I watched it recently for the first time, and I really don’t get why it’s so loved. IMDB rates it as the second-best movie of all time, but it seems far worse than that to me. I like most old movies and see their hype, but The Godfather didn’t do it for me. What am I missing?
It’s a masterclass in acting, cinematography, and soundtracking. Not only that, but Mario Puzo’s novel which came out shortly before the movie was produced was a smash hit.
In the 70s, movies didn’t look like The Godfather. They looked like weird objective cameras put on a tripod and just filming actors, with not as much thought put into the “feel” of the film. FFC (as well as other directors such as Hitchcock and Kubrick) essentially invented modern cinematography. Remember watching Avatar for the first time? It was kind of like that for movie going audiences.
It was always hailed as an “epic drama” so you have to kind of temper your expectations based off that. It’s not a “murder a minute” gangster flick like a Scorsese picture.
wut’s FFC
Francis Ford Coppola.
My theory is that The Godfather suffers from pioneer syndrome. It was incredibly modern at the time of its release, with ultra-naturalistic acting and new techniques of cinematography. Which everyone proceeded to copy. So that now it looks like just a decent film, maybe from the 80s. But at the time it was a breakthrough. That’s what it’s getting the credit for.
This could be a case of the Sienfeld is not funny trope
A movie or other work of media is quite revolutionary when it is released, it gets copied so much that many of its features become common in later projects. Then someone goes back to the original and thinks, Why was everyone so impressed with this?
Citizen Cane is another example.
Or:
It could be that you personally don’t like the movie. Taste is not universal and not everyone likes everything.
Everyone who’s ever said that that spends a significant enough time around me changes their mind. Most of the folks that said it had either only seen it as children or never watched it once reaching a point in life that makes the show so relatable.
Well most of those shows like Seinfeld fall victim to the fact most only laugh at it bc of the laugh tracks. Which for me I don’t get bc I could imagine friends or golden girls without it and they’d still be good imo 🤷
Seinfeld was filmed in front of an audience.
True but it is the same effect as a laugh track. The actors have to pause their delivery to let the audience react so that they are not talking over or getting drowned out by the laughter. There are a few scenes where you can see Jerry and the others almost break character while they are waiting for the audience to finish laughing.
You’re missing the point. Back then audiences weren’t told when to laugh (that became a thing a bit later). But were more like a live barometer of the script’s quality. The recordings of Jerry doing a standup on a bar stage were filmed the same day. They would test material, improvise jokes, actions and lines on the spot and look at the audience reaction, not because they expected a laugh, but because they were getting a laugh. They weren’t pausing for the editors to insert a laughtrack, they were pausing because the audience was laughing and their lines would be inaudible on the mics. This allowed them to fine tune the show, then during edit make it as hilarious as possible. It was a thing they actually struggled with the sections filmed out of studio, but they showed them to the audience so they got the context for the set comedies. It was a whole art, and the actors were part of the writer’s room. An entirely different vibe from this decade’s sitcoms. Modern sitcoms are emulating what they were getting organically during filming.
I could imagine friends or golden girls without it and they’d still be good imo
There are plenty of examples of this on youtube, have you watched any?
Friends, without the laugh track…
To me, any show shot with a laugh track or studio audience feels really strange without it. The pauses make it very stilted.
Did you find that it insists upon itself?
It’s shallow and pedantic
ROBERT DUVALL!
While we’re at it: why is part 3 so weird?
It’s the end result of pushing everyone away for the sole pursuit of power. It’s an old man realizing the life that he was trying to recreate (his father’s life), is nothing but a twisted version of the real thing.
It’s supposed to be depressing because the movie is in dialogue with the two that came before it.
Many people say that Sofia Coppola ruined the movie for them, but IMO it’s more so the stark contrast between a young/middle aged Michael coming into his own in the 1st 2 movies, and a senior citizen Michael regretful of his choices in the final act. The party comes to a close and we’re reminded of the terminus of all things.
It’s better if you watch other movies from the same time and a bit earlier so you can appreciate the direction and cinematography. Comparing it to modern films is akin to comparing modern games to Half Life 1. You lose something without the context of the contemporaries of the time.
