Old review I didn’t intend to post ‘cos I felt like I had a lot more to say about it but 1) I don’t have time to write all that and 2) I’m in the mood for posting anything right now and 3) I just realised I have it linked in the latest “100” list so here it is, better than a 404 page

I think this was the first Godfather movie I ever saw, and among the first ‘real movies’ I ever saw when I was first getting interested in cinema, I’ve always called this my favourite even though I see Part II as a better made piece of work. I think a lot of the dissent over Part III is from people who either aren’t comfortable seeing Michael Corleone so weak as he is in this movie, or from people who don’t like the slightly comic, extreme approach to the violence. Since it was the first one in the series that I saw, I’m forever unsure as to my reasons for loving it, and maybe it is just ‘cos it was my first Godfather experience, but I can’t really travel back in time and change that, and I’ve gotta say, I can’t fathom those who can’t at least appreciate the abundance of cinematic goodness on show here. Al Pacino’s performance alone – that whole Finale (yay, with a capital F) sequence, Pacino’s silent scream at the death of his daughter, the lines, “Just when I thought I was out they pull me back in,” “I spent my life protecting my son. I spent my life protecting my family!”, the whole sequence of Kay and Michael walking through their past, Kay saying, “It never ends,” there’s so much here that connects to Parts I and II and I think it closes the series wonderfully.

I even love Sofia Coppola in this movie. There was an amazing critical outcry about her appearance in this movie but to this day I think she’s perfect. The purpose of her character is served in the last few minutes of the movie and I think her performance serves that purpose all the way. I believe her in the role, she looks the part and she hits the marks. I wouldn’t want any major acting stuff to get in the way of this character. Look at the movie and you’ll see she’s really there to die; to be Michael’s daughter and to bring him to that point of unbearable despair he couldn’t foresee. That silent scream at the end is the crux of the whole trilogy to me; when Kay and Vincent and Connie, everyone’s eyes, they’re on this almost comic expression of loss and weakness is on the face of this once-powerful man. It’s all so simple, and so cinematic.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 23rd, 2006 at 11:22 pm in 5 hearts, Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.