The Godfather

I give you an offer you cannot refuse. Either you watch The Godfather and get to see the zenith of filmmaking craft or... No comment. But in that case, don’t be surprised if you find a part of a horse in your bed this evening. As an adaptation of the book, I give this “only" four stars, but as a movie in its own right, it must get a full five. (04/08/2004)

In terms of filmmaking, it’s flawless and brilliant, but the story didn’t captivate me that much and I didn’t care how it would all end. The best thing in the film is Marlon Brando’s performance, even when he’s laying down silent, he’s the most charismatic character on screen. Even though this film didn’t thrill me as much as I expected, I’m still quite curious about the second part. (11/08/2008)

The Godfather is a classic that engages viewers not emotionally, but through revealing the fascinatingly depicted world of a New York mafia family and studies of its characters. And through elegant filmmaking that doesn’t rush anywhere, because it wants to devotedly savor every morsel of the story. Marlon Brando gives a standout performance with creative details in his speech that make his character magnetically interesting. The film is a loftily conceived and inwardly sad portrait of people with corrupt ideals whose only non-false value is family. And of the disintegration of the family, because the rule “like father, like son” does not always apply. My favorite passage (other than all of the scenes with Brando) is surprisingly the romantic one and the only explicitly nice one in the whole long film – the wooing of the Italian peasant girl by Al Pacino and his show of respect to her father. (05/06/2022)

I can kind of see why this movie became a legend. To be honest, I didn't enjoy it much, but I have to admit that the sound, the execution of some of the scenes are brilliant. That's why the four stars... otherwise simply: the mafia doesn't do much for me, its hierarchy not at all, I caught myself bored many times. I don't need to see it again, nor do I want to. Yes, Brando was great, Pacino's transformation was great, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I would have enjoyed it much more as a book. But I liked the ending, I really did :-) (06/11/2009)

A story of gigantic proportions, its adaptation into a screenplay undoubtedly required a very skillful hand. Coppola’s direction is excellent, the pace is indeed very slow, but the scenes from Sicily are captivating and overshadow the relative feeling of emptiness from the beginning of the film. There are many characters and someone who hasn't read the book, will need to see the film multiple times. The performances by the actors are stunning. Above all, Al Pacino's transformation is masterfully portrayed. The enormous running time, of course, is understandable and most likely it couldn't have been done differently. The action is nothing special, but that can be overlooked. The relationships between the characters are well depicted, but in my opinion, The Godfather is not the best mafia movie of all time. (12/04/2004)