The Godfather
At long last, The Godfather is available as a stand alone DVD.
Naturally I picked up a copy yesterday and watched most of the film after work.
My first thought after turning off the movie was 'what the hell happened to Al Pacino?' How did he go from brilliantly portraying the transformation of Michael Corleone from All American to ruthless capo, to awful scenery chewing roles in Scent of a Woman and that hideous Satanic lawyer thing?
My second thought was 'I have no need of any other Godfather DVDs.' The third one, of course, never really happened, and while I enjoy watching the second one, I have no desire to own it.* In my humble opinion there's too much missing by way of the cast - and the overall cast is the reason I love the first Godfather. Not just the big guns of Pacino and Brando, but everyone else. It seemed like each of the many character, no matter how small, had one spotluight scene - where that character was center stage and on display for the audience to understand. Take Clemenza (played by Richard S. Castellano) for example. The scene where's he prepping Michael for the Sollozo hit in the basement - that tells you everything you need to know about who Clemenza is and what he's about.
I miss these moments when watching the second film. The 'modern' storyline of Godfather II centers around Michael, who to me is a much less interesting character once he's actually become the Don. There's no Brando (who evidently declined to participate at the last moment), only a brief appearance by James Caan, and Duvall is relegated to an occasional brief and largely docile appearances. I prefer the broader canvas of the first movie, with it's crowded cast of characters.
*Unless of course there somehow came to be a DVD with just the DeNiro backstory portions of Godfather II. Those are my absolute favorite parts of that film.
Naturally I picked up a copy yesterday and watched most of the film after work.
My first thought after turning off the movie was 'what the hell happened to Al Pacino?' How did he go from brilliantly portraying the transformation of Michael Corleone from All American to ruthless capo, to awful scenery chewing roles in Scent of a Woman and that hideous Satanic lawyer thing?
My second thought was 'I have no need of any other Godfather DVDs.' The third one, of course, never really happened, and while I enjoy watching the second one, I have no desire to own it.* In my humble opinion there's too much missing by way of the cast - and the overall cast is the reason I love the first Godfather. Not just the big guns of Pacino and Brando, but everyone else. It seemed like each of the many character, no matter how small, had one spotluight scene - where that character was center stage and on display for the audience to understand. Take Clemenza (played by Richard S. Castellano) for example. The scene where's he prepping Michael for the Sollozo hit in the basement - that tells you everything you need to know about who Clemenza is and what he's about.
I miss these moments when watching the second film. The 'modern' storyline of Godfather II centers around Michael, who to me is a much less interesting character once he's actually become the Don. There's no Brando (who evidently declined to participate at the last moment), only a brief appearance by James Caan, and Duvall is relegated to an occasional brief and largely docile appearances. I prefer the broader canvas of the first movie, with it's crowded cast of characters.
*Unless of course there somehow came to be a DVD with just the DeNiro backstory portions of Godfather II. Those are my absolute favorite parts of that film.
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