Every now and then I have to remind you guys [and myself] that what I’m currently compiling is not a list of the best films of all time – or even the best films that I’ve seen. The word best is one of the silliest words in our language. Good, better, best…who decides? I don’t know. This is a list of personal favourites – and personal favourites aren’t always reciprocal with best ever. I can say, without personal affinity that Schindler’s List is a great film, but it’s nowhere on my personal cannon. So be warned. The Godfather is another film cited as greatest ever. I’m not sure. Who knows? But it’s in my cannon. So here I am, taking a look at Coppola’s The Godfather.
It’s more often that those huge films which the ‘serious’ film enthusiast regards as necessary to the understanding of film are not the ones that are dear to my heart. It doesn’t take a brainiac to realise why. Those lesser known films would present a more personal experience than those huge ones that everyone loves. Still, The Godfather is one of the hundred films that I think about when I hear the words movies. Although it was not my favourite film of 1972 I do prefer the original to the sequel. There’s just something sumptuous about Brando, Pacino, Keaton, Duvall and Caan all in one film. Still, I suppose the typical person would object to my placing of this at #87; but all things being relative as good as it is – I don’t love it as much as I love some others.
Whichever way you put it, Marlon Brando should have two Oscars so I can’t really fault the Academy for rewarding for his role as The Godfather. And I can’t object really to the placing of him as a lead character. It’s obvious that there is some method in the apparent category placement madness. Thematically his character does loom over the film as a lead character is wont too. Still, I don’t appreciate any of the actors as much as I appreciate Al Pacino in this film. It’s probably my favourite performance of his and I really do enjoy the chemistry he shared with Diane Keaton before she became Annie Hall. Watching Pacino develop as a character as the film continues is a joy and it is a good job of acting, category confusion notwithstanding.
There is something that’s quite elegant about The Godfather. It’s a really classy film and it shows. Every shot, every scene – it’s all tastefully done. This may be a film about gangsters, but it’s not a film about hoodlums. Whereas Scorsese’s GoodFellas was about the nitty gritty of the gangster world, The Godfather was about the glamour. They’re too different films, both great in their own way. I don’t like The Godfather as much as many, but I like enough
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