The orange cat suddenly ran to re-watch "The Godfather" these two days , and found that it was still so good-looking.
However, Orange Cat soon realized that for "The Godfather", as an old audience and movie fan, every time I rewatch it, I can see the wonderfulness that I didn't notice before. But for new audiences, this is not a very "friendly" movie. So, today, the orange cat will start from both the combing and the behind-the-scenes aspects, and talk about the "Godfather".
Friends who watch "The Godfather" for the first time can easily fall into the predicament of "face blindness" , and they often only gradually remember the appearance and name of each character after almost half of the time. So, first introduce the main characters in the film.
Let me talk about the director of "The Godfather", Francisco Ford Coppola , a fat man.
Then talk about the roles and actors, first is the "Godfather" Vito Corleone , played by Marlon Brando .
Sonny Corleone , the eldest son of "The Godfather" , played by James Kane .
The second son Fred Corleone , played by John Kaiser .
The third daughter, Connie Corleone , is played by Thalia Charles .
The youngest son Michael Corleone , played by Al Pacino .
Adopted son Tom Hagen , played by Robert Duvall .
One of "The Godfather"'s right-hand man , "Fatty" Klemansa (left in the picture below) , played by Richard Castelno .
One of the right arms of "The Godfather", "Skinny" Tesino , played by Abbe Vickers .
Michael Corleone’s second wife, Kay Adams , played by Diane Keaton .
Once you remember the looks and names of these important tasks, understanding the plot is basically not a problem. Okay, let's start watching the movie next.
Chapter One Wedding
The opening scene of "The Godfather" is very interesting, but the audience who saw it for the first time will be a little confused, because the first person to appear is not the godfather, the godfather is facing the audience. The first character to appear is a funeral home owner who came to the godfather for help. His daughter was bullied by a group of American boys. The law did not give him satisfactory punishment, so he sought an extra-legal way and came to the godfather’s house. .
In this scene, we have to pay attention to several points: first, Brando's performance ; second, the characters in the house ; third, the dialogue ; fourth, the cat .
Regarding Brando's performance, the most notable feature is his way of speaking. There seems to be something stuffed in his mouth, his voice is hoarse, and his cheeks are bulging. In fact, Brando did wear special braces in his mouth when performing. Why do you want to do this? It was caused by Brando stuffing cotton in his mouth during the audition (in other words, it was other things), which made the character of Godfather look unique. Although the director Coppola felt that it would be difficult to speak and receive voices in this way, on the one hand he is Brando, on the other hand it is indeed very different, so he agreed.
Speaking of Brando, he can play the godfather, relying on Coppola's persistence. When casting the cast, Coppola said that he wanted Brando to play, and the producer of Paramount’s boss said immediately, “If you mention Brando’s name again, get out of there.”
Why does the boss not wait to see Brando, because Brando is famous for doing things. At that time, Brando still had a great reputation, but no one dared to find him to film. It is difficult for a director to hold a "coffee" as big as Brando, and his quirky and difficult character often leads to an increase in the filming budget, a prolonged time, and even direct pornography of a movie.
Therefore, the Paramount boss heard the "Brando" discoloration. According to Coppola, he was lying on the ground and begging his boss to ensure that Brando would not have trouble. This gave the "Devil" the opportunity to audition.
Let's look at the second point, the people in the house. In the first scene, in addition to the funeral home owner and godfather, there are eldest son Sonny and adopted son Tom. It is no coincidence that these two people are present. Sonny exists as the heir of the godfather. He will inherit the family business after the death of the godfather, so he is there to get the godfather's words and deeds. And the adopted son is there because Tom Hagen is the military adviser of the entire Corleone family. He wants to advise the godfather and understand every aspect of the family's business. Then why aren't the second son Fred and the youngest son Michael? Michael hadn't come yet. As for Fred, the film has already hinted that there is a reason for his absence.
The third point is the dialogue between the godfather and the owner of the funeral home. From this conversation, the information we learned is very simple. The funeral home owner was not willing to make friends with the godfather before. In the eyes of ordinary people like him, the Corleone family is a mafia, and it is a relationship that can be touched without touching, even if the godfather His wife is the godmother of the funeral home owner’s daughter.
Here again appears a very important word in "The Godfather", "Godmother" and "Godfather". This is not the "godfather" of the "mafia leader", but a religious ethical relationship in Western culture. More serious, in the eyes of Italians, this relationship is even more sacred.
