The Godfather (film)

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Movie
German title The Godfather
Original title The Godfather
Country of production United States
original language English , Italian
Publishing year 1972
length 175 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Francis Ford Coppola
script Mario Puzo ,
Francis Ford Coppola
production Albert S. Ruddy
music Nino Rota
camera Gordon Willis
cut William H. Reynolds ,
Peter Zinner
occupation
synchronization
chronology

Successor  →
The Godfather - Part II

The Godfather (Original title: The Godfather ) is an American film from 1972 by Francis Ford Coppola , based on the novel of the same name by Mario Puzo , who also wrote the screenplay with Coppola. The mafia film starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, three of which it won. The godfather was an outstanding success at the box office and is one of the most artistically significant works in film history.

The sequels The Godfather - Part II and The Godfather III tell the story further and also address the prehistory of the Corleones in flashbacks .

action

The action begins in 1945: Don Vito Corleone, one of the most powerful mafia bosses in New York City and head of one of the " Five Families ", hosts an opulent party with hundreds of guests for the wedding of his daughter Connie. While they are dancing in the garden, he receives friends of the “family” in the back room, who pay their respects to him at the wedding and sometimes take the opportunity to ask him for various favors, most of which are revenge or blackmail. Thanks to his numerous relationships, Don Vito can fulfill any request of his friends and does not shy away from cruelty. For example, Don Vito's lawyer and foster son Tom Hagen forces a leading role for Don Vito's godson Johnny Fontane at the film producer Woltz by having the stubborn Woltz put the severed head of his favorite horse under the blanket of his bed while he sleeps in it.

With the Second World War , drug trafficking developed into an attractive line of business, and the unscrupulous Mafioso Virgil Sollozzo, known as "The Turk", suggests that the Corleones work with him to organize the heroin trade in New York. Don Vito rejects this business, which is too dirty for him, as it not only appears immoral to him, but above all too risky. As a result of his refusal to share his excellent contacts in politics and business with the other bosses in favor of the drug trafficking, an assassination attempt is carried out on him: The killers of the rejected Sollozzo, who is allied with the Tattaglia family, shoot him down on the street . Vito, whose clumsy son Fredo could not protect him, survives seriously injured. Shortly before, his most important helper, Luca Brasi, is murdered. While Don Vito is only slowly recovering, his eldest son Santino "Sonny" Corleone starts a campaign of revenge against the Tattaglias. Michael, Vito's youngest son, a World War II veteran who is actually far removed from Mafia activities and who had hoped never to be involved in criminal activities, meanwhile spontaneously saves his father from another assassination attempt. When the unassailable Sollozzo proposes a meeting with Michael, Michael decides to become a murderer for his family and shoots Sollozzo and the corrupt police captain McCluskey.

Michael then flees to Sicily and marries the young, naive Apollonia in the village of Corleone , although his American friend Kay is waiting for him at home in New York. Don Vito has now recovered, but is struggling to maintain his power against the other Mafia families. He wants to make peace, but the others continue to resent him for not helping them with drug trafficking. The irascible Sonny is now lured into an ambush by the betrayal of his brother-in-law Carlo and shot. Michael's hiding place in Sicily is also revealed, a car bomb intended for him kills Apollonia. Don Vito now makes peace with Don Tattaglia, and on this occasion he realizes that in truth the powerful godfather Don Barzini was his real enemy from the start. Michael returns to New York and effectively takes over the business.

After Don Vito dies of a heart attack , Michael attacks the family's enemies in an all-round attack. At the same time he has all the heads of the four competing Mafia families murdered, including Barzini, and does not spare renegade members of his own family, like Carlo and one of his capos , Tessio, who was supposed to lure him into a trap on behalf of Barzini. When his sister Connie accuses him of having her husband Carlo murdered and is now a mafia godfather himself, Kay, with whom he is now married, asks him whether this is the truth. Michael denies. At first she believes him. But in the last scene of the film, she watches her husband being greeted by the mafiosi as their new godfather.

background

The Sicilian mafia boss Vito Cascio Ferro was known under the name Don Vito ; Corleone is one of the most notorious Mafia locations in Sicily.

The model of the assassination attempt on Don Vito is based on the murder of Francesco Scalice , boss of the Gambino family , who was shot on June 17, 1957 in front of a fruit stand at 2380 Arthur Avenue in New York City.

