Talk:The Godfather (novel)

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Contents

[edit] Titling

I was under the impression that the term "Godfather" in this context was invented by Mario Puzo. Is it really the case that the term "Godfather" was derived from the testimony of Joe Valachi? This definitely needs a citation.

[edit] Mafia

The word Mafia does not appear anywhere in the first film, neither does the term 'Cosa Nostra' or 'Our Thing' due to pressure from an Italian American Civil Rights group that had been formed by mobster Joe Colombo. The aim of the group was to improve Italian reputations by removing any hints of Italian links to crime in TV or Film, along with Italian terminology in Radio adverts. However the real purpose of the group was to get the police off their backs by making the police look discriminatory whenever an Italian was arressted or interogated for mafia related crimes.

[edit] Don

In the following two paragraphs I think that "Don" on it's own isn't used properly. I don't know Italian, but in Spanish it's not a title but just a particle you put in front of someone's name to indicate respect, hence "Don" alone would be like "Mister" in English. Can someone confirm this?

The role of Don Vito Corleone was memorably acted by Marlon Brando, and Brando won an Academy Award for his portrayal of the aging Don. Many of the actors playing the supporting roles were largely unknown or minor actors; however, they rocketed into the limelight with the success of The Godfather. In particular, Pacino and Robert Duvall enjoyed long, successful, highly acclaimed careers.

Since its release on March 15, 1972, The Godfather has been accused of glorifying the image of the Mafia. Don Vito Corleone was portrayed by Brando as a Mafia Don whom people could actually respect (although the actions of Don Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part II worked to tear down this image).

I also don't know any Italian, but I read the novel a couple weeks ago, and the usage in the paragraphs you've mentioned is accurate insofar and the usage in the book. 74.110.71.97 01:57, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Clean Up

I think before any clean up is made we should decide whether the article should give a taster of the plot not exposing the finale, giving a general gist of the plot throughout or an in depth analysis of the entire plot. As the current article is leaning more towards the latter it would be alot harder to revert towards either of the former while keeping alot of hard work and relevant information. Gfad1 21:35, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)

This article had a complete plot synopsis when I saw it. If it was aiming for a thorough analysis, then it was too brief and didn't cover a lot of the symbolism that made the film so potent. Something like this might have been the goal.
On the other hand, if it was just supposed to be an overview, then I agree—it's far too long.
As for a decision, I vote for the brief overview to at least bring the article back up to par again, but to continue work on the thorough analysis in talk.
—Ghakko 23:15, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Well, since no one objected, here it is.  ;-)
Looking over the synopsis briefly, I think we ought to have detailed commentary on at least:
  • The opening wedding scenes (done).
  • Showdown at the hospital.
  • Murder at the restaurant.
  • The baptism/massacre.
  • The closing scene in Michael's office.
That's a lot of editing, so I'll plug away bit by bit. Feel free to jump in. ;-)
—Ghakko 00:02, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Plot synopsis

The film opens with "I believe in America"—a speech by Bonasera the undertaker (played by Salvatore Corsitto), who comes to Corleone during his daughter's wedding for help in settling his family affairs. The following dialogue between Corleone and Bonasera is one of the most memorable introductions to the Mafia in film, emphasizing the importance of family and personal relationships in Mafia business and the niche they hold within the American dream. Corleone agrees to help and we see Bonasera inducted into the Mafia way of doing business: he is now indebted to the Godfather, as would be a client of a Roman patron.

The opening scene is set in a dark, quiet, wood-panelled office in the Corleone family home in New York and contrasts with the noisy, joyous and hectic wedding party in the bright sunshine outside, symbolizing the subtle and veiled manner in which the Mafia typically operates.

At the wedding party, we are introduced to the sons of the Corleone family: hotheaded, violent Sonny (played by James Caan), awkward, goofy Fredo (John Cazale), Michael (Al Pacino)'s aloofness and disapproval of the family business and Tom Hagen, the level-headed family consigliere.

Johnny Fontane, the Don's godson and a famous singer, makes an appearance and requests a favor from the Godfather. (Many commentators drew parallels between Fontane and Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin.) There is a movie being produced in Hollywood that he feels would do good for his career. Unfortunately, the director of the movie refuses to give him the part and he feels that the Don must intercede on his behalf. Corleone reassures Fontane, "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse."

Hagen flies to Hollywood to negotiate with Jack Woltz at Woltz International Pictures. Hagen is welcomed to Woltz's own house once the producer realizes that he represents the Corleone family and is not merely a "two-bit hustler" hired by Johnny to intimidate him. Woltz, however, still refuses to give Johnny the part, explaining that he bears a grudge against Fontane for running off with a young lady he had been grooming as the next biggest hit in Hollywood and that he had taken it upon himself to run Johnny out of Hollywood. The next morning, Woltz wakes up to find himself covered in blood and the head of his prized racehorse in his bed. The scene closes with his screams echoing across the compound. The subplot of Fontane, Woltz, and Hagen, does not have a major impact on future events of the film but illustrates the great power and reach of the Corleone family.

