Cinematography in Godfather the Movie Essay

Francis Ford Coppola directed the gangster crime drama film, The Godfather (1972), inspired by the novel of the same name, written by Author Mario Puzo. The film plays out in the beginning how Don Corleone declined to join the narcotics business with notorious drug lord Sollozzo. With this in mind, one of the greatest gangster films created by a man who decided to lead, and not follows. Moreover, explaining the formalist approach for this film which covers an array of elements that include plot structure, camera techniques, editing, mise en scene, and sound. The following film critique will analyze “The Godfather,” beginning by utilizing the formalist approach theory, camera technique and sound gradually introducing additional theories

Music plays a critical role in the narrative films as it is important technique that filmmakers use to support the narrative and influence the way that the viewer interacts, responds and interprets the events as they unfold. The godfather, which is one of all time Hollywood movies, represents a good use of music that succeeded in supporting the dramatic events that take place in the movie. Moreover, both diegetic and non-diegetic music in the godfather movie are used to achieve the overall purpose by using the different principles and functions of film music that range from setting the mood of the viewer to providing continuity within the movie. In this essay, we will take part of the godfather movie in which we can observe and analyse the

One 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 the themes portrayed in the novel is that family always comes first, even if it isn’t a blood-related family, but a crime family. The novel’s theme is primarily that of loyalty, which is a crucial plot device because some of the Corleone family

There are quite a lot of widespread stereotypes of Italian Americans in “The Godfather” movies which involve characters, Italian foods, family, and violence. Food plays a huge role in The Godfather movies. Characters in the movies are always seen eating Italian food such as pasta. If the directors were not referring to any specific ethnic group than why were all the movies showing characters with Italian names eating foods that were known to be “Italian” foods. Also, violence is a major key in the movie which is also stereotyped to Italian Americans by them being associated with crime and the mafia. “ Thus, rather than helping to overcome the negative image of Italian-Americans fostered by entertainment programming, the media reinforces

The Godfather and Goodfellas are both considered “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. Violence plays a major role in each of these films. The Godfather and Goodfellas are obviously very similar. However, they also have several aspects that differ from one another.

The critically acclaimed film, Goodfellas, is a gangster crime drama that features a great deal of talent. Household names such as Robert De Niro (Jimmy Conway), Joe Pesci (Tommy DeVito), Paul Sorvino (Paul Cicero), and promising stars like Ray Liotta (Henry Hill) and Lorraine Bracco (Karen Hill), attracted numerous Golden Globes and Academy Awards nominations. That type of cast power, linked with the signature talent of Martin Scorsese as a director, made for cinematic gold. Unquestionably, the actors and actresses did an excellent job augmenting the verisimilitude of this film and compelling audiences to empathize with their characters. But the cinematography in this film plays just as large a role in having audiences feel what the characters are feeling at a specific moment. Through the use of freeze frames, we learn of significant moments that shape Henry into the man that he is. By means of first-person narration, we are able to know exactly what is going through a particular character’s mind. Finally, strong editing made efficient use of multiple jump cuts, which add to the sensation that we are undergoing the same experiences as the characters on screen. Altogether, Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas effectively depicts paramount scenes and allows the audience to empathize with the characters by virtue of stylistic editing and cinematography.

The second way why cinematography made the film is because the camera shots during the film were very close to one other. It did become kind of confusing many times during the film. Now you would see medium shots more than any other one during the film. There were also long shots that were shot alongside the medium shots so long shots would

     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 blurred 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.

The Godfather is a mob film focuses on the Corleone Family, with its head Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) trying to find a suitable heir to his empire, while war is breathing down the neck of other crime families. Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) then steps in to organize the family back to shape. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and based from the novel of the same name written by Mario Puzo. It received critical acclaim by critics and was cited as an influence by real life mobsters due to its rather realistic portrayal of gangster life and Cosa Nostra.

One cinematic technique that Wells used was the Montage, the cinematic technique used to provide a lot of information in a very short amount of time or to show the passing of time. There are many of these used throughout the film which include the use of newspaper reels, opera shows, and my

This is actually my first time watching this movie, I heard that this was really popular back then and I also noticed that this movie, The Godfather, is somehow like The Sopranos and Jersey Shore. As I was watching The Godfather, it gives of this intimidating vibe, maybe because it’s a mob saga, but I know it’s a story about family, power and of course business. After watching the whole movie, it had a big chunk amount of very important lessons in life, and honestly, I wrote them down (ha-ha). In my opinion I think one of the most important effect of The Godfather has had on our society would be about our families. As Don Vito Corleone put it, “A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man” and also “the only wealth in

The absolutely stunning film, Citizen Kane (1941), is one of the world’s most famous and highly renowned films. The film contains many remarkable scenes and cinematic techniques as well as innovations. Within this well-known film, Orson Welles (director) portrays many stylistic features and fundamentals of cinematography. The scene of Charles Foster Kane and his wife, Susan, at Xanadu shows the dominance that Kane bears over people in general as well as Susan specifically. Throughout the film, Orson Welles continues to convey the message of Susan’s inferiority to Mr. Kane. Also, Welles furthers the image of how demanding Kane is of Susan and many others. Mr. Welles conveys the message that Kane has suffered a hard life, and will

The sequence illustrates the dominant features of the Noir film style. Some common elements found in Noir films are: the anti-hero protagonist, the femme fatale, taut or no-nonsense dialogue, and high-contrast mise-en-scène. It can be seen that the sequence leads audience to the climax of the story plot, as Maxim faces an obstacle when he is attempting to resolve his own issues, thus he must own up to the consequences of his actions and stop running from the memory of what he has done, indicating a breaking change in the audience's perception of Maxim. Therefore, the sequence fulfils the "anti-hero" part of the Noir film plot. In the clip, it can also be seen that the director applied continuity editing. This editing method involves point-of-view shot and shot/reverse-shot.

Edmonson, J. (2009). Let's be clear: How to manage communication styles. T & D, 63(9), 30-31.

In this essay I will look at the emergence of Italian neo-realist cinema and how Italian Neo-realism has been defined and classified in the film industry as well as how its distinct cinematic characteristics could only have been conceived in Italy and how these characteristics set the neo-realist style apart from other realist movements and from Hollywood.