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In this paper I
will argue that in his film, The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola orchestrates
the filmic elements (especially: editing and mise-en-scéne) to give
the audience an intimate view of the complex world of a Mafia Don:
Coppola's techniques sensitively portray the life and transformation
of Michael Corleone; he leaves his status as a family outsider to
become king of the underworld.
Michael is the son
of Vito Corleone, Don of the Corleone Crime Family1.
The story of The Godfather is the story of both Vito and Michael.
Vito passes away and leaves his throne to Michael, who steps out of
a seemingly innocent world ordinary American life to receive his father's
crown and to assume control of the Corleone Family. As my thesis focuses
on Michael, I will recount the events of The Godfather and then discuss
Michael's role in the film. Thus, I will present a chronology of The
Godfather which covers the events from the title scene until the final
credits. After this chronology, I will explain how the film portrays
Michael Corleone and his life. In my thesis, I claim that Michael
changes from the beginning of the film to the end. Thus, I will examine
the opening wedding scene as well as the final scene in which Michael
is christened, Don Corleone. In addition, I will study two intermediate
scenes, one in which Michael crosses the line and enters the Family,
and another which is the baptism sequence, the apotheosis of Coppola's
filmic depiction of Michael Corleone's life. The juxtaposition of
these four scenes will show the changes in Michael's life as well
as the filmic devices which Coppola employs to depict the subtleties
of this transformation.
There are over 30
scenes in The Godfather, but here I group them into 13 segments whose
titles correspond to significant events in the story:
The film's first
scene has two settings: the interior of Don Vito's office, and Connie
Corleone's wedding reception outside the house. The juxtaposition
of these first two settings is quite telling, and the start of my
comparison. My initial premise is that Michael begins the movie outside
of the Family. This is obvious when one looks into the office and
examines Vito's persona and then observes the wedding reception and
examines Michael's behavior.
Michael's outsider
status is expressed by his noticeable distinctions from the family,
such as the visual differences between himself and the family as represented
by his father. Michael's face is young, and Vito's face is wrinkled
and quite old. And their acting makes their physical differences even
more marked. Marlon Brando's Vito speaks slowly from the back of his
throat with a raspy, almost unintelligible, voice. He is fat and he
moves slowly, though thoughtfully. In a distinct contrast, Al Pacino's
Michael resembles a nervous and self-conscious prince. He sulks at
the table. He speaks quickly in a high voice and emphasizes his words
like an adolescent.
Though marked, their
physical differences are not as important as the differences between
their worlds, their settings. Vito appears in an almost pitch black
room. The only things in the room which are lit are Vito's face, his
desk, a lamp in the background and the face of any one of Vito's four
suppliants. And the seclusion of the this world is depicted by the
size and sounds of the office: though it is not claustrophobic, the
room is quite small; and there are no background sounds, only the
main conversation.
In sharp contrast,
Michael appears with Kay as opposed to the entirely male world of
his father. His father is inside a dark office, while Michael is outside
at a lively Italian wedding reception. Children are running everywhere,
men and women are dancing, eating, and drinking. The setting is bright,
colorful, open, and full of music and laughter.
The distinctions
between these two settings are polar, as are the characteristics of
these two men who epitomize their respective worlds. Michael lives
in traditional America; he attended an Ivy League school; he is a
decorated war hero. Vito lives in the underworld; he is the Don of
the most powerful Family in America. Coppola's mise-en-scéne symbolizes
these differences by use of costume and color. In the wedding reception
scene, Michael wears a green GI Army uniform which is a bit baggy.
In his office, Vito wears an elegant black and white tuxedo which
fits him perfectly. Throughout The Godfather, Coppola drapes his mobsters
in black and white, whether they are wearing tuxedos or black suspenders
and a white ribbed tank-top.
