How The Godfather Became a Message to The US by Francis Ford Coppola That Al Pacino Played to Perfection
- Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather is considered a classical masterpiece to this date.
- Coppola's aim was to warn the US about what's to come through The Godfather.
- The Outsiders director was initially wary of the novel after reading it for the first time.
The Godfather is certainly one of the best works in the history of cinema. Based on Mario Puzo’s best-selling novel, the film is directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a screenplay he co-wrote with Puzo. The movie was released to critical and commercial acclaim and has gained the status of a classic over the years.
On the surface, the movie is a poignant story of the transformation of Michael Corleone, the unwilling youngest son of a mafia boss, into someone he believed he could never be. However, on close introspection, it turns out that Michael’s tendencies as the crime lord are like those of the US. Coppola explained this well once.
Francis Ford Coppola Gave a Message to the US Through The Godfather
One of the leading members of the Hollywood film movement, Francis Ford Coppola is the recipient of five Academy Awards in addition to many other accolades. He has always been a visionary even if production houses have not always believed in his vision. He has never failed to take a stand for his visions and fans cannot be grateful enough that he has not.
The Godfather starred Marlon Brando in the titular role of the patriarch Don Vito Corleone and Al Pacino as his younger son Michael. Initially, Michael was an idealist, a good college student, and returned from fighting for his country during World War II. However, as the film progressed, he took over his father’s role and began exercising power exactly like him.
What is even more interesting is that he tried to use cover-ups like respectability and the wish to protect his family, which we learn that he fails to do, to justify his abominable actions. There was a parallel between his and the US’s claims of fighting for democracy and freedom overseas only to use it to further its foreign policy objectives. Coppola said (via BBC):
His actions were certainly like America, saying we want democracy, we want freedom, all these good things but much of the behind-the-scenes actions, necessitated by politics meant we were in a way staining ourselves, like Michael Corleone, like the soul of Dorian Gray was being stained.
Michael’s excuses for his actions did not help the fact that he was no longer the person he once claimed he was. The film was a clear warning that the US’s actions, at the time when Coppola was writing the script too might land it in a similar predicament as Michael, whose actions resulted in the irreversible loss of those who were dear to him.
Francis Ford Coppola Was Not a Fan of The Godfather Book When He First Read It
As far as book-to-screen adaptations are concerned, there are not too many films that manage to contain the essence of the source material. Some of the things quite certainly get lost in translation. The Godfather had most of it intact, but it did omit more graphic violence and s*xual content from the book. Speaking about it to BBC, Coppola said:
To me originally, and anyone who remembers the original Godfather book, it had a lot of sleazy aspects to it, which of course were cut out for the movie, and I didn’t like it very much for those reasons.
Despite the differences, the film turned out to be a great success, even spawning two sequels. The second movie won six Academy Awards, double the number of Oscars the first movie had won. It was a win-win for everyone- Coppola who got to depict the themes he so dearly wanted to and the audience who had one hell of a time watching the masterpiece.
The Godfather trilogy is available for streaming on Fubo and Paramount+.
