The Godfather

"I'll make him an offer he can't refuse."

Probably one of the most recognisable lines in the history of cinema and even if you don't know much about The Godfather films at all, everyone knows what film this is from.

When we were told that we would be watching The Godfather as one of our Friday screenings I was fairly excited about it: I hadn't heard a great deal about the actual storyline of the film but knew it was one of the all-time classics that everyone must see at some point in their lives. And by the end of the three hours I understood why it was such a revered film classic.

Although I think quite a few of the girls in the class enjoyed the film, it could probably be described without being sexist as a "guy film". And although the prospect of killing people for "purely business" purposes is completely alien and sinister to us, there is without a doubt something extremely cool about the Corleone family business.

The story gripped me throughout and there was never really a dull moment as they say. One of the finest scenes in the whole movie for me is the sequence towards the end when Michael Corleone is acting as the godfather for his nephew's baptism. The sequence is split between the scene of Corleone in the church and the separate scenes where Corleone gangsters are assassinating the heads of the other Mafia families across the city. The scenes are skillfully juxtaposed with the audio for the baptism kept throughout with the priest reciting prayers in Latin and the ominous organ music whilst simultaneously we see the Corleone mob men assembling their murder weapons. The priest then turns to Michael in order for him to renew his vows. All the while the camera is going between the church ceremony and the images of the assassins. Then, at what I think is the most powerful moment in the sequence the priest asks Michael "Do you renounce Satan" and the camera then switches to the gangsters opening fire on the rival gang leaders.

There are many more great scenes of skillful filming and classic cinema within the film but since we were asked to keep this blog fairly short I'll save them for another time. In fact, after watching The Godfather: Part 1 that Friday I was forced to go and borrow the trilogy from the library but only had time to watch the Part 2. I've put the boxset on my Santa list, however, so if you're lucky you'll get some more Corleone blogs after Christmas time so... I'll be back...no that's another film altogether.