Color itself has
an enormous role in The Godfather. White tends to represent general
America, while black tends to represent the underworld. Thus, the
women and children running around in the wedding scene wear mostly
white. White's connection to general America is epitomized by Johnny
Fontane's7 all-white suit. In contrast,
Vito and his men are draped in both black and white, because they
live in both worlds. Thus, Michael is distinctively not a part of
the Family as he sits outside of the office, wearing his olive green
uniform.
Though Michael is
not a part of the Family at this point, he soon gets pulled close
to the action as Sollozzo and the Tattaglias try to assassinate his
father. Because the Corleones decline a business proposition, the
Tattaglias try to get what they want through violence: they ambush
Vito as he strolls through Little Italy, buying oranges. They shoot
him five times, and although they do not kill him, they do put him
in critical condition.
Although Michael is
not a part of the Family at this point, he is a devoted son whose first
reaction is to protect his father. He runs to the hospital, hides his father,
and waits for help to arrive. While Michael is waiting, Captain McCluskey
punches him as Tom Hagen arrives with reinforcements. Tom and Michael return
to the family estate to discuss the Family's options: Should they strike
back? Should they wait for Vito to get better and let him decide? What happens
if Vito dies?
For the first time
in the film, Michael steps into the Family business. He decides the
prudent action is to kill McCluskey and Sollozzo. And he volunteers
to do the job himself. Yet at this point, he is still an outsider,
as observed by Sonny:
Yet the family decides
Michael is right. He is best suited for the job as he is unsuspected.
They arrange for a meeting between Michael, McCluskey, and Sollozzo.
This is the scene in which Michael will do the job: his first kill.
The Mafia often regards one's first kill as the point at which one
makes the irreversible leap from general America to the land of "goodfellas"
and "wiseguys."8
Thus, the scene
is of huge importance to Michael's transition. Coppola depicts this
scene's importance filmically; as it is Michael's first step in the
Family, Coppola employs a series of filmic firsts. This is the first
point in which Michael meets with members of another Family in a small
room such as Vito's office. Another important observation: this is
the first point in which Michael wears a black and white suit.
Another filmic first
is the change in Coppola's narration. This is the first time Coppola
directs a scene subjectively: the filmic elements in this scene portray
Michael's point of view. One example of this subjectivity is Coppola's
use of subtitles, or rather, the lack of subtitles. This is
the first scene in The Godfather in which a principal character has
a conversation in Italian and there are no subtitles. Coppola omits
the subtitles because this scene is presented from Michael's point
of view and Michael does not understand Italian. Thus it makes sense
for the majority of the viewing audience, who do not speak Italian
either, not to understand what is going on.
Another filmic device
which Coppola uses differently for the first time is sound: this is
the first point in which Coppola employs a nondiegetic sound. Just
before Michael shoots McCluskey and Sollozzo, he goes through obvious
mental anguish. He scrunches his face as Sollozzo speaks. He does
not understand what Sollozzo is saying. There are no subtitles. Here
Coppola inserts the sound of a train coming to a halt. The sound starts
slowly and quietly and gets faster and louder until the trains screeches
it sounds as if it is about to burst through the screen! BAM! Michael
leaps up and shoots McCluskey and Sollozzo.
Michael has "made
his bones." He is now in the Family. He has murdered for the Family
and thus proven his dedication and worth. He can now rightfully abandon
his green GI uniform in exchange for the black and white garments
which the rest of the Family wears. He can now leave behind his high
voice and his adolescent speech patterns which he used only a few
moments ago.9 He can mature and
use a slow, careful manner of speech as done by Vito. Michael has
crossed over.
From this point
on, Michael's life is different. When he speaks Italian, there are
subtitles, thus showing that Michael understands now. He speaks slowly
and with a lower, calmer voice, as shown in the scene in which Michael
speaks to Vitelli, Apollonia's father. Though Vitelli is agitated
and angry, Michael addresses him calmly:
Here Michael has
the most dignified and mature intentions -- a far cry from the Michael
who yelps when testing the pistol in the scene with Clemenza just
before Michael whacks Sollozzo. This new life of Michael's brings
with it an onslaught of violence to individuals Michael loves: assassins
kill both Apollonia and Sonny. Just as Michael used violence to enter
this world, this new world strikes back at him with violence.
