The Godfather Essay examples - 601 Words

The Godfather is the story of a Mafia family. It follows the rise of Michael Corleone within the family. Michael was once a war hero and did not want to be involved in the family business. When his father is shot though, Michael takes revenge on the people who did it and becomes a part of the Mafia lifestyle. When his older brother is murdered, Michael ascends to become the boss of the family, and proves to be more ruthless than his father and brother combined. The scene that I am analyzing is one where Michael is becoming his nephew’s godfather at his baptism. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The Godfather is a traditionally edited movie. This particular scene however uses Eisenstein’s method of montage editing. Francis Ford Coppola uses†¦show more content†¦nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;There are no special camera angles, with the exception of a few close-ups. The camera remains stationary. The meaning of the scene is inferred through the editing and the content. Coppola uses this montage in order to give the audience an insight into Michael. He contrasts religion and murder in order to show the complexity of Michael. The newly baptized baby is without sin, and Michael is his guardian into life. Michael is extremely sinful; he has ordered murder as he is taking the godfather vows. The use of religion and murder contrasted is representative of Michael himself. It is used to show the mix of good and evil in him. In Hegel’s dialectic, Michael is the synthesis, a twisted mix of good and evil. The line between the two has become blur red for him. He claims to reject Satan yet he commits the worst sin. He claims to believe in god, yet does not follow the tenets of religion. He is the guardian of this child without sin, and he is full of sin. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Coppola chose to use a montage in this segment. The hard cuts between such polar opposites as baptism and murder reflects on the contrasts in the main character. Overall, Coppola used this segment to communicate how twisted Michael has become. Michael can no longer distinguish between good and evil or right and wrong. He only evaluates his actions on whether or not they help him. It also shows the changes he has made in the movie. The baptism andShow MoreRelatedEssay On The Godfather1739 Words   |  7 PagesOne of the greatest films and novels of all time, The Godfather by Mario Puzo is the book that I chose to write my report about. This book falls under the drama and crime fiction genres, due to its dramatic story of people being shot and murdered. The Godfather takes place in New York during the years 1945-1955, right after World War II. Most of the story is written from a narrator s perspective, save for two points in the book in which the story becomes a first person point of view. One of theRead MoreComparing Hamlet And Th e Godfather1758 Words   |  8 PagesOne of the most similar pieces of work to Hamlet is The Godfather the movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola in 1972. The Godfather is a prominent crime film about a war hero of World War 2 named Michael Corleone, who openly volunteered to take control of his father’s (Vito Corleone) mafia business, after the death of his father and his older brother (Sonny Corleone), so he seeks revenge for the loved ones that he lost. Hamlet and The Godfather were both solely based on seeking revenge, and that’sRead MoreGodfather Goodfellas Essay802 Words   |  4 PagesThe Godfather and Goodfellas are both considered â€Å"mafia movies.† Both of these films portray some form of organized crime committed by Italians. They mutually romanticize the mob lifestyle and depict it with pure clarity. Although both of these movies portray the lives of the same kind of people, they are more than just a simple characterization. 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