This film review of The Godfather, discusses its merits within its own time. Specifically the film was one of the highest grossing of its time which led to a resurgence of Hollywood film as there had been a great deal of foreign competition at the time.  Francis Ford Coppola solidified himself as a Director despite only being a film student.

As a nearly three hour gangster film, Coppola’s reluctant project was not expected to be such a success, especially given its small budget, despite what we now know is a star packed cast, including Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, and Robert Duvall amongst others.  In addition to grossing a great deal of money, the film won many Oscars, and was highly critically acclaimed.

Despite the gangster genre having been around for quite a while, The Godfather, as a film, and Coppola as a Director reinvented it.  Though the film and characters are somewhat dark, the main characters are very well liked and become tragic heros.  The crimes the commit are justified in some respect and the violence in this film, and many that would follow, was romanticized.

A mafia family story set in the 1940’s and 50’s, “The Godfather is an insightful sociological study of violence, power, honor and obligation, corruption, justice and crime in America.”  The honorable Corleone family is an Italian-American immigrant family that is very tight knit.  Don Corleone, for instance, believes strongly in family values despite what one would imagine a crime lord to value.

There is a ten year span over which the film takes place and each of these is characterized by some form of family event or loss be it a death or a wedding.  The Godfather, as a film, tracks the Corleone family through the death of the Don and the beginning of a new generation running the family “business.”