When Michael returns
from Sicily, he organizes his life. He reaffirms his love for Kay.
Vito establishes Michael's role in the Family and explains to their
capos and consigliere that Michael is now their acting Don. This situation
shows the two-sided world in which Michael lives: half of his life
is devoted to his family, his children, and Kay the New Hampshire
girl who represents general America; the other half of his life is
spent with his Mafia Family, his capos and consigliere.
Coppola recognizes
this complicated dual life and represents it brilliantly in the baptism
sequence in the tenth segment of the movie. The plot determines much
of the movie up until this point. As director, Coppola used lighting,
costumes, and sound effectively yet all his previous uses of the filmic
elements cower before the baptism's montage sequence. Here Coppola's
direction reaches its apex.
The baptism sequence
is a dialectical montage which breaks out of the clutches of traditional
Hollywood filmmaking. Coppola edits between the baptism with holy
water of a newborn child and the bloody slayings of several Mafia
Dons. Coppola's editing cuts produce a level of art which is film
at its highest level. Soviet director Sergei Eistenstein would have
agreed that within this scene, Coppola creates a dynamic conception
of objects: being as a constant evolution from the interaction between
two contradictory opposites.10
The scene begins
within the dark heights of a Catholic Cathedral in which Michael becomes
godfather to Connie's son. As the priest prepares the ceremony, Michael's
capos check their weapons and get into position. As the priest anoints
the baby with holy water, a barber daubs shaving creme on an unsuspecting
Don. As the priest begins the benediction, the Dons walk toward their
assassins. As the priest asks Michael if he believes in the Lord,
Jesus Christ, and all of his works, Michael's soldiers aim and fire
at the rival Dons. As Michael answers yes, he does believe in Jesus
and renounce Satan, one sees the rival Dons' bloody bodies scattered
across the cement.
Thus Coppola presents
the inherent contradictions in Michael's new dual life. While he speaks
in one way in one world (with the blessing of the child and his affirmation
before Christ), he acts in a completely contradictory way in another
world (by ordering the murder of the Don of every rival Family). In
this montage, Coppola edits two worlds together in a dialectical fashion:
Such a powerful
piece of film leaves the audience breathless and mind-boggled. One
struggles to understand the complete implications of the montage,
and has little energy left to devote to the rest of the film. Thus
the following denouement is concise.
Kay asks Michael
if he murdered Carlo. He reinstates her faith in him by answering
no, he did not kill Carlo. Faith reassured, she walks away from him.
Yet, she turns as if to ask him another question. At which point Michael's
capos and consigliere close the door to Michael's office, as if to
shut Kay out. Yet, just before the door closes, she sees his men embrace
him and kiss his hand as they christen him with his new title, Don
Corleone.
Thus, Michael has
metamorphasized. He has transformed and left behind the innocent weddings
in which one first sees him as a young GI. He has made his bones.
He is now living in a two-sided world in which he devotes half of
his life to his family; and in the other half he orders assassinations
and runs the Family business. And through brilliant mise-en-scéne
(such as costumes, editing, uses of subtitles, sound, acting, etc.),
Coppola portrays the developments in Michael Corleone's life. Thus,
in the last scene in which Clemenza utters the words, "Don Corleone,"
one owes much of his understanding to Coppola's subtle, precise, powerful,
and almost sublime orchestration of the filmic elements.