As later in the sequels, the orange appears as a messenger of death. Oranges roll across the street when Don Vito is shot, and he has a piece of this fruit in his mouth when he finally dies of a heart attack in the garden. In the first part this symbolism may seem coincidental, but it was deliberately used in the sequels.

Emergence

Preparations

Distribution company Paramount bought the film rights to Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather for US $ 12,500 . Since the US film world was in crisis at the time, the film adaptation of the material had to be a success. Therefore, the studio approached well-known directors such as Sergio Leone , Peter Yates , Richard Brooks and Constantin Costa-Gavras , all of whom refused. Then the choice fell on the then 31-year-old Francis Ford Coppola , who had previously made only three films as the sole director. Preparations for the film began in the early 1970s and were marked by many inconsistencies. At first, Coppola was not very interested in the film, as he had previously made smaller films based on the European model, while the studio envisioned an adaptation with many stars that was to play in the present for cost reasons. After all, the director wanted an epic implementation of the work that spanned the entire first half of the 20th century.

Resistance to the shooting

The Mafia - the theme of the entire work - originally wanted to prevent the film from being made. The producer Albert S. Ruddy was threatened by shooting a window in his car. Many Mafiosi later said that the film, which idealized the Mafia, had exactly hit their attitude towards life, and an expert on organized crime called Coppola's work the "best commercial for the Mafia that has ever been shot".

The Italian-American Civil Rights League , an organization aimed at combating the prejudice that all Italians are mafiosi, was not enthusiastic about the project. The president of this organization was Joseph Colombo , himself a powerful mafioso. The film unions also only wanted to support the implementation if the word “Mafia” was deleted from the entire film. Ruddy said: "The word Mafia came up once in the script, I deleted it and was able to shoot."

The singer and entertainer Frank Sinatra felt vilified by the character of Johnny Fontane, and he had auditioned for the role of Vito Corleone himself, but was turned down. At an event, he and Sammy Davis Jr. raised $ 600,000 to prevent production.

occupation

The church of San Nicolò in Savoca , where the wedding between Michael and Apollonia was filmed

The casting of the film was also difficult due to disagreements between the studio and the director. Coppola insisted on Al Pacino for the role of godfather Michael Corleone, which the studio management refused. Paramount wanted to cast the part with Robert Redford , because, unlike Pacino, he had already made a name for himself in the film world, while the director successfully insisted on an Italian-American actor. In addition, Al Pacino was almost dismissed during test recordings for his role after repeating a scene five times by those responsible on the grounds that he was acting cautiously. He later stated that the scene in question did not challenge him and that he found it ridiculous. But after the shooting and the success of the film, everyone who had previously rejected him suddenly came to him. Pacino: "But then they couldn't understand why I didn't want to have anything more to do with them."

The studio management also initially disagreed with Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone. The main argument cited was the small age difference between the first head of the Corleone family and his film sons. The age difference between Brando and his film sons Al Pacino and James Caan was only 16 years each. He also appeared far too young for the role, as he was 47 years old at the time of filming, while Vito Corleone is described in the novel as a man of at least 65 years. Furthermore, Paramount had often had conflicts with Brando because he had been late for the set in previous films and acted very rebellious. In the end, he got the role anyway after competitor Laurence Olivier left because of illness and Brando had acted very convincingly in test shoots.

Francis Ford Coppola cast several roles in the film with members of his family. So his sister, Talia Shire , got the role of Connie Corleone . His daughter Sofia was the newborn son Michael Francis Rizzi of Connie and Carlo at the end of the film. Carmine Coppola , his father, appeared in the film as a pianist in one scene. Coppola's wife Eleanor Coppola , his mother Italia Coppola (1912-2004) at the beginning of Connie's wedding; two sons ( Roman Coppola, one of the children playing with the open or broken fire hydrant in the street and Sonny fighting with Carlo , and Gian-Carlo Coppola at the baptism), as extras in the film. Other smaller speaking roles, such as that of Luca Brasi , played by wrestler Lenny Montana , in his first role, in which he was named in the credits as an actor, were filled after filming began.

Filming

Filming began on March 29 and ended on August 6, 1971. The budget was six million dollars. This budget was thanks to Coppola, to which the producer Albert S. Ruddy initially only wanted to allow 2.5 million dollars.

