The Godfather Baptism Scene

The Godfather is one of the most critically acclaimed and respected movies ever created.
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, this film focuses on Michael Corleone; a boy born into a New York crime family. As the film progresses, Michael goes through a metamorphosis where he changes from isolating himself from, “the family business”, to running it. While there is evidence of this change throughout the film, it is best revealed how committed he was to his family in the baptism scene. This scene is made by including a large number of intercuts between all the heads of the other New York crime families and with Moe Green getting murdered, and the baptism of his niece. Through the use of film making techniques, this scene helps show how Michael …show more content…
Music in any scene is extremely important as it helps set the mood and reflect the emotions of characters. As the scene begins opens with an establishing shot of the inside of the church, so does the music. Fitting the scene it is the sound of an organ which is producing an array of noises used to symbolize the happiness of the people attending the baptism of Michael. This quickly changes however as the scene cuts to shots of Michael’s associates preparing various tasks. This quick shift in scenes causes the music itself to shift as well to include notes of a deeper and darker pitch. This dramatic change in music as well as the activities of Michael’s associates helps to build suspense by contrasting the baptism ceremony. As the film continues to cut between shots, the music mirrors this by fluctuating as well, and continuing to crescendo. Right before the climax however, the audience experience a brief moment of silence as the music spontaneously stops as Michael speaks, and renounces Satan. This is a testament to his power since it shows that even an organ in the house of god will stop to listen to what Michael has to say. Once Michael answers, the film bursts with loud music mixed with different cuts of murders. The music throughout this scene has an overall empathetic sound by reflecting the mood of both the actions and characters throughout. Most importantly the music helps establish the …show more content…
Throughout The Godfather the presence of stairs helps to serve as a constant reminder of a person’s power, but is especially evident during the baptism scene. While stair are present for the majority of the murders, the most important use of this motif during this scene was with Don Barzini. As he is leaving a large building in the city, the audience is shown a long shot of him atop of many stairs looking down at Michael’s accomplish, showing the disparity in power between them. This helps show how all of Michael’s enemies had the upper hand and were trying to push both him and the Corleone family out of New York. Everything changes however when the Michael’s associate fires and kills Barzini’s men and Don Barzini attempts to run away. Instead of succeeding, the Don is murdered only after ascending a couple of stairs and slowly begins to fall down them. By falling down these stairs, the Don is representing all the other crime families losing power as a result of Michael. This is ironic in a sense because while Michael Corleone and his family might be gaining power, he personally had to first succumb to the force of his family and give up all his individual power of avoiding them and their