The Godfather 9.0
The Godfather 2 8.5
The Godfather 3 8.0
①
On the set of "The Godfather", Francis Ford Coppola took time to go to the bathroom when he overheard the two producers next door chatting—
"Who the hell found the rookie?" "Who knows, I've never seen such a good director anyway."
Coppola was in his early thirties that year, and the only resume he had was a screenwriter for "General Patton."
A few years ago, a down-and-out writer named Mario Puzo wrote a novel called "The Godfather" in order to pay off his gambling debts. You don't need to talk about your experience in the underworld, from the mafia boss to the protection fee. He didn't know anyone at the time. The prototype of Don Vito Corleone was actually Mario's hardworking old mother.
The 5,000 yuan paid in advance by the publishing house was obviously not enough to fill the hole, and he had no choice but to sell the film adaptation rights to Paramount for $12,000 before the novel was finished.
Unexpectedly, after the novel was published, it was very popular. Paramount heard the news and immediately started to develop the film, but it was rejected by more than a dozen directors. At that time, gangster films, like westerns, seemed to have come to an end. The gangster genre movie Qian Jing is unknown, and it may annoy the real bigwig if you are not careful. It is not a good job no matter how you look at it.
The production committee held a meeting overnight. They felt that the reason why the previous gangster films were not well received was because the original Italian style could not always be made. They decided to find an Italian director this time.
They first found Sergio Leone, who had just finished the first two parts of the "Once Upon a Time Trilogy" and was already a well-known director. Also save gangster movies. Leone, who has taken westerns to another extreme, did turn his attention to the gangster theme. However, the only gangster story he had in mind was "Once Upon a Time in America", so faced with the invitation of "The Godfather", he had no choice but to refuse.
The self-defeating committee decided to break the jar and find a random Italian rookie to direct. The only requirement is that it must be obedient. At that time, no one at Paramount had high hopes for this project at all. Everyone felt that the novel was selling well anyway. As long as you find a kid who can make you round and flat, and control the budget, you will definitely make a wave of quick money.
That year, the rookie Coppola, who was driven by the ducks, was smug at the same time, but he was not sure at the same time. Marlon Brando, who was not bound by Elijah Kazan, happily stood in front of his tyrant on the set, while the big-name photographer Ge Den Willis is always yelling at the director "You know how to shoot a hammer".
That year, Mike Corleone just returned from the battlefield. He was just a sunny young man with a pure mind and a pure-hearted wedding. He never thought that one day he would have to shoulder the heavy responsibility and become the life and death of a single thought. The Godfather of the Mafia.
At that time, Francis Coppola, who was behind the camera, watching and scheduling all this nervously and engrossedly, also did not think that he would become one of the four most important directors in the whole New Hollywood period, and he was in his own hands. The film series created will become the most important trilogy in the entire human film history, no one.
②
The "recording" of light and shadow is the foundation of the film, and so is the "forgetting". It is precisely because human beings have forgotten all the past into discontinuities that "editing" can be accepted by the audience logically.
There is no need to be afraid of forgetting, and even we should be grateful for forgetting. We all say that "blow out the sand and gold will come". Only after it has been eroded, it is still vivid in the purpose, which is the truly precious experience for you. I have always felt that after reading a poem and a book, and eventually leaving a sentence or two of poems or opinions, time and energy are not wasted, and the same is true of watching movies.
So I often write reviews after a long time after watching a movie, in order to leave the experience to "forgetting" for a screening, and let my brain's "stupidity and forgetfulness" come in handy. As for "procrastination" or something, it's just nonsense. Please don't confuse people's innocence out of thin air.
The great thing about "The Godfather" is that even if it is eroded by "forgetting", I still feel that "good sentences" are all over the place, even to the point of "everywhere"——
In the opening, "I Believe in America" is the first to grab people, Marlon Brando, the bearing of the god of acting, the cat in his arms, the rose in his chest. Whoever comes first, the complicated characters will all appear under careful weaving. Their characters, fates, and the foreshadowing of all the plots are all buried quietly. Behind those songs and dances, the hidden worries of prosperity and decline are all here. A wedding was firmly established. For filmmakers, this is a "War and Peace"-level introductory lesson.
The assassination in the hospital, Mike's vigilance, courage, and meticulousness, the contrast formed by the impatient elder brother and the cowardly second elder brother, the tears in the corner of the old godfather's eyes.
