Any Serious Godfather fans out there?

My biggest beef with III is that it seems to recycle the same themes as the first two.....it never seems fresh and new.

I think II is better than I simply due to the cross cutting between the two stories.

 

I absolutely love how Tom Hagen continues to calmly eat his dinner while Jack Woltz is screaming at him.

 

Hagen addressing the crooked Senator in the bordello:

"This girl has no family; nobody knows that she worked here. It'll be as though she never existed. All that's left is our friendship."

 

In Part I during the scene where Michael meets Sollozo and Captain McClusky at the restuarant (to kill them) there is a great sequence where the waiter brings the wine. Michael and Sollozo are sitting there eye to eye while the waiter literally "pops" the cork on the wine making a loud pop sound. This apparently is very amatuerish according to my wife who was a waiter for many years. I wonder if that was intentional.

Either way I found it quite amusing.

 

"Do you know who I am? I'm MOE GREEN! I made my bones when you were going out with cheerleaders!"

 

Whataya think this is, the Army, where you shoot 'em a mile away? You gotta get up close like this... badaBING!

Sony to Michael

 

SPOILER ALERT:


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And, a deleted scene really drives home the point that Woltz is a lot more than *just* a Hollywood scumbag - he's a predator/pedophile too. All of which make his "breakfast with Seabiscuit" even more of a reason for the audience to delight in his role as victim when the tables are turned on him.

 

In all my years I've watched II, my wife has watched it, my family's watched it, this is the first time that all made sense. I never even tied in that Aiello was a Rosato brother, I thought he was just someone's hit man. And it DOES make sense that Roth would want Pantandelli alive so he could behind the scenes have him testify against Michael which would put away one of his enemies that he keeps close.

I thank you!

 

Thanks, GBV, but I'm not even sure this is the correct explanation. In the scene in the Rosatos' bar, Pentangelli is given a pretty good going over, and is basically left for dead. Seemingly, all that interrupts his being killed is the fortuitous arrival of a cop -- unless that was part of the charade.

So maybe it was an actual murder attempt. But if Roth thought Pentangelli was a traitor to the Corleones, why would he want to kill him? It doesn't completely make sense for either boss to want him dead.

 

I think the Cop was part of the Charade. As Hagen said, "Roth played it beautifully".

"Your father did business with Roth, Your father respected Roth, but your father never trusted Roth"

 

Anyone have any input on the Godfather books by Puzo? The Godfather, The Sicilian, The Last Don. Any thoughts on these?

 

I read Puzo's original novel, The Godfather, years ago, before the movie came out. I couldn't put it down until I finished it. How I would like it now, having seen I and II dozens of times, I couldn't say.

 

The Godfather book is very good.....It has 1 chapter/character subplot about the female Jimmy Cann had sex with getting an abortion. Coppola wisely got rid of that in the movie.

 

I only read the first one and I knew the films already. In my opinion it's not a good book. Very mediocre writing and not in the same league as the films. A bit like reading The Shining after having seen the Kubrick version. But as always it's a matter of taste and I tend to be overcritical when it comes to literature.

 

Thanks for the thoughts guys!

 

Agreed, it slowed the book down.

 

Actually, if memory serves, I thought it was a gynecological operation to reduce the size of one of her private parts.

 

Lucy Mancini, correct? I felt that subplot and the extended time devoted to Johnny Fontaine were tough to get through.
I'm not sure if I would feel differently if I had read the book first.

 

Godfather Epic box set

I have the Godfather Epic box set which puts I and II into cronological order. It also includes scenes that were edited out of I&II. I know that many people dislike this re-editing of the two movies; however, I enjoy watching the "Epic". It makes for a very different "twist" of the two movies.

 

Last week I re-watched the original for the first time in a long time, on Blu-ray. In the restaurant scene I noticed something I never had before, which is that there is a huge continuity error in the shooting of McClusky. Because of the clarity of the Blu-ray, I could now see that when Michael first shoots McClusky in the throat (the long shot where McClusky reaches up and grabs his throat in a manner similar to how JFK did when he was assassinated(something else I'd never really noticed)) that a bullet hole/bullet trail can be seen on McClusky's forehead and face. Then they go in for the tight shot for the forehead shot and of course there is no hole/blood. I now see that it is noted at IMDB, but it was the first time I noticed it.

John K.

 

Here's a link to a fascinating Vanity Fair article about the making of The Godfather, in which the author alleges that several of the most famous lines were ad-libbed by the actors, including Sonny's phrase "bada-bing" and Clemenza's "take the cannoli."

Apparently the New York mob tried to stop the film from being made, which is an amazing revelation.

Here's the link:

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/03/godfather200903?currentPage=1

Chris

 

I and II- I consider them the two greatest films of all time, with Citizen Kane in third place.
I have never watched III. From what I read about it, maybe it's better that way.

 

First 2 are masterpieces of American cinema. If it wasn't for Bridget Fonda, the 3rd one would be even worse than it was.

 

Time Magazine: 40 Things You Didn't Know About The Godfather

http://entertainment.time.com/2012/...ow-about-the-godfather/#the-cat#ixzz1pCnuGj1i

This has some very cool stories about the Godfather.

 

I'm excited to see I and II on the big screen in the coming weeks. It will be the first time I'm seeing them that way.