Actors in The Godfather

[Identify three characters in the film and classify each actor based on the types in the textbook]

The first actor is Al Pacino and he is best classified as a star. Another actor is James Caan and he can be classified as a character actor. The final actor is Robert Duvall and he can also be classified as a character actor.

[Explain your reasons for classifying the actors as you do]

Al Pacino played Michael Corleone in The Godfather and he is a star. I know whenever I hear his name in conjecture with a movie, even if it doesn’t sound interesting, I watch it because he is in it. I think he started out as a character actor but over the years he became a star. No matter what role he plays he shines. In addition to The Godfather, he has played in Scarface, Devil’s Advocate and Carlito’s Way. Even when he plays the “bad guy”, he is still a star and he stand out among the actors. A great example of Al Pacino being the bad guy is this clip from Devils Advocate. WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CLIP CONTAINS FOUL LANGUAGE

James Caan played Sonny Corleone and can be classified as a character actor. He can play a multitude of characters. Since he plays many roles he could be classified as a wild card but he does not blend into the movie. He has played a cowboy, a businessman in the movie Elf (a comedy), and a gangster. He is quite a versatile actor. The following is a clip of him in The Godfather and the second one is him in Elf. These two clips show the diversity of his character.

Robert Duvall is the final actor and he played Tom Hagen in The Godfather. Tom Hagen was the consigliere, adviser, for the Corleone family. He can also be classified as a character actor. He, too, has played a variety of characters in his career He has played a businessman, a cowboy, a gangster and a farmer. He can play just about any role that he is handed.

[Based on other films the actor has played in, would this actor always be placed in the same category?]

Using James Caan as an example I would have to say that he would always be classified as this type of actor. He is very versatile and can play just about any role he is given. The extent of his diversity is featured in the previous two video clips. They show how different the two characters are.

Reference:

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Jrider24. (2009, April 21). Devils Advocate: Look but don’t touch [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DMDscGOUpg%5B

Movieclips. (2011, May 26). Elf: Buddy Meets his Dad [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNMtHosai08

Naveed, K. (2010, July 30). Badabing!!! James Caan perfect performance in The Godfather [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EaR5x3Mh6M

Sound: Sonny is Killed

[Describe the three basic categories of sound]

The first category of sound is the dialogue. The dialogue refers to the conversation between characters. During the dialogue, the audience is able to gather information about the characters and actions in the film (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014). Dialogue also helps to develop the plot.

Sound effects are another category of sound. This is the gunfire and sounds of explosions that the audience hears in action movies. Also, sounds like the phone or doorbell ringing are examples of sound effects. They enhance the action of the movie and make it seem more realistic.

The third basic category of sound is music. The music that is created and used in the film is called the score it is what plays in the background of the movie when there is action (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014). People will often confuse this with the soundtrack which includes all of the songs and sounds that were played in the movie or even music that was made because of the movie. Music is also used to enhance the drama of the movie.

[Explain how the different categories of sound are used in the film]

In this particular scene, there is not a lot of dialogue to work with. The car in front of Sonny appears to have broken down or is at least taking a long time to move and to express his irritation he curses. This lets the audience know that he is annoyed and that perhaps he is in a hurry. There are a lot of sound effects that make up this scene.During the beginning of the scene when the audience can just see the car in the distance we hear birds chirping and the sound of tires on asphalt. These sounds provide the audience with auditory proof that they are outside. There is a honk of a horn and a ring of a bell that indicates the toll bar is down. There is the sound of a radio in the background that be coming from Sonny’s car. When the team of assassins start shooting Sonny there is the sound of breaking glass and gun shots. When Sonny finally goes down there is a thump that could have come from hitting a punching bag. This sound was Sonny’s body hitting the ground. At the point in the scene when the cars drive away, the audience expects some forlorn music, like violins and bagpipes, to play in the background but there was nothing like that in this scene. The only sounds the audience heard was that of the birds, wind and tires on the ground.

The use of sound in this particular scene was very dramatic. It had to be because it contained the murder of Sonny. The characters had machine guns and were shooting through glass. There had to be noise to account for that. If the director tried to do something different with the sound in that scene it would not have made sense. The sound would not have flowed with the actions carried out by the characters.

The genre of this movie is a crime drama. This is evident by the sounds of gunshots and glass breaking. Those noises scream crime and the sounds of drama are portrayed by Sonny’s scream while being shot.

This scene would not be the same if the sound was changed. It would not be as dramatic and it would not be congruent with the scene. How do you have a scene with gunshots but not have the actual sound of gunshots?

References:

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc

Movieclips. (2011). Sonny is killed- The Godfather [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJU2cz9ytPQ

Lighting and The Godfather

[Identify the type of lighting used in the film and assess the impact of the lighting used to establish the theme]

In the film The Godfather, low-key lighting is the type of lighting that is primarily used. The clip above gives a good representation of how low-key lighting works. The camera is focused on the man talking in the beginning and the background is almost black. As the camera zooms out the audience can see that the man is actually sitting in a very dimly lit den. Low-key lighting is described as, “concentrating on the darker tones; often conveying an atmosphere of tension or powerful deep strength” (Deitcher, 2008, pp.18).

[What are the benefits of the style of lighting used?]

There are several benefits to using low-key lighting. Low-key lighting allows unimportant characters and features on set to fade into the background as well as deliver a sense of mystery.

[How did this technique contribute to the theme?]

