Today I felt like a man. I was cooking burgers, having a beer and smoking. I walked around the house with a true sense of purpose, no bullshit accepted. It felt as if I had all the authority and dignity of being an adult; added to the fact that I found out just hours earlier that I'd have to work all week on the morning shift that I hated and didn't feel any of the animosity towards it. I had the feelings of a red blooded male. Oh, not to mention the fact that I was in between watching The Godfather and The Godfather Part II.
The Godfather trilogy centers around the Corleone's family though the generations and their actions within the gangster underworld of pre-modern 20th century. It focuses on Michael Corleone's becoming the Don and his trailblazing road of bloodshed and vengeance.
The first movie is hailed as the greatest gangster movie of all time, 3 years after the novel had come out. And I thought at the time of reading that, "And I thought the Twilight series being rushed to theaters was an odd occurrence." But of course, we all know that there is a vast difference between the Ann Rice fan fiction of an excommunicated Mormon and the sheer powerhouse cinema that is The Godfather.
I found my self speechless in watching this movie a second time. (The first time had been in my ceremonious film class I had in my first and only year in college.) All the things I had loved about the movie: the superb dialogue and character development of Al Pacino's Michael, the award winning performance of Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone, the supporting cast that featured Robert Duvall, John Cazale and Abe Vigoda; the strong sense of loyalty, respect and purpose combined with the Shakespearean tragedy that comes with losing all of that by becoming revenge driven, power hungry and lustful.
To be honest; this movie had it all, then never forgot the small details. The odd moments where you watch Luca Brasi(portrayed by Lenny Montana) practice his words before seeing his Don at his daughters wedding. The family bond that the mobsters have together during the scene when Michael comes home to find out what happens to his father to be taught how to cook for 20 adult males. The abuse that actress Talia Shire's Connie Corelone is subjected to by her husband, only to have it resolved at the end of the movie. Speaking of the ending, it is the most awe striking scene of all; in my opinion the best scene of the movie and obviously my favorite. I won't ruin it for you (I think I should have written SPOILERS, BEWARE all over this thing), but it is the movie for me.
Your faithful writer gets up to go watch the second movie while having his beers, burgers and smokes
(The second part to this will be posted very soon.)
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