The Godfather

Puzo's book was once recommended to me by my grandmother and, it completely captivated me. I felt the atmosphere of the family and from the first page it was as though I already knew them all - it felt like they were my own family. Still, I was a little worried about what the movie would end up being like, but Coppola handled the adaptation perfectly. He preserved the atmosphere, honed all the details, and, with amazing precision, made sure to keep the fans of the original happy. Marlon Brando, as Don Vito, made an indelible mark on cinema history, and Al Pacino gave one of the best performances of his career. The Godfather is a legend, and I'm glad I finally got to see it. (06/10/2006)

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)

Amazing. If The Godfather was more than four hours long, I still wouldn’t even blink, because I’d be afraid to miss a major or dominant moment – that’s how deep Coppola’s flawless narration draws me in and how opulently the twists flow. Precise in every aspect, from the layering of storylines that depend on the most personal acquaintance with the characters and the nature of their world, to the performances, which have received all the possible praise. Chilling, realistic and timeless. Godfather of the Cinema. (16/11/2018)

The Godfather is the ultimate gangster movie; there’s hardly anything more to add. Marlon Brando is spectacular and not even Al Pacino can surpass him. This is mainly because Marlon Brando’s performance is perhaps one of the greatest acting performances I have ever experienced in a film. Excellent from start to finish. Although the film has 175 minutes, what is it compared to one decade of in the lives of a mobster family, which is everything but boring. (03/12/2012)

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)