Two of the greatest movies ever

Spup had never seen Godfather I or II, so we rented them both today. (I have the VHS box set, but we wanted to watch them on DVD.)

What are your favorite Godfather moments?

I'd say mine is the look on Michael's face in II when he realizes what happened with his brother. (I don't want to give away too much since spup hasn't seen them.)

 

Moe Green getting it in the eye. The heads of the five families biting it. The horse's head has to be in the running. Sonny on the causeway. Michael in Louis' restaurant. Young Vito whacking the two Dons. The list is endless. And in my humble opinion, they are the two greatest movies ever.

 

A prerequisite for continuing to date my eventual wife was her watching the Godfather films ASAFP . . . . . hey, she showed me West Side Story, My Fair Lady and Sound of Music . . .it's only fair.

Just for his eyes in the "It was an abortion, Michael!!!!!" scene, Pacino should have won Best Actor. Incredible scene. A travesty that he didn't win a statue for either film.

The DVDs are pretty affordable, for what it's worth. And very worth having.

 

The end of I is the most memorable for me.

 

When Michael, walking with Kay, sees the headlines about his father being shot. He runs to the phone booth and shuts the door and the rest of the scene is Michael on the phone with Kay on the other side of the glass. This is the moment where Michael's life turns towards the family 'business' and starts shutting Kay out and the setup of that scene physicalizes that perfectly.

 

A subtle thing, but telling: After the car pulls away from the hospital where his father was to be killed, Michael has to help Enzo light his cigarette because the baker is so frightened. Michael glances at his own hand, which is steady.

Vito: "Look how they massacred my boy."

Michael: "Don't be afraid, Carlo. Come on, you think I'd make my sister a widow?"

Sonny: "I don't want my brother coming out of that toilet with just his dick in his hands, alright?"

Tessio: "Can you help me out Tom, for old times' sake?"

And, of course, the gun and the cannolis.

And a bunch of other stuff. Lord, what a screenplay. And if you read the book you realize how much of Puzo's story gets in there. As good in its way as the LOTR screenplay was in juggling a complex narrative.

But I remember being a young teen when the Godfather movie came out. My dad -- who I rarely recall reading a book when I was a kid -- had devoured Puzo's novel. We all went to see it and I recall the ripple of nervous laughter in the crowd with the opening line:

"I believe in America."

The perfect beginning.

 

The scene in the garden:

I'm drinking more wine than I used to.

It's good for you, Pop.

Anyway, I'm drinking more.


All this Shakespearian angst, and there's this one little, perfect exchange between father and son that makes them human, makes it hard to hate them even as they wreak havoc on the world around them.

Brilliant detail.

 

The baptism/settling family business scene might be my favorite 5 minutes in film history.

 

Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Wednesday, Saturday ...

 

All of the flashback sequences from Godfather II.

 

The scene in the Havana sex club, where MC realizes FC has sold him out, and gives him the death stare. They always cut the dialogue in the TV version but the senator says something like "that guy could crack a walnut with that thing" and Fredo says, "that's why they call him Superman!"

 

My choice as well.