One theme of the movie is that it is not personal it’s just business. The business that is being referenced is organized crime. This movie is very serious but also has a dramatic flare to it. The darkness of the low-key lighting supports the seriousness of the “family” business and is most often used in scenes where the Don is in his office where people come to ask him for help. Also, “by using low-key lighting you can deliver spooky, mysterious and menacing feelings” (Deitcher, 2008, pp.18). In the case of The Godfather, especially with the first scene, I did not know all the people that the Don was referring to so the darker, low-key lighting supported the mysteriousness of the scene.

[How was the lighting technique suited to the genre of the film?]

The Godfather belongs to the genre of crime films. To be specific, it belongs to the sub-genre of gangster films. There were several other films that fall into this category and one is Goodfellas. During the more intense scenes, low-key lighting is used to convey the seriousness of the situation. A good example is when the group is playing cards. The following clip will show the low-key lighting. (the scene contains profane language) While the men are gathered around playing poker and a person can get the sense of fun and games the low key lighting lends a kind of menace to the scene, which leads the audience to believe something will happen.

References:

Chicothechief. (2007, January 11). Goodfellas: The Spider Situation . Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8wJt59Q6So

Deitcher, K. (2008). High key/Low key. PSA Journal, 74(8), 18-19. Retrieved from Ashford Library.

Wong, D. (2014, February 3). Opening scene Godfather . Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIBpHO1gZgQ

The Godfather

TITLE: The Godfather

WRITER: Mario Puzo

DIRECTOR: Francis Ford Coppola

ACTORS: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and James Caan

YEAR: 1972

[story summarization and plot]

STORY: This film features Marlon Brando as the head of a major crime family in New York City, The movie takes the audience through the inner workings of the Corleone family. The crime boss Vito Corleone tries to turn over the family business to his son Michael. Throughout the movie, there are several attempts on Vito’s life and warfare erupts between the Five Families.

PLOT: The movie begins with Vito Corleone’s daughter’s wedding. During the wedding, he has several meetings as Don Corleone where the audience is able to get a feel for his position as The Godfather. Michael, his son, returns from the war in his uniform with his girlfriend on his arm. Johnny Fontane, Vito’s godson, asks for his help getting a role in a movie. As a result, Vito sends his Consiglieri to convince the director. The director refuses until he finds his prized horse’s head in his bed.

A drug dealer named Sollozzo wanted Vito to finance his business and provide political backing. Vito was concerned about the drug business so he declined. Vito sent Luca Brasi in to spy on Sollozzo to try to get inside information. As a result Luca was killed by Sollozzo’s men. Sollozzo sent Luca’s vest with fish inside it to Sonny as the message that Luca was “sleeping with the fishes”. Meaning that Luca was dead. Sollozzo then put a hit out on The Godfather.

While Vito is in the hospital recovering Sollozzo wants to meet with Michael to try to pitch the same deal to him that he did to Vito. Michael came up with the plan to have a gun stashed at the meeting place so that he could kill Sollozzo and his bodyguard, the police chief that broke his jaw.

After the deaths of Sollozzo and the police chief McCluskey, war erupts between the Five Families. There was an influx of crime and murder. Not longer after Vito Corleone returns home. The Don finds out that Michael was responsible for the murders and e was not happy. Michael is sent to hide out in Italy and while there he meets and marries a Sicilian woman named Appolonia. Back in the States, Sonny finds out that his sister is being beaten by her husband. Sonny finds him and beats him up.

Another abuse incident with Sonny’s sister, Connie, results in Sonny attempting to come to her rescue. On his way, he is gunned down by a rival crime family. In Sicily, news of Sonny’s death had reached Michael. While packing with the intention of leaving his wife at her father’s house, Appolonia decides to show Michael what a good driver she is, the car was rigged with a bomb and killed her.

Michael goes back to the United States and proceeds to be acting Don of the Corleone family. He tries to move the family to Vegas but ha not been very successful. Not much later, while playing with his grandson, Michael’s child, Don Vito Corleone had a heart attack and died.

The movie concludes with Michael having Carlo, Connie’s husband, killed and moving out of his father’s house. Connie appears and accuses Michael of killing her husband. Kay tries to comfort her. After Connie leaves, kay confronts Michael and wants to know if he killed Carlo. Michael denies it. Capos enter and declare Michael, Don Corleone.

[DIscuss whether the film was in chronologic order or non-linear]

The movie was presented in chronological order. It started with the daughters wedding and took us through a mafia battle. The battle consisted of an attempted assassination on Vito Corleone. One of his son’s was murdered, he had a heart attack and died and his other son became Don.

The chronological order for this type of video was very important to the development of the story line and characters. If the story had been jumping around from idea to idea the audience could have gotten confused. If the audience was paying attention they were able to eventually figure out how all of the events tied together.

[How are elements like foreshadowing or character development impacted by the choice of storytelling method?

The use of chronological order really developed Michael Corleone’s character. In the beginning of the movie, he wanted nothing to do with the family. However, once his father was gunned down and fighting for his life he slid right into the family business. His brother Sonny tried to keep him out of it but once Sonny was killed, Michael stepped in and took over the business. Because the movie was presented in a chronologic order the audience was able to see how that transpired.

[If the film had followed a different presentation style, how would the general effect on the audience have been different?]

If the movie had been presented in a non-linea format I think the audience would have had a hard time following the storyline. It was a little confusing trying to understand who belonged to what family. There was some jumping around in the story because Michael was in Itlay however, it was during the same time and followed the same storyline.

Resources:

Paramount Pictures. (1972). The Godfather Official Movie Trailer. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY1S34973zA

Ruddy, A (Producer). Coppola, F (Director). (1972). The Godfather. [Motion picture]. United States. Paramount Pictures.