Therefore, as the godfather's wife is the "godmother" of the funeral home owner's daughter, the relationship between the two families is by no means ordinary. Even so, the owner of the funeral home is still reluctant to go to the godfather often. This is a point that the godfather is very concerned about. In addition, the dialogue also mentioned that the godfather does not need the other party to provide property in return, but only needs the other party to respect him as the "godfather".
From this, we can see that the godfather Vito Corleone is a very moral Mafia leader. He attaches great importance to the family, the "neighborhood", and the clan affection of Italian descent. This point actually runs through to the later The plot, even in the second part, has a distinct performance.
One last point, cat. The cat was a wild cat picked up by Brando on the Paramount set when the film was filmed. It is said that Brando slapped it too comfortably. The cat's purring even overwhelmed the sound of the lines, which brought great challenges to the radio. .
After the first scene, the entire wedding paragraph has just begun. We slowly learned that this was the wedding of Godfather's daughter Connie. There are two channels for the audience to obtain information, one is subjective visual acquisition, and the other is derived from the conversation between Michael and his girlfriend Kay.
From the subjective vision, the director showed us the personalities of several main characters. First of all, Sonny, because of the FBI's "impersonality", vented his anger on the reporter's camera and secretly cheated with the bridesmaids. These two things define Sonny's character, grumpy and lecherous.
Secondly, the godfather's wife sang and danced all the way to greet the guests. She was a very simple Italian woman who didn't care about family business at all.
Then, the second brother Fred appeared on the stage and had an overly intimate greeting with his younger brother's girlfriend, but the whole character did not have too strong aura, in fact, it had already revealed Fred's cowardly, stupid and neurotic character.
The greetings of his adopted son Tom Hagen and Michael are very "official", which shows that the "military division" has a calm and calm personality, but in the details, it can be seen that his relationship with the family is sincere and deep.
On the other way, in the conversation between Michael and Kay, we learned the following information: we learned the specific content of the "conditions that could not be refused"; Michael was unwilling to participate in the family business; Sicilians were responsive on the day of their marriage.
This information not only satisfies the cause and effect of the entire wedding paragraph, but also pave the way for the subsequent plot. In addition, there is another important place. The godfather found out that Michael was not there when the family took a photo, and made it clear that the youngest son would not take pictures before he arrived, which shows the weight of Michael in the heart of the godfather.
When Michael arrived, he took Kayla into the group photo, which can be understood as a kind of "show of love", but it also shows the tough side of Michael's character. The plot after combining these details, trying to chew the relationship between Michael and Kay, is endless aftertaste.
At the end of the wedding paragraph, the godfather's "godson" Johnny Fontaine debuts, a Hollywood superstar. We can see the length of the tentacles of the "Corleone Family", and at the same time, his appearance is actually connecting for the next episode. In the conversation between the godfather and the "godfather", we can also further see the character and outlook on life of the godfather. He said to the "Godson", "A man who doesn't take time to spend time with his family is not a real man." This golden sentence is not only sent with emotion, but also deliberately addressed to Sonny, who just ended his secret love. The previous director Several shots of Sonny's wife have been given, and we can clearly feel her dissatisfaction and jealousy.
The entire wedding paragraph of "The Godfather" was done in one go, and there was almost no useless scene. As many as 10 characters were covered in rain and dew in less than half an hour, and their personalities were revealed. To select the most exciting first 30 minutes in film history, "The Godfather" is firmly in the top three.
Chapter Two Horse Head and Solozzo
In order to solve the trouble of the "godson", the godfather sent Tom to Hollywood. The direct dispatch of the military division went on the same day, which shows that the godfather attaches great importance to the "ghost son".
In this paragraph, the first climax of the film appeared, and it became a classic scene later. That's naturally the horse's head.
This horse head is not a model, but a real horse head ordered by the director Coppola from the horse food company at the time. Therefore, it was also protested by animal protectionists. But this was not a horse that was killed, but the head of a dead horse. Coppola said that he would not kill a horse for the purpose of filming the movie, so the matter was over.
The entire "Hollywood section" is actually just a specific example shown by the director to the audience, showing what the "conditions that cannot be rejected" are. Facts have proved that this "condition" is very shocking, extremely stunning, and indeed "cannot refuse."
After that, the main storyline of the film appeared, and that was the appearance of the drug dealer Solozzo. Solorzo wants to sell drugs. He needs the politicians and judges in his godfather's "pocket" to give him "legal" protection and share the godfather's drug proceeds.
