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Contents © 2001
by Jim Holman.
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TALK ABOUT MOVIES
February 2003
THE GODFATHER
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall. USA, 1972, 175 minutes, Color, English/Italian. Available at Blockbuster Video.
Matthew: In the Bible, the younger son is given the blessing from the father that was supposed to go to the older son. But here, when the younger son, Michael, inherits what was supposed to go the older son, Santino, it turns out to be a curse.
Ernie: The curse is the contradiction between the chief marks of the Mafia life: upholding family and tradition versus "businesslike" brutal violence. As Michael is taking the vows of baptism for his first godchild, rejecting sin and the devil, murders are being committed at his behest. Vito Corleone is able to live the contradiction and make it look good, but he admits the absurdity when he tells Michael he wanted something different for him, such as being a senator.
Matthew: And Michael isn't able to live it as well. Things start to fall apart around him after the death of the Don.
Ernie: He realizes that the "family" talk is really a sham. It's the business that underlies everything. By the end, he kills his own brother-in-law for betraying Santino.
Matthew: You're always hearing, "It's not personal, it's business." But everything is intensely personal. The family is bound up in the business.