What Happened to the Money? In Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Don Vito Corleone said, “lawyers can steal more money with a briefcase than a thousand men with guns and masks” (187) In the gangster culture, all decisions and motivations revolve around money. Throughout Little Caesar, The Godfather, and Donnie Brasco, the circulation of money shifts greatly. At a time, whoever earned money got to keep their own money, but eventually, gangsters started making money for bosses, or basically, gangsters with authority, and if these higher ranked gangsters didn’t get their money, it was game over for those beneath them. First of all, in Little Caesar, the money earned was kept. The gangsters there didn’t belong to anybody, and they did their dirty deeds…
film was able to focus more on the central characters of Don Corleone, and his son Michael. Both the book and the film focus on the Corleone family and the head patriarch Vito Corleone, the godfather; as well as his youngest son Michael. The film captures much of the same criminal elements that made the book such a worthwhile and interesting read. Familial ties, loyalty, and revenge are emphasized throughout both the novel and the film. The characters themselves are where the main changes from…
In the Godfather movies, Michael Corleone attempts to find his place in the Corleone family. Michael is the youngest son of Vito Corleone, who is the original “Godfather” and head of the Corleone family. In the beginning of the first movie, Michael insists on remaining away from the family business, and enlists in the Marines to be away from the family. However, he eventually returns home with his girlfriend to introduce her to the family. When his father is nearly assassinated, Michael offers…
After the death of Vito Corleone (played by Marlon Brando), his youngest son Michael (played by Al Pacino) is now the head of the Corleone crime family. With new responsibilities placed on his shoulders, Michael now orchestrates the murders of his rivals, the other head families, in order to take control as the dominant family. Through a five minute scene, the murders and the baptism of his nephew manage to intertwine a lot of prevalent themes in the Godfather (by Francis Ford Coppola), into a…
The plot itself is rather simple yet profound. The movie begins with Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) as a hoary patriarch of a crime family in New York and is granting requests as an old world tradition on the day of his daughters wedding. His son Michael (Al Pacino) has come home from the military with his non-Italian girlfriend Kay, who learns about the "family business" for the wedding.He will soon be the new leader of the family. Vito has a trusted advisor and lawyer Tom Hagan (Robert Duvall)…
characters in The Godfather by Mario Puzo. The Godfather is a crime novel written by Mario Puzo and was first published in 1969 and later inspired a film of the same name in 1972, sequels to which were made in 1974 and 1990. The story of The Godfather follows a mafia family in New York over the span of a decade. The family in the novel is a criminal organization having national influences, headed by Vito Corleone, also …
To start off, this scene shows Michael as his character changes from the outsider of the family to the leader. The scene begins outside of the hospital, with the setting of the scene is Christmas time, which is the time of the birth of Jesus, in terms of The Godfather, it is the time of the rebirth of the next Godfather, who is Michael. When Michael walks into Vito’s hospital room, the camera shows that Vito was placed into room number two. This is a symbolic meaning that Michael will be the…
determination and initiative. Becoming “American” has been a constant topic brought up in mafia films such as Scarface, The codfather part I and II. The Corleone is a family run and operated business, founded on trust, support and protection. The Godfather displays the dark side of how the American Dream can affect who you become. Michael let the idea of the american dream push them to obtain power and greed which eventually lead to their downfall. Increasing amounts of Italians, mostly…
As a crime film, The Godfather contains numerous violent, sexual and profane scenes as its plot centers on the Corleone family and their criminal business. However, despite its genre, Nino Rota’s score for the film is generally calm, elegant and operatic. For instance, the main theme of the film is a waltz called the “Godfather Waltz,” which counterpoints the horrible images presented on the screen. As a mournful waltz with a melancholic vibe, the “Godfather Waltz” serves as a leitmotif for Don…
exponentially for his organization, he was preserving his employee’s future needs. Deeply entwined with politicians, lawmakers, and high profile business people, Don Vito was setting the example for all his current and future employees to follow. Surrounded by corruption, Don Vito was determined to keep his own organization running smoothly while taking care of his family. This was clear in the scene when he met with all the heads of the mafia family and negotiates a truce immediately after the…