Almost the entire "Corleone family" participated in this meeting. However, Sonny's "extremely immature" interruption brought bad luck to the family. Why say "very immature", because this interruption made Solorzo see that the opinions within the family are not uniform. Although the godfather explicitly refused, it is obvious that Sonny is still interested. So, for Solano, this means that as long as Sonny replaces his godfather, his drug dealings can be "protected."
This is why the godfather criticized Sonny badly after the meeting, and Solozzo also started his action. But in fact, it was the godfather who took the first action. He sent the killer Luca to Solozzo's undercover, but Luca was killed as soon as he arrived. In fact, an important message has been revealed here, that is, there are spies on the godfather. Otherwise, even if Solorzo doubts the authenticity of Luca's surrender, he will not meet and kill. Obviously, someone clearly informed Luca of the fact that the "comer was not good", and the "high-level" of the Corleone family who can understand this is absolutely. Excluding a few sons, the suspects have actually pointed to Klemansa and Tesino, the godfather's right-hand man.
Sorano's actions were vigorous and resolute. First, he sent someone to assassinate the godfather and fired 5 shots in a row. In this passage, "oranges" appear very conspicuously. Although Luca had been in contact with "Orange" before, it was not obvious. In "The Godfather", "Orange" is the "high-energy warning of death" . Once it appears, someone will die. In this year's "I'm Not the God of Medicine", a similar tribute appeared.
In addition, in the passage where the godfather was assassinated, we saw the incompetence and cowardice of the second son Fred, as well as the negligence of the bodyguard. In fact, the foreshadowing has already been laid in the wedding paragraph. The bodyguard Paulie looked at the bride and groom receiving the gift money, very envious in his heart. This shows that he is a bodyguard who is greedy for money. The bodyguard is greedy for money as a mystery. The answer is obvious-he was bought.
After assassinating the godfather, Solorzo kidnapped Tom Hagen, trying to persuade the military division first, and then the military division to convince Sonny. But Solozzo made two mistakes. First, his godfather was not dead; second, Sonny had a bad temper. Even if his father died, he would choose to go to war with Sorano. As a result, the Corleone family under the temporary leadership of Sonny and the Tatoria family that Solozo is dependent on fought hard.
Chapter 3 Michael Corleone
When Michael learned the news of his father's assassination, he returned home, only as a son, not as a "family clerk." The attitude of Sonny and his brothers is obviously to keep him out of the matter as much as possible. But Michael's own attitude is worthy of fun. He first became indifferent to his relationship with his girlfriend Kay. This is worth noting. Does it mean that he has faintly felt that he is going to "return to the family" at this time?
In this passage, he called Kay and did not respond to his girlfriend with "I love you". The passage in which Klemansa taught him cooking is very interesting, and it actually has a back-and-forth relationship with teaching him to kill afterwards.
After arriving in the hospital, he completely showed that Michael was able to "inherit the mantle", calm and brave, and saved his father by himself. Corruption veteran police officer McCluskie appeared at this time, paving the way for the plot to follow. After a while in the hospital, Michael had a say in the "family business", and Solozo and McClusky mistakenly identified Michael as a "soft persimmon" and arranged a bloody negotiation.
This negotiation has also become the climax of the film, and for Pacino, this performance is even more critical, because it is a scene he has approved by the whole crew. Why is Pacino not recognized as the true protagonist of the film? It turned out that Pacino was only famous on Broadway before participating in "The Godfather" and acted in a few movies. Although Pacino's face came to mind for the first time when Coppola saw Michael's role, but the producer did not approve of Coppola's choice.
When auditioning, the producers preferred Robert Redford and other famous movie stars, and even asked James Caine, who played Sonny, to audition for Michael. As for Pacino himself, he also feels that he is more suitable to play Sonny in the type of acting (after all, Pacino's explosive power is the first in film history). However, with Coppola's insistence and countless times after Pacino's "Gasai audition", he still got the role of Michael.
However, when it came time to shoot, most people on the set still didn't trust Pacino's performance. Many people giggled watching Pacino's performance. The producer even said, "He looks sluggish." Performing in such a distrustful environment, Pacino himself feels meaningless, and may not be able to perform at his best. Until the scene of shooting Solorzo and the police officer, Pacino showed a distinctive temperament and finally won the trust.