One kills two in a restaurant, the strong and the weak grow and fall, standing at a turning point in life, the ferocious killing intent after hesitation. Al Pacino, who was also a fledgling, contributed a wonderful performance here. When the American Film Institute awarded him the Lifetime Achievement Award more than 30 years later, he selected two clips as the representative moments of his acting career, one is here, the other One paragraph is the tango in "Smell the Fragrance and Know a Woman".
Sonny is killed, the foreshadowing of the conspiracy, the creation of a tense atmosphere, and the violent scene is a tribute to "Bonnie and Clyde".
In the funeral home, Marlon Brando's hurricane acting alone is hearty, the shadow of the light and every wrinkle on his face together deduce the deepest love, pain and forbearance.
And the ending! end! end! Soul-stirring parallel clips, 6 storylines, the holy church under the gaze of God, the cry of newborn babies, the sound of the organ, the endless slaughter, the chorus of innocence and wickedness in praise of God, the priest solemnly asks, "Have you given up?" Eliminate Satan?"
His Excellency Mike Corleone, the new generation godfather, lowered his eyebrows, and replied reverently, "I renounce." Then he fell peacefully into the boundless hell.
③
A movie has one or two "good sentences", which is actually worthy of praise, and "The Godfather" has good sentences everywhere. Even further, when we go to the next level and look at "The Godfather" from the global structure, we can also find it carefully designed and integrated with rigor and beauty.
"The Godfather" takes Sicily as the dividing line, and its upper and lower parts are divided into two echoes everywhere. Sicily is like a flawless paradise. Mike, who has been invisible and regal, regards it as a transit point in his life. He hesitates and patrols, even if With blood on his hands, he still instinctively resisted the call of hell, so he fell in love at the first sight of the pure Apollonia. He wanted to have this woman in front of him, because in her, what he wanted to keep The last trace of innocence seems to be able to be placed.
However, Aprilia eventually died of the betrayal of her men, the burning car wrecks symbolized another possible disintegration, the train of fate roared into the station, lost all innocence Mike Corleone was full of hatred Returning, and there were no other candidates, he was escorted by fate to be crowned king.
When he got back to New York, found Kay and proposed to her, he was almost giving orders, and you could guess if they ever met again, but we all knew it was over. then.
This kind of design of the first and second half has become a more complex two-line narrative in "The Godfather 2". The struggle history of the two generations of Godfathers in different time and space go hand in hand, echoing resonance, and after all the story lines are gathered, there is a quite jumpy segment. Flashback--
On an ordinary night of reunion, Sonny introduced his friend Carlo to everyone. During the chat, Mike mentioned that he had signed up for the army. After a quarrel, everyone rushed out to celebrate the birthday of the returning old godfather. Only Mike sat alone. Silently eating dinner at the table. This meaningful scene sums up the different endings of the two generations of godfathers. Vito Corleone, who started out in the wild and attached great importance to the family, will be respected and die peacefully in the bliss of family fun with his grandson, while disregarding his family (delete out), the ruthless and paranoid Mike Corleone, who will betray the crowd and die alone in remorse.
Looking back at the relatively closely related one or two films at this point, we will find that Connie Corleone has become the key character who framed the complete structure of the story. The first story begins with her wedding to Carlo, killed by Mike Carlo and she ended up being a widow. At the beginning of the second part, she went home with her new boyfriend and threatened to prepare for a new wedding, but at the end, she quietly returned to her first encounter with Carlo.
As I said at the beginning of this paragraph, a movie is actually worthy of praise if it has one good sentence and two good sentences, and "The Godfather" has good sentences everywhere; a movie with good sentences everywhere is already shocking, and "The Godfather" uses a perfect overall The structure consolidates all the "good sentences" into one jaw-droppingly great "good chapter".
It's no wonder that after watching "The Godfather" ten times in a row to the self-defeating Kubrick, it is considered the best movie of all time.
We say that time brings oblivion, and oblivion brings out the gold mine, then The Godfather is probably the most sacred and majestic temple we can visit, because it is made of gold, radiant and unforgettable.
20181109
I was planning to write a big movie review, including "Flying Over the Cuckoo's Nest", "The Hole", "Death Rider Escape", "The Great Phantom" and "The Shawshank Redemption", so I didn't plan to write "The Godfather" as a big project at all. As a result, after writing a "Guidance" section, I found that it was almost a thousand words. I panicked. I hesitated for a long time and continued to write. After writing three thousand words, I glanced at the outline and found that it was estimated to be five or six thousand words. , The mentality collapsed, and the end was forced to end immediately.
As for what was originally planned to be written, the length of the third part, the love-hate relationship between Mike and Kay, the influence of the godfather on later films, ahaha, no way, forget it, slip away.
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