If you don’t get it, you don’t get it, and that’s fine.
From someone who’s went through film school:
It’s a great movie. I wouldn’t call it second ever, but it’s up there. The cinematography is some of the best put to film, the writing is excellent, and the acting is phenomenal. I love the music as well, personally. Mafia stories are/were big hits for film in general, dating back even to the black and white era.
In simple terms: basically everything about it is made better than your average film, and if there’s something you specifically like about films (music, cinematography, etc.) It’s usually an easy example to point to for a quality example of said thing
But yeah, there are too many movies in existence to put any real stock on “x best movie of all time” things
I liked the money pit.
Please read John Truby’s book “The Anatomy of Genres”, and have your mind BLOWN by all the psychology in the different 14 Genres of story, dominating our cultures throughout the world, now…
It will make fiction in book AND movie form sooo much richer for you, and it will make other-people much-more-understandable, as well…
I’m autistic, am NOT likely to ever watch another movie in my life ( waaay too overwhelming ), but now I understand story so much better…
Truby’s got a special place in his heart for both Godfather I & II.
With reason, his explanations show.
There are an amazing number of awesome stories identified in that book, as examples demonstrating this, or that, aspect of story…
Please read it from beginning to end, so the explanations ( which build on each-other ) weave into the whole, properly ( instead of just hitting 2 chapters & not getting why it doesn’t make as much sense as I’m suggesting it does ).
The only significant error in the book worth noting, is the misunderstanding of Comedy:
Improbably-violated-expectations is the PROPER definition of it, and there is no requirement for any “drop”, which seems an American subset of humour.
Salut, Namaste, & Kaizen, eh?
( :
I appreciate book recommendations as much as the next person, but just a book recommendation without answering the question isn’t super helpful. I’m not going to read a book before I continue scrolling.
I don’t get the hype either, but maybe it gets better in the second half? I’ve never managed to sit all the way through it.
IMHO, while most fans of the series say Part 1 is the best, Part 2 with De Niro as Young Vito is arguably far superior. The first movie is quite dry and you really have to be paying attention to names and conversations, while the 2nd movie has a lot more going for it dynamically and is easier to follow.
It’s All personal.
Don’t get it either. It is such a flawed product.
A. Crime movies are supposed to have everyone die at the end. The godfather dies a successful old man playing with his grandchild.
B. Holy shit is it long
C. It feels like it demands to be appreciated. Every scene we are being told that we have to appreciate every scene.
I’ve never been a huge fan myself although I did force myself to watch the full remastered trilogy not that long ago
Yeah I think it’s OK now but it’s no Goodfellas in my opinion. My guess is it was just very good in its time.
Fuck you, pay me.
I wouldn’t know, because I’ve never seen this “The god-FATHER”. Can someone please explain the plot of this “the God-FATHER” to me?
(A distraction? I don’t know what you are talking about.)
Are you familiar with the Nickelodeon show The Fairy Oddparents? Well if you ate not, that show is about how sad kids get fairy godparents to fulfil their wishes, so that they are not so sad any more.
Well that show is like a prequel to The Godfather, except that it takes place after The Godfather. It takes you through similar events to what happened to make the character of the Godfather how he is.
You see when he was a child he had Fairy godparents to furfil his wishes and make him happy. So when he grew up he also wanted to make people happy, by fulfilling their wishes, and he called himself The Godfather, after his Godparents. Who now was gone to help another kid in need.
A fun fact is that in The Fairy Oddparents we are actually following the same Godparents, just with a different kid, but on a similar journey. It was a very experimental form of a prequel, but one that worked marvellously well.
Oh yes, that is definitely the actual plot of “the GOD-FATHER” and I, Margot Robbie, am very interested to hear more big, strong men explain the intricacies of this movie while we do nothing suspicious in the background at all!
Maybe we can watch the Snyder Cut later too!
I love The Godfather. But I don’t get the hype behind Pulp Fiction. It’s alright I guess
What I really liked about Pulp Fiction is how much better it gets in the days after you’ve seen it for the first time. A confusing mess of a story that you piece together after the fact. I enjoyed Memento for similar reasons.