In the original hometown of the godfather, Corleone , it was not possible to shoot because the already highly developed location no longer corresponded to the small town of the 1950s. Instead, they turned to the small towns of Forza d'Agrò and Savoca in the Sicilian province of Messina . In Savoca there is the wedding church of Michael and Apollonia as well as the bar Vitelli of Michael's father-in-law, where the wedding is celebrated.

reception

Reviews

The film received very positive reviews in the United States and Europe. Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times that despite its length of almost three hours, the film was so effective that he never had to hurry.

The film critic Pauline Kael praised the tension “that lies in the meetings with the gloom of the underworld; one gets the impression that this secret life has its own poetry of fear, more real for the men (and perhaps also for the excluded women) than the light-flooded world outside ”.

In Germany, the lexicon of international film ruled : “A huge gangster film that makes contemporary problems in the USA transparent and offers it in sensational packaging as perfect entertainment. [...] The extra-long film is not without detailed cruelty, but is mainly worth seeing because of the brilliant play of the main actors and is also interesting as a discussion of social conditions. "

Television journalist Dagobert Lindlau , on the other hand, describes the film in his book The Mob as a “calculated swindle”. Lindlau, according to his own description, met Sam DeCavalcante, portrayed by Marlon Brando in the film in the character of Vito Corleone, as a young reporter in front of a courthouse in Trenton (New Jersey) and, unlike the film, characterizes him as a "little bug". The mafia lawyer played by Robert Duvall “philosophizes about the crime in gray flannel and with the eloquence of a Harvard Law School graduate [...] I tried not to get too close to him at the time. He doesn't believe in washing himself, and that's what he smells like ”. Lindlau emphasizes that the film “is not about organized crime or gangsters. The real issue is family pride and personal honor ”, which made the film“ had a strong impact ”on members of the Mafia - according to a police officer before a US Senate committee in 1981:“ They wanted to be like in the film ”. According to Lindlau, the film “of course didn't” show the mafia “how to kill people and extort money […] But they learned how to glorify both. The film [...] could be financed from the advertising budget of the Cosa Nostra ”.

Financial success

The godfather started in the USA on March 15, 1972 in six cinemas in New York City and grossed around 416,000 US dollars by March 19, of which around 300,000 were on the first weekend. The film grossed a total of $ 245 million (including all re-screenings), including $ 110 million abroad. The film was a huge financial success especially for its very low budget of six million dollars and saved Paramount from ruin.

Awards

Academy Awards 1973

The film won an Oscar for best picture in 1973 . Marlon Brando was to receive the Oscar for best actor for his role, but refused to accept in protest against the treatment of Indians in the USA. In his place, Native American activist Dingen Littlefeather read a declaration of solidarity by Brando with the American Indian Movement at the Academy Awards . In the end, this Oscar Brando was awarded anyway. The third Oscar went to Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola for best adapted screenplay. The film also received eight other nominations; that of Nino Rota for the best film music was withdrawn because the love theme had already been used in Fortunella .

The Oscars at a glance:

Golden Globe Award 1973

At the 1973 Golden Globes , the film was successful five times:

Farther

British Academy Film Award 1973

The godfather won a British film award and was nominated for four more:

Further awards

  • David di Donatello as best foreign film; Al Pacino received a special award for best actor.
  • In 1973, Nino Rota won a Grammy Award for best film music.
  • In the lists of the “100 best American films of all time” published by the American Film Institute , The Godfather was placed in the top positions twice: in the 1998 edition in position 3 and in the edition in 2007 in position 2.
  • In the list of the 100 best American thrillers of all time, Coppola's work ranks 11th.
  • This film is also represented on the list of the 100 best film quotes published by this institute . “I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse.” (“I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse.”) Is in second place.
  • In the list of the “10 most important films in 10 classic genres” published in 2008, Coppola's directorial work took first place in the genre of gangster films.
  • The film music by Nino Rota and Carmine Coppola made it to number 5 on the list of the 25 greatest film scores in 100 years published by the American Film Institute.
  • At metacritic.com, The Godfather achieved the extremely rare rating of 100 points.
  • On Rotten Tomatoes , the average rating of the film is 98%, the average user rating is also 98%.
  • In 1990 the film was accepted into the US National Film Registry as a "particularly worth preserving production" . The film has long been number one on the fan-voted IMDb list of the best movies of all time. It has been in second place since 2008.

Publications

Chronological versions

TV versions, Die Saga (The Saga), The Epic 1902–1959, The Trilogy 1901–1980, chronological editions on VHS and laser disk.