It is also worth mentioning that Pacino and Diane Keaton, who played Kay, hit it off right away, so the rivalry between the two was very natural, and the two are still friends in private.
Speaking of the movie, Michael shot Solorzo and the police officer and then ran to Sicily and returned to his father's hometown of Corleone. This passage actually had a great influence on Michael's later character. His time in Sicily was his happiest and saddest time. He has gained love and lost love. The most important thing is that he has lost trust in people, especially those around him like bodyguards.
Suspicious, indifferent, became the reason for his elder brother in the future. On the other side of the godfather, lying in bed listening to Sonny's report on the battle, he heard that the second son was going to run a casino in Las Vegas, and he was deaf, and only cared about where Michael was. When I heard that Michael was finally involved in the family business, that kind of sadness was a difficult emotion to express, but Brando did it as usual, and no one could do better.
Chapter Four The Death of Sonny
In fact, Sonny's death has been buried in the cause of death. The irritable character, Corleone and Tatoria's merging (before the film has revealed the information, the Corleone family killed Tatoria’s eldest son "Little Tatoria", which actually means, If the Tatoria family wants revenge, they will definitely kill the eldest son of the Corleone family), and Sonny's attitude towards his brother-in-law.
This attitude is generally contemptuous. He is not to be regarded as his own, and he is not allowed to participate in the Corleone family business. It was a performance at the dinner table, and Sonny's chase after her brother-in-law's domestic violence against Connie was a more obvious performance.
The combination of these factors eventually led to Sonny's death. The death of Sonny can be said to be the most tragic part of the film. Coppola admits that he doesn't make violent scenes very much, so he often "borrows" other directors' films. For example, this paragraph borrows from Arthur Payne's "Bonnie and Clyde" .
In order to show the effect of machine gun shooting, actor James Kane had 147 detonators strapped to his body during real shooting. The props staff also said to Kane, "I strapped so many detonators to a person for the first time." Kane replied, "Do you have to tell me this now?"
After Sonny's death, Army Master Tom was going to tell the godfather of the news. According to Duval's memory, three scenes were taken in this scene, and he already felt that the first three scenes worked well. But Coppola insisted on shooting the fourth, and Duval broke out his best in the fourth, so Duval has always admired Coppola.
The godfather went to the funeral home to let the boss "repay his favor" for a scene. When the godfather looked at his son who was beaten into a hornet's nest, the sadness was densely written on Brando's face. Before filming this scene, Brando approached Coppola and said, "Francesco, I want to be alone." He needs to incubate feelings, and this sentence has become a stalk of the whole crew afterwards, every time he wants to film what scenes. At times, actors would jokingly find the director and say, "Francesco, I want to be alone."
After Sonny's death, the attitude of the godfather immediately showed that he was higher than Sonny, no revenge, but truce and peace talks. Facts have proved that the godfather's decision is very correct. This peace talks not only found the man behind the scenes, but also allowed Michael, the only suitable heir of the family, to return to his side.
The peace talks were naturally very exciting, and all the five major families were present. At the beginning of the peace talks, everyone thought it was just a peace talk between Corleone and Tatoria, but as the peace talks deepened, the audience and the godfather realized that things were not simple. The "peacemaker" Basini who presided over the meeting was not "fair and objective." He even suggested to the godfather that "political resources should be shared." At this moment, things suddenly became clear. Solorzo and Tatoria were not the real culprits. The cause of everything was Basini, who was behind him who made plans and plans to disrupt the Corleone family’s power in New York.
After knowing all this, the godfather told Michael everything. Next, it is left how to deal with Michael and find out the spies inside the family. Who killed Sonny? Who killed Luca? Who almost killed the godfather?
Chapter 5 Second Generation
At this point, the godfather has basically handed over all the family business to Michael, and Michael also showed a calmer and harsher traits. There are three points worth noting here. First, Klemansa showed dissatisfaction with Michael and was anxious to "stand on his own." This is actually "misleading" by the director, making the audience think that Claymansha is a spy.
Second, Michael alienated Tom and got close to his brother-in-law . This was obviously intentional, and it also showed Michael's suspicion of his brother-in-law, and made outsiders feel that there was a disagreement within the Corleone family after the "change of office", and let the enemy relax their vigilance.
Third, Michael went to Las Vegas to develop his family business , which demonstrated the "second-generation" tough approach and grand ambition. Michael's attitude towards his brother Fred also paved the way for the second film.
