The Godfather
1) Relate what was discussed in class
or the text to the screening.
Before watching the
film, we learned about the director, Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola went to
school with James Caan who plays Sonny in The
Godfather. We also learned that this film had 11 nominations and have won
three awards – best picture, best actor for Marlon Brando, and best adapted
screenplay. We also learned about the actors and what other films that they
were previously known for. Another thing that we discussed in class was the
themes throughout the film and the main one was family. We can definitely see
how family is important as there were the scenes of the wedding, baptism, and
the many scenes where family come together over food. Family love was seen
throughout the whole film, not just those scenes.
2) Find a related article and
summarize content.
This related article
discusses the process of filming The
Godfather, especially the casting and how Coppola dealt with negative
reactions to his directing. Coppola scouted locations for part of the film. He
also had to face battles with the Italian-American Civic Rights League who
thought that the film would change people’s thoughts of Italian citizens.
Something this article mentions is that Marlon Brando was an actor who was
disliked by many film producers. They way Coppola was able to get Brando to
play Don Cortese and for producers to agree with it – he had to sneakily film
Marlon Brando be the actor while being at his house and the producers found
that Brando had to play the part. There was a time where rumors started that
Coppola would be replace and he found out about the rumors when he was in the
rest room and a couple of the crew members talked about it when they were
washing their hands, not knowing that Coppola was in one of the stalls.
3) Apply the article to the film
screened in class.
Seeing as though one of
the main characters and directors could’ve been two different people makes me
think about how that would have affected the overall film. To me, Marlon Brando
played a perfect Don Cortese and fit well with the rest of the cast and knowing
that it could’ve been someone else – it could’ve not fit as well and the
chemistry would’ve been off. It may have work but it would’ve still been
different. The same goes with changing directors. The way the actors were
directed would’ve been different so the film itself would’ve been different. We
don’t know what it would’ve been like – it may have had a different look and
who knows if it would’ve become the big film it became.
4) Write a critical analysis of the
film.
Prior to class, I have
heard of The Godfather but I was
never interested in watching the trilogy because of the violence and blood. I’m
not a fan of blood. So when I heard that we were going to watch The Godfather, I was hesitant about it.
As we watched the film, I realized that there was more to the film than violence.
Family is a major part of it. I enjoyed when Sonny stood up for his sister with
her husband even though the first time didn’t work and he was on his way to “take
care” of him again. The camera angles were great, the music went along with the
storyline, the actors portrayed the characters very well, etc. I am still not a
fan of the violence and blood part of the film so I am not completely sure if I
would watch it again or even watch the next two movies. But I am happy to say
now that I have watched it.
CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM
1) ( x ) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.
2) ( x ) If I reused any information from other papers I have
written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper.
3) ( x ) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations
around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text.
4) ( x ) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all
sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper.
5) ( x ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I
personally read.
6) ( x ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could
not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the
bibliography.
7) ( x ) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper
lacks interpretation or originality.
8) ( x ) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully
transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.
