The Godfather

The use of color-

Red was a color that stood out to me throughout most of the film. The red rose Marlon Brando wears, the blood, the wine, I can name many scenes where red was worn. I also noticed that the woman in Italy that Michael is attracted to is wearing purple in the scene she is introduced in. Purple often stands for enchantment. Perhaps she was enchanting. I noticed when the were in Nevada that most of the powerful men were wearing yellow, which surprised me. Yellow is a color that often represents hope, happiness, etc. Perhaps it was used to show how they didn’t take the Corleone family very seriously.

How were the shots framed?-

Most of the scenes were shot following the rule of thirds, and they were usually medium to close up shots, depending on the scene. In one of the last scenes, where Michael is about to kill his sister’s husband, it uses a close up on Al Pacino and the other guy, probably to show that this is a very emotional conversation, considering the fact that the other guy is crying. The very last scene of the movie however, is neither a medium shot or a close up, but a wide shot of Kay looking at her husband. This is probably to show how far away she really is from him (emotionally). Comparing the last scene with these two characters to the first scene with these two characters is interesting, because usually they are in the same frame together. Actually, even the scene where they are talking about Christmas (what they got, what they want) they are in the same frame. I think it was after Vito Corleone got shot that they were no longer in the same frame at the same time. Most of the time, Michael was on his own. I would definitely like to talk about the cinematography in the horse head scene, how it started with a close up and ended with a wide shot. Nowadays that’s pretty normal and expected, but back then I think that just really showed how loud his scream was. I could go on about the cinematography of this film forever, but for now, this is all I will talk about.
The use of shadow-

My film teacher talked about how there was a scene with Marlon Brando and how he was in the shadows, his eyes weren’t able to be seen. I looked and looked for that scene, but honestly, they used shadow on him in almost every scene. Except for the ones where he is no longer head of the family. They didn’t start using shadow with Michael until after he got back from Italy. I think the shadow was used to show how little we actually knew about these people and how they were very good at covering their tracks, hell, they didn’t even let their family (wives, kids) know about what was going on.
Did the camera move?-

The camera moved, but not in a “shaky Blair Witch” way, more in a “Stanley Kubrick The Shining” way. Very slow, subtle movements... mostly they would be panning across the room or table. This only happened when there was more than two important people in the room, and by important I mean powerful. For example, when the five heads of the families got together, the camera panned across the table, introducing all of them. Or whenever a powerful person moved, the camera would follow. In other scenes, the camera mostly did stationary shots.
I actually don’t know when the extreme close up was used, but I know when close ups were used, and they were usually used right before someone died.

Why was this film important? What made it successful?-

I think it talked a lot about of things that no one really had gone over successfully. Family, crime, etc. It was a successful film because of the crew. All of it tied in beautifully together. The cinematography was full of things that people in 1972 had probably not seen a lot. The only other film I can think of that had this kind of lighting, use of color, and cinematography is probably A Clockwork Orange, and that film was very controversial. I don’t think The Godfather is controversial at all. I think that is what made it so successful.

Nothing is more important than family. I think that is the theme of the film. 

The Godfather actually reminded me of my own family. My grandfather, Ronald, died when my father was only 13. When my father got older, his uncles told him all of the wild things my grandfather did before he died. A lot had to do with drugs, gambling, and businesses.

I started to think when I was watching this film "If my grandfather hadn't died, would he have taught my father how to do what he did? What kind of man would my father be?" I don't know. I just thought it was interesting. I guess I will never know.