(The scene with the horse's head was one of the most controversial in the film, with animal-rights groups protesting the use of an actual horse's head. Coppola, however, stated that the head came from a dog food company and that no horse had been killed specifically for the film.)

After Tom's return to New York, Victor Sollozzo from the rival Tattaglia family approaches the Corleones, offering them a share of the lucrative narcotics business in exchange for access to political protection. Sonny thinks it a good idea to join with Sollozzo and Tom agrees, but the Don feels the enterprise would be too risky. He turns down Sollozzo, respectfully and in person, and wishes him good fortune on his own. However, Sollozzo feels that he must have the support of the Corleone family and is not satisfied with a mere "good luck". He then sets his plan into motion.

The Don&with his regular bodyguard Paulie home sick—is gunned down at the greengrocer's while buying oranges (in all three Godfather movies, the presence of oranges signifies impending death). He miraculously survives but remains in critical condition and is rushed to hospital. Paulie, who is revealed as a traitor, is then killed by Clemenza (one of the Don's henchmen) and an accomplice by in a famous roadside scene. "Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."

Sadly, Don Vito is not even safe in the hospital when, under the pay of Sollozzo, Police Captain McCluskey arrests the Mafia guards placed to guard the Don and leaves the path open for Sollozzo hitmen to finish the job. Michael, visiting his father, notices the lack of any guards and, with the help of an innocent baker who came to pay his respects to the injured Don, gives the hitmen the impression that there are guards in place and an assault would only end in an open gunbattle. With his failure to kill the Don, and the realization that Sonny, Don now that Vito is incapacitated, would hunt him down no matter how much of a boon the drug industry could be, Sollozzo decides it better to broker a truce rather than continue a fight he had no hope of winning. He tries to arrange a meeting with Michael, who has previously had no involvement with the criminal side of the Corleone business, but that does not go as planned.

Sollozzo's plan to avoid being killed rested on three points: 1) He has a Police Captain, McCluskey, as a personal bodyguard and on his personal payroll. Nobody in Mafia history had killed a Police Captain before, the retaliation from the Police and other Families would be fatal. 2) The location for his negotiations with Michael would be a secret from everybody except himself, McCluskey, and the driver of their car. Even Michael wouldn't know until they arrived. Thus, no hitmen would be waiting for them to do what they thought Michael couldn't. 3) Michael had shown nothing but disdain for the Corleone Family business, seeking to distance himself from all aspects of the criminal life. He had kept himself clean throughout his entire life and even served with distinction in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. Sollozzo felt that Michael would not act rashly like Sonny was known to do. Unfortunately, Sollozzo had overlooked three facts that cancelled out his three points: 1) McCluskey was a dirty cop; the people on the Corleone payroll in the newspaper industry would easily profit from the story of him being killed in a Mafia shooting and his murder could thus be attributed to "business". The other Mafia families would thus have nothing to retaliate over. 2) Police Captains had to be on call 24/7, McCluskey had signed where he was going to be and the Corleone plant in the Police relayed the information to Sonny, this allowed them to plant a gun in advance for Michael to use. 3) Michael might not have been intimately involved in the running of the criminal empire set up by his father, but he did love his father and did not take kindly to an attempted murder. He sought vengeance. In a meeting with Sonny, Clemenza, Hagen, and Tessio after the incident at the hospital, Michael makes the case that Sollozo is too dangerous to be left alive, and outlines his plan that shows he has the intelligence and master planning abilities that the rest of Vito's sons lack.

The ensuing tension exploded when Michael killed both Sollozzo and McCluskey at the meeting, vengeance for his father. The other four of the five families of New York went to war with the Corleones over his actions, violence and vengeance were now dominant over business and Sonny thrived in his element. Michael goes to hide in Sicily for several years - even the Corleone connections could not protect him from a government who sought him over the murder of a Police Captain - where he fell in love with a woman named Appollonia. The two get married, but Appollonia is murdered by one of Michael's bodyguards, Fabrizzio, after bad news reaches them from the States. Santino Corleone is murdered at a toll booth by a large group of men with Thompson 1928 guns. He had been rushing to his sister's house where she was being beaten by her husband when he was ambushed on the road. Upon learning of his oldest son's death, Don Vito, home from the hospital and regaining his health, calls a meeting of the heads of the Five Families and other Mafia bosses from all over the United States. At the meeting he states his wish to end the War among the Families, a war which is tearing apart their entire way of life and ruining everyone. He forgoes all rights of vengeance over his son, Sonny, and hopes the others will also halt their attacks and retaliations. However, he states that he does not forgive anything that might happen to Michael, soon to return from Sicily, and that even if he is struck by lightning the Don will take revenge. The other Dons agree, provided that Don Vito concede to allow drug trafficking in a controlled manner, and peace is restored. While driving home from the meeting Don Vito reveals to Tom Hagen that he believes that although it was Tattaglia's men that killed Sonny, it was Barzini's (another New York boss) masterplan all along.

