into a quiet but intelligent young man who starting at the bottom of the crime-ladder, goes on to become a feared but fair crime syndicate boss. How he adores his family, how he protects his friends, how he punishes his foes, how he honors his word- everything becomes stuff for legends. The tricky relationships between his three sons- a hot tempered Sonny, an intelligent and scholarly Michael and a good-for-nothing Fredo; the rocky marriage of his daughter and a cat-and-mouse power-play between different Mafia groups- all provide the perfect canvas for a grim and gritty; realistic yet refined film-making.
Thus the first two parts of trilogy which depict this story score over a not so well-written third part where a middle-aged Michael, who has taken over as Godfather tries to legalize his illegal activities by tying up with Vatican.
Director Francis Ford Coppola’s total mastery over the cinematic medium- especially his clever usage of flashbacks and the way he uses the arresting images, rather than word-heavy dialogue for story-telling deservedly won an Oscar. Among actors Brando’s gruff, hoarsely mumbling older Vito; Robert De Niro’s fiery, passionate young Vito; James Caan’s bull-headed Sonny and Robert Duvall’s intellectual family lawyer Tom Hagen all got their share of accolades, but for me the sterling performance here is Al Pacino’s Michael- Vito’s middle son. His screen- transformation from a sensitive, simple guy who abhors crime into a ruthless, manipulating Mafia chief after vicious attacks on his family is pure acting genius worth going miles to watch.
The Godfather is not a film without message. In fact, in its smooth and fluent style it brings out two bitter and poignant truths- ‘Crime Never Pays’ and ‘It’s lonely at the top!’
Kesariya Balam
