Hello, everyone. My name is Michael "Dorkman" Scott, I'm 25 years old, a filmmaker, and until earlier today I had not seen Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather.
I have lost count of how many times someone has nearly leapt across a table and wang-chung'd me after I have been forced to make that confession in conversation. Even those who were kind about it treated me like the filmgoing equivalent of the 40 Year Old Virgin: they were nice about it to the level of slight condescension, assuring me that I'd see it "when I was ready."
Well, as the subject line says, everyone can relax. I've seen the fucking movie.
Obviously, with the kind of reaction people would have to my not having seen the flick, I went in with some pretty high expectations. Some films, like Pulp Fiction, and more recently The Dark Knight, manage to live up to and even, miraculously, sometimes surpass even the highest of expectations. The aforementioned Pulp Fiction was another on the list of "You mean you HAVEN'T SEEN -- ?!" reactions until finally I did see it about five years ago -- and understood what all the fuss was about.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are films like 2001, Blade Runner, and recently the obscenely-lauded Pan's Labyrinth, for which, for the life of me and even with multiple viewings, I cannot begin to understand the hype and passionate love people have.
So it was up in the air as to what I might think of Godfather now that I've had a quarter century of people telling me I'd better see it if I knew what was good for me. Fortunately, I liked it.
There's very little I can say about the film that hasn't already been said, so I won't bother to review or analyze it here. I think I need time for it to sink in before I can say I love the film, but I do think it's a great film. I wasn't blown away by it like I was by Pulp Fiction; it fits into a rarer category of a film that exactly hits my expectations, neither falling short nor exceeding. Another film to do that was The Shawshank Redemption. Didn't blow my mind, but I didn't get bored, and in a three-hour film that's always noteworthy. And of course the performances were flawless.
Now I guess I'd better see Godfather II, if I know what's good for me.
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5 comments:
Godfather II, not so much. And III, definitely not. It's all downhill from here, my friend.
Some movies are like literary works. Even if you don't enjoy them, they're part of the cannon of literary cinema, and it's worth your while as a filmmaker or film buff to know why they're important. The Dark Knight and Pan's Labyrinth have yet to stand the test of time, but I believe they will.
(In my opinion, both Pan's Labyrinth and Blade Runner are both important because they successfully use film to tap into what E.M. Forrester called in The Art of the Novel "prophecy"; that is, a hole in reality that isn't and doesn't need to be explained, because the story is better for the lack of explanation. Forrester's book is one worth reading for storytellers in any medium.)
There are many such important movies, and few have seen them all. The AFI top 100 list isn't a bad place to start.
Haven't seen it all the way through. I've seen bits because I was playing the video game and I didn't think too much from it.
I still haven't seen Scarface.
I agree with 'Fazimoto', The first Godfather was the best, the next 2 just werent as good.
I've never seen Pulp Fiction or Godfather. I have people tell me the same stuff. I'm the odd one out on this, but I have no desire to see either film ever. They look utterly uninteresting to me.
The Dark Knight is an ok film, but I also find myself bored quite often during the film, especially after having seen it twice.
Some movies, I'll just never understand the hype for.
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