Post
Script The Godfather is
my favorite film. I own a copy of it on Laserdisc and watch it once
a month. It is also the subject of an Internet site, music, critical
books, and articles. The film received 10 Academy Award® Nominations
and its director, Francis Ford Coppola, is without a doubt one of
the greatest directors Hollywood has known.12
All other gangster
flicks are judged by its standards. Thus, a Jewish gangster movie
such as Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time In America, is honored with
the subtitle, The Jewish Godfather. The same is true of gangster films
of every ethnicity and variety. The Godfather redefined and revitalized
the gangster genre. It is truly the definitive gangster film by which
all standards are set. footnotes The Mafia is made
up of several major "Families." The Family's head is its Don who decides
which actions the Family will take. The Family also goes by other
names such as: la famiglia, and La Cosa Nostra ("this
thing of ours"). In this paper, I distinguish between the Mafia's
use of "Family" and a general use by means of capitalization. When
capitalized, family is used in the Mafioso sense; when not
capitalized, family is used in the traditional sense. One complication
inherent in this topic are the times when family is used for
both of its meanings--cases in which I continue to capitalize it.
A consigliere
is the counselor in a Crime Family. As the Don's right hand man, he
advises his boss and handles internal disputes. To "put a hit"
is to attempt a murder. Synonyms for murder in the Mafioso lexicon:
"burn," "break an egg," "clip," "do a piece of work on," "ice," "pop,"
"put out a contract on," and "whack." "Going to the mattresses"
means secret location while in war with another Family. The term is
derived from the temporary war-time hideouts in which the Family's
soldiers sleep on mattresses en masse. A capo,
short for caporegime, is a high ranking member of the Family.
He is the head of his own particular crew--separate factions within
the Family. In this instance, Vito's capos (really capi in
Italian) are Tessio and Clemenza. Capo can also be short for
capodecina who are the family's Lieutenants. Carlo is Connie's
husband, Michael's brother in-law, and father to Michael's godson,
Michael Francis Rizzi. Johnny Fontane
is a famous singer similar to Frank Sinatra. Everyone in America knows
who he is. Thus, he is not just an "individual American," -- he is
a huge part of American popular culture. The Mafia term
for one's first kill is to "make one's bones." "Goodfellas" and "wiseguys"
are one's close associates in the underworld; synonyms include "goombah"
and "compare." A perfect example
of Michael's high voice before the shooting is the scene in which
Michael is in Clemenza's basement. Michael practices firing the gun
which Clemenza has prepared for the job. Michael pulls the trigger:
BAM! The gun is loud and Michael yelps: "Ow! My ears!" In contrast,
the hardened Mafioso, Clemenza, is not even fazed by the piercing
blast. Clemenza himself comments on Michael's kid/outsider status:
"We were proud of you, kid." Using the word kid, Clemenza addresses
Michael's status, and by stressing were, Clemenza puts Michael's
actions as a decorated GI in the past, hinting that something different
is soon to come. This quote points toward the transition which Michael
makes in the following scene. Eisenstein, The
Dramaturgy of Film Form, p. 161. Eisenstein and his soviet contemporaries
are the directors who established montage as the high level of film
which it is regarded as today. In films such as Strike and Potemkin,
Eisenstein juxtaposed seemingly unrelated shots to produce a greater,
or more visceral, understanding of complicated ideas. Eisenstein's
juxtaposition of a slaughterhouse and a mass killing is similar to
Coppola's juxtaposition in the baptism sequence. Ibid., p.
164 David Breskin's
book, Inner Views: Filmmakers In Conversation, calls Coppola
"the heir apparent to Orson Welles." (p.3)
What
are you going to do? A nice college boy, en? Didn't want to get
mixed up in the family business? . . . You think this is the army
where you shoot'em a mile away? You gotta get up close like this,
and BADA BING!!! you blow their brains all over you nice Ivy League
suit.
I
apologize if I offended you. I am a stranger in this country.
And I meant no disrespect to you, or your daughter. I am an American
hiding in Sicily. My name is Michael Corleone. There are people
who would pay a lot money for that information. But then your
daughter would lose a father, instead of gaining a husband.
The
superimposition of [these] two [worlds, through the baptism and
the slaughters] gives rise to a completely new higher dimension.11
© 1996 Daniel
Algierz. All Rights Reserved.
Reproduced with permission
I'd like to
thank Dano for sending this to me!
Feel free to write to him directly
with any comments about his well-written essay!
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