DVD and Blu-ray

The first part of the film was first released on DVD on July 22, 2001. On October 11, 2001, Paramount released all three parts under the title The Godfather - DVD Collection on four DVDs plus a bonus disc. The Godfather - Part II is divided here on 2 DVDs. The running time of the movies is 523 minutes. There is English bonus material on Disc 5, including a. with some unreleased scenes that were shot for the three films but are not included in the theatrical versions.

On June 5, 2008, Paramount released all three parts with fully restored sound and picture and a new German synchronization under the title Der Pate - The Coppola Restoration on a total of five DVDs. The theatrical versions of The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather - Part II (1974) have been extensively restored; In some cases, scenes had to be restored image by image from different sources, such as still existing negatives, color separations and archive copies. The Godfather - Part III (1990) was shot on a technically better level and was only remastered. Paramount states the playing time of these restored versions of the cinema films as a total of 549 minutes. In addition to the main films, disc 4 contains the extras from the 2001 DVD version. Disc 5 contains further new features for the making of the film and its digital processing. These were created in HD.

The graininess, coloring as well as overexposure and underexposure of the original films were not digitally corrected during the restoration, but deliberately retained in order to preserve the atmosphere of the original versions. This is based on decisions made by director Coppola and his cameraman Gordon Willis and is explained in an article on the Bonus Disc.

On October 6, 2008, this issue was also released on four Blu-ray discs under the title Der Godfather - The Coppola Restoration . Discs 1 to 3 contain the movies, each in their original version, Blu-ray Disc 4 contains the bonus material from 2001 and the additional HD material from 2008 (same scope as DVDs 4 and 5 from 2008).

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released on CD on July 26, 2001 by the Silva label. It contains the pieces by composers Nino Rota and Carmine Coppola from all three parts of the trilogy, including The Godfather Waltz and The Godfather Theme . The Czech Philharmonic from Prague plays. filmmusik2000.de thinks that conductor Nic Raine succeeded in a very convincing recording of the music and even today the melodious, nostalgic flair of the music has not lost any of its effect. However, the relatively short running time of around 52 minutes and the modest design of the edition are a bit disappointing.

synchronization

The godfather was dubbed for the first time in 1972 at Berliner Synchron under the direction of Ottokar Runze . In 2008, the same company commissioned a new German version for a restored DVD release.

role actor Voice actor 1972 Voice actor 2008
Don Vito Corleone Marlon Brando Gottfried Kramer Helmut Krauss
Michael Corleone Al Pacino Lutz Mackensy Lutz Mackensy
Santino "Sonny" Corleone James Caan Thomas Stroux Oliver Stritzel
Fredo Corleone John Cazale Jürgen Thormann Olaf Reichmann
Peter Clemenza Richard S. Castellano Richard Haller Hans-Werner Bussinger
Tom Hagen Robert Duvall Norbert Langer Tom Vogt
Captain McCluskey Sterling Hayden Arnold Marquis Bert Franzke
Jack Woltz John Marley Edgar Ott Roland Hemmo
Don Emilio Barzini Richard Conte Christian Rode Klaus-Dieter Klebsch
Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo Al Lettieri Gert Günther Hoffmann Erich Rauker
Kay Adams-Corleone Diane Keaton Traudel Haas Traudel Haas
Sal Tessio Abe Vigoda Heinz Petruo Engelbert von Nordhausen
Connie Corleone Rizzi Talia Shire Katrin Miclette Alexandra Wilcke

Figures belonging to the Corleone family

Corleone family tree

 
 
 
 
 
 
 Vito Corleone
 
 Carmela Corleone
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Santino Corleone
 
 Frederico Corleone
 
 Michael Corleone
 
 Kay Adams
 
 Constanzia Corleone-Rizzi
 
 Tom Hagen
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Anthony Corleone
 
 Mary Corleone
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Don Vito Corleone b. Andolini ( Marlon Brando )
He is the first godfather of the Corleone family. He fled Corleone to the United States . There he slowly rose to godfather. He dies of a heart attack while playing with his grandson. Michael Corleone is his successor.
Santino Corleone ( James Caan )
He is the eldest son of Vito, he is supposed to be Vito's successor. However, he is ambushed and shot.
Frederico Corleone ( John Cazale )
He is Vito's second eldest son. He is considered weak-willed and simple-minded and is passed over when it comes to the successor to Vito Corleone.
Don Michael Corleone ( Al Pacino )
He is the youngest son of Vito Corleone and his successor as head of the Corleone family. He served as a soldier in World War II and never really wanted to have anything to do with the Mafia, but cannot escape the influence of the family. After Santino's death, Vito appointed him as a new godfather and, after his father's death, had everyone murdered whom Vito had actually forgiven.
Constanzia Corleone-Rizzi ( Talia Shire )
She is the daughter of Vito Corleone.
Tom Hagen ( Robert Duvall )
He is the foster son and consigliere of Vito Corleone and lawyer of Michael Corleone.
Carmela Corleone ( Morgana King )
She is the wife of Vito and the mother of Santino, Frederico, Michael and Constanzia, as well as the foster mother of Tom Hagen.
Kay Adams-Corleone ( Diane Keaton )
She is the wife of Michael. She is the mother of Anthony.