All signs indicate that Michael has already taken over the family business and is only one step away from becoming the second-generation "godfather". And the last teaching that the old godfather gave to his son before he died is a vital message: whoever comes to negotiate with you is the spy.
Finally, Vito Corleone was about to leave. He died suddenly in the backyard while playing with his grandson. There was also an orange as a signal. During the filming of this scene, there was still an hour before the crew had lunch. The little actor was upset and didn't want to act, but the sky waits for no one. If you don't film it now, the natural light will disappear. So Brando stuffed an orange in his mouth and said, "Come on, shoot." Brando improvised the whole process and coaxed the children to finish the whole scene. As for us, it was totally improvised.
At the funeral of the godfather, Tesino came to Michael and said that Basini wanted to negotiate. In this way, everything is clear, and the real climax of the film will officially begin. At the baptism ceremony of becoming the godfather of his sister and daughter, Michael strategized and made a decisive victory thousands of miles away. He eliminated all opponents and spies such as Tatoria, Basini, Mo Green, Tesino, etc., and cleared all obstacles in one fell swoop. The development of business lays the foundation.
This parallel editing is extremely wonderful, baptism and sin go hand in hand. When I first saw it, the orange cat even trembled all over and was amazed. However, it is worth mentioning the baptismal paragraph, when the girl Diane Keaton was holding was Coppola's daughter Sophia Coppola, later a well-known director and the heroine in the third part of the series. But Keaton didn't seem to hold the baby much, causing Sophia's head to hang down. Coppola's wife could only go forward to straighten her daughter's head on the set.
In addition, the role of Kay Adams as an intruder in an "Italian family" always has a sense of marginalization, which is very similar to Coppola's wife. Therefore, Keaton confessed that he had been imitating Coppola's wife's behavior and psychological activities when performing.
The last thing Michael has to deal with is a reasonable suspicion, the suspicion of his brother-in-law. This suspicion has been hoarding in the hearts of the audience, so Michael successfully lied the truth by coaxing and deceiving. Killing brother-in-law mercilessly, in fact, is also paving the way for the second part.
At the end of the film, at the moment the door is closed, Michael Corleone is officially crowned as the "Godfather". The scene of Kay being "closed out" also indicates that Michael will not be as "harmonious" as his father in handling family relations.
Chapter 6 About Coppola and Others
At this point, the main points and tidbits of the entire "The Godfather" are almost said. Need to add, there are some behind the scenes. For example, when Coppola took the film, he was only a small director, so he was not trusted at all.
When the film started, Mario Puzo's original novel had already become popular, so Paramount took it seriously. The producer did not like Coppola's "classical mode" shooting, and even sent another director to follow Coppola, so that after Coppola was fired, someone could directly take over.
Therefore, Coppola was always anxious when he was shooting this film. Even when he went to the toilet during filming, Coppola heard two staff members gossiping, "Doesn't he know that he was shooting a pile of shit?"
At one point, Coppola wanted to quit his job, but a friend advised Coppola not to resign, and instead asked the producer to fire him, so that at least he could receive compensation. Well, it's very consistent with the idea of the orange cat at work now~
However, it turns out that Coppola completed a great movie. Contrary to the attitude of the producers, it is the actors' respect for Coppola. This comes from Coppola's dedication to making the actors a "family". When the film first started, Coppola arranged for all the actors to eat together, just like the "Corleone family dinner" in the movie.
During the dinner, Kane kept telling jokes, Duval imitated Brando's expression, Pacino was very keen, and they were all trying to please Brando. After Brando and Kane were drunk, Brando asked Kane, "If you can get what you want, what do you want to do?" Kane said, "I don't know, maybe we are in love." Brando said. "Me too, don't tell my wife."
These funny stories have become precious memories for the entire crew. As Coppola’s sister, Talia Charles, who plays Connie, said, “We are like a family of acrobatics. We have to complete the most difficult acrobatics in the city. Fortunately, there are'family members' who support each other."
The whole "The Godfather" has grass snake gray lines, spring and autumn brushwork, superb acting skills, two and a half hours is not lengthy, every time you watch it, you will have new surprises and experiences. It is said that "The Godfather" is a must-see movie for men. In fact, women can also get a lot of things in "The Godfather", at least let you find out whether the man around you is a man.
This is "The Godfather", a great movie. I hope that after reading this article by the orange cat, it will help you to appreciate the film better. The second and third brush effects are better~
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