The Godfather Character Analysis

No matter how artful the literary work appears in print, the transition from page to screen is something many of us look forward to. Finally, we get to see our favorite characters and their stories play out before our eyes. It is that direct link and appeal to our senses that often makes the movement to film worth our while. More often than not though, when a novel is put to film there is something to be gained and something to be lost. The transition of The Godfather was no different.
Though the film was superb for its time, there was quite a lot of the novel left out of it. I personally consider some of that to be a good thing; especially in concern of some of the extra characters and subplots. One of those characters is Johnny Fontane. He makes his appearance in the film, but instead of playing the major role that he had in the novel, he is now more of an ornamental character. Lucy Mancini is another character who I was glad didn’t grace the screen like she did in the film. Her character and Las Vegas subplot added nothing to the book but seedy fluff. With some of the characters …show more content…
One reason is that Tom Hagen was more prominent throughout it. I found him to be a very likable character and his loss on screen was evident. Another reason I enjoyed the book more was for one simple sentence that the film left out, that ultimately made the book a more satisfying experience. After his heart attack the Don is lying there dying, he knows this and yet manages to utter the words, “Life is so beautiful” (Puzo 392). The majority of both the novel and the film put little regard on human life. I find this to be such a sad thing, but typical of the crime genre, because as they say, it’s only business. So when he says his last words, it made me pause and take notice. Finally there was a sense of regard for life. Through all that he went through, all the pain that was done to him, and all the pain that he dealt to others, he still found life