After the death of Appollonia, Michael remains in Sicily for a while before returning home. This is the time during which Mario Puzo's The Sicilian takes place. Upon returning home, the power in the family is gradually transferred to Michael, who seems to have lost his loathing for the family business and marries his old college sweetheart Kay Adams. Michael is advised by Don Vito not to take any revenge for what happened to Sonny and to make plans to move the family to Las Vegas. This causes splits within the family with Tessio and Clemenza requesting that they be allowed to form a separate family, yet Michael tells them that once they have made the move to Nevada they are free to form their own families. Michael travels to Las Vegas and meets Moe Green, a casino owner and a powerful man in the city. Michael requests that the Corleone family be allowed to buy his half of a casino, but he turns down the offer, saying he will not be muscled out of the city he owns.

Back in New York, Don Vito advises Michael that Barzini will make a move on him, arrange a meeting at which he will be assassinated. The Don unwilling to pass the torch to Michael, stating that he wanted different things for his youngest son, but ultimately accepts Michael's fate as the leader of the family. He also says that whoever approaches Michael with this meeting is the traitor, repeating his advice over and over. In the next scene the Don has a heart attack while playing with his grandson in the garden. This scene is most famous for being completely ad-libbed by Brando. And at his grand funeral Tessio asks Michael if he will meet Barzini on his own territory where he will be 'safe'.

In one of the last scenes in the movie, after Michael reveals his plans to buy out his main competition in Las Vegas, Michael acts as godfather in the baptism of his sister's newborn baby, Michael Rizzi (played by Sofia Coppola). At the same time, his henchmen, acting under his orders, kill all the heads of the other four families, Cuneo, Tattaglia, Strachi and Barzini, and Moe Green, his business opponent in Vegas. This massacre removes any anger still borne against the Corleone's from the killing of Sollozzo and McCluskey many years ago, solidifies Michael Corleone's position as the most powerful mob boss in America, and paves the way for his domination of the gambling scene in Las Vegas. This is Michael Corleone's own baptism into "the family" as the new Godfather. Michael's next move is to have Tessio, his father's most loyal captain, killed for betraying him, and finally Michael has Carlo Rizzi killed, revealing that it was Carlo who was responsible for Santino's death by betraying him to Barzini. The ambush on the road which had Sonny killed was obviously planned in advance, and required the participation of either Sonny's sister or brother-in-law to draw Santino away from his fortress in a rage without his bodyguards.

Note: Notice that the movie starts out with the wedding of Carlo Rizzi and Connie and ends with the end of their marriage with the murder of Carlo by Michael. Michael becomes everything he promised he would not.

Michael is questioned by Kay about his involvement in the death of Carlo. Michael lies to his wife, saying "No." when she asks him. She is momentarily relieved, but watches from outside the Don's office as Michael is called "Don Corleone" for the first time by Clemenza. As his bodyguard Neri closes the door on Kay, she realizes what her husband has become as the film fades to black.

[edit] Re-furnished this entry

I'm going to furnish, clean up and add much more information to this entry, and have already started, adding an infobox, links and furnishing the introduction, as well as including this entry into WikiProject Novels. A detailed plot summary, character information and critical acclaim sections will follow soon. - Ganryuu 08:08, 4 May 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Labia Rejuvenation?

I think it should be noted on the main page how the book details labia rejuvenation whereas the movie completely ignores that sideplot.

[edit] Video Games?

Discussing the EA video game adaptation of the Godfather movie is probably not necessary here since it is, after all, an adaptation of the movie, and not the book. (If retained, some mention should also be made of the earlier 1991 Godfather video game -- but more likely the section here should be axed and mention of the board game shipped on over to the movie page.) Pseudo Intellectual 10:21, 7 January 2007 (UTC) Also -- yow, that previous section is quite an item.


[edit] Plot Synopsis

The plot on this page details the movie, even includes actor names and ends with "as the film fades to black" This needs to be changed, as this page is NOT about the film. Grsz11 (talk) 20:25, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] If you want to read it online

http://dn4.sharedzilla.com/downloads/0001AF355669BECA47BFC7BE6D6172696F70757A6F746865676F646661746865722E706466/67e09d6bf0607816cb29bd71ceb48233/Mario%20Puzo%20-%20The%20Godfather.pdf —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.105.190.202 (talk) 07:21, 21 February 2008 (UTC)