Others

Marlon Brando wanted his role of head of the family to look like a bulldog. In the film, he therefore wears a mouthpiece made individually by a dental technician. This mouthpiece is on display today in the American Museum of the Moving Image in New York.

See also

literature

Web links

Wikiquote: The Godfather - The Movie  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for The Godfather . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , December 2014 (PDF; test number: 44 593 V).
  2. ↑ moviereporter.net, accessed January 1, 2009
  3. ↑ a b The mafia was the godfather of the shooting - A new HH with Marlon Brando - Die Welt on June 30, 2008, accessed on January 1, 2009
  4. ↑ Kinofenster.de, accessed on December 31, 2008
  5. ↑ wasistwas.de, accessed on January 1, 2008 ( Memento of the original from March 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wasistwas.de
  6. ↑ a b Hamburger Abendblatt on July 22, 1972 ( Memento from July 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ Shooting The Godfather : Guardian image series , accessed on January 4, 2009
  8. ↑ a b c Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated December 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.the-fan.net
  9. ↑ splashmovies.de, accessed on January 1, 2009
  10. ↑ a b IMDb.com, accessed January 2, 2009
  11. ↑ Wissen.de, accessed on January 2, 2009 ( Memento of the original from April 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wissen.de
  12. ^ The Godfather: Shooting Locations on jgeoff.com, accessed January 4, 2009
  13. ^ Rogerebert.suntimes.com, accessed January 2, 2009
  14. ^ “The tension is in the meetings in the underworld darkness; one gets the sense that this secret life has its own poetry of fear, more real to the men (and perhaps to the excluded women also) than the sunlight world outside. " ( Quote from Toby Young: Pauline Kael from the Guardian 1991 ( Memento of the original from April 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice . ), accessed January 2, 2008 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tobyyoung.co.uk
  15. ^ The Godfather in the Lexicon of International FilmsTemplate: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used , accessed on January 2, 2008
  16. ↑ Dagobert Lindlau: The Mob - Research on organized crime. Paperback edition. Heyne, Munich 1998, p. 391 f.
  17. ↑ Dagobert Lindlau: The Mob - Research on organized crime. Paperback edition. Heyne, Munich 1998, p. 393
  18. ↑ Dagobert Lindlau: The Mob - Research on organized crime. Paperback edition. Heyne, Munich 1998, p. 394
  19. ↑ a b The Godfather on boxofficemojo.com, accessed January 3, 2009
  20. ^ ProSieben.de, accessed on December 31, 2008
  21. ↑ a b filmmusik2000.de, accessed on January 2, 2009 ( Memento of the original from November 21, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.filmmusik2000.de
  22. ↑ Metacritic: The Godfather on Metacritic , accessed May 28, 2014
  23. ↑ Rotten Tomatoes: The Godfather of Rotten Tomatoes , accessed January 12, 2019
  24. ↑ The godfather in second place in the IMDb
  25. ↑ http://wiki.dvdb.de/Der_pate
  26. ↑ http://www.dvd-sucht.de/movie.php?id=324
  27. ↑ http://www.thegodfathertrilogy.com/godfather_dvd_collection.html
  28. ↑ http://dvdspindoctor.typepad.com/dvd_spin_doctor/2008/09/review-the-godf.html
  29. ↑ http://www.thegodfather.com/
  30. ↑ The Godfather (1972 dubbing) in the German dubbing index , accessed on December 31, 2008
  31. ↑ Entry in the synchronous database, accessed on December 31, 2008
  32. ↑ The Godfather (2008 synchronization) in the German dubbing index , accessed on December 31, 2008
  33. ↑ The Godfather - Background information worth knowing at: filmfunfacts.de; Retrieved on: March 19, 2015.