I watched The Godfather again over the weekend. In a lot of ways this movie annoys me no end. Giving new life (and appeal) to mafia stories wasn’t a good thing. Many of the innumerable ersatz replications of these crime dramas are unwatchable dreck. And that’s before we even get into how they play up highly negative stereotypes, or the awful Marlon Brando impersonations that resulted from the film. But while its cultural progeny have included some of the most appalling things to come out of Hollywood in last 30 years, the original film itself really was an impressive piece of filmmaking. The direction and costumes were great, it featured a beautiful score, and of course some of the acting was first rate (I’d single out Brando and Robert Duvall for top honors). I suppose in the end that such a jewel was produced outweighs the unpleasantness brought on by its grotesque and ridiculous imitators.
Posted by armand at July 20, 2004 08:48 AM | TrackBack | Posted to Movies