Teaching The Godfather

Version 2: 11 November 2013

Rick Instrell

www.deep-learning.co.uk

info@deep-learning.co.uk

Association for Media Education in Scotland

1972 Poster

• Targeted at readers of the best-selling novel

• Brando regarded as “box-office poison” for mainstream audiences

• Other actors were largely unknown or not major stars in 1972

1972 Posters

Targeted at Brando fans who admire his method acting & remember past great performances

25th Anniversary Posters

1997 posters show several of the leading actors – Al Pacino now major star

Key Aspects of Media Studies

INSTITUTION

• internal contexts

• external contexts

AUDIENCE

• target audience

• differential decoding

TEXT

CATEGORIES

• medium, purpose, form, genre, style, tone

LANGUAGE

• technical & cultural codes, anchorage, mode of address

NARRATIVE

• narrative structure & narrative codes

REPRESENTATIONS

• selection, portrayal, ideological discourses, explicit & implicit meanings

SOCIETY

• individual, social, cultural, economic, political events &

ideologies

encode

decode

selectaffect

TECHNOLOGY

TIME

MEANING

CAPITAL

Note: key aspects are HYPERLINKED: click on them to see exemplification

through TV news

6

Categories: Media

• Novel (1969) - bestseller

• Cinema (1972)

• Television (1974)

• Video & box sets

• DVD & box sets

• Music: soundtrack

• Computer game (2006)

7

Categories: Form

• blockbuster (high-profile ‘event’ movie)

• 3h rather than standard 2h (so fewer screenings per day)

• mainstream feature film (plot-driven)

• ‘arty film’ (style amplifies plot)

8

Categories: Purpose

• Profit• Story-telling• Spectacle• Star• Escapism from everyday life• Fantasy for audience: power• Demonstrate craft of filmmaking (seen by other

professionals which can lead to advancement/ better films)

9

Categories: Style

• Classic Hollywood: continuity editing• Hyperclassical (Bordwell & Thompson):

style is more than strictly necessary to tell the story– teems with recurring motifs– opening foreshadows rest of movie– fresh, elegant solutions to storytelling– use of musical leitmotifs with transformations

10

Categories: Genre 1Gangster• Syntax: chronicle of criminal career – rise & fall (mob leader, corrupt

cops, crime-spree couple, street gang, many films noir)• Semantics: iconography e.g.

– characters (wise guys, tough guys, psychopaths, gangsters’ molls, corrupt cops, bent lawyers, official heroes (good good guys), outlaw heroes (good bad guys))

– dress (hats, suits)– props (guns, cars, telephones, drinks, cigarettes)– setting (city locations)

Genre films should be analysed in terms of repetition and novelty

Apply to The Godfather

11

Categories: Genre 2

Thriller

• Syntax: toys with audience expectations of violence – may occur or may be deferred & erupt when least expected; ordinary person thrust into nightmare who must eventually kill the monster

Apply to The Godfather

12

Categories: Genre 3

Romance

• Syntax: boy meets girls, boy loses girl, boy & girl reunited

Apply to The Godfather

13

Categories: Genre 4

Tragedy (Aristotle)• Central hero with tragic flaw • Dramatic high point which is a point if no return• Hubris: hero cannot see own flaw• Retribution for sins: hero dies when he realises

what he has done• Emotional catharsis for audience

Apply to The Godfather

14

Categories: Tone

• Serious drama

• Aims at realism or verisimilitude (suspension of disbelief) –authentic period detail

• Ironic juxtapositions within frame & of sequences/shots

15

Language: Technical Codes

• Analyse key sequences in terms of camera angle, distance, movement, lighting, editing

• Analyse technical codes relate to construction of plot, mood, themes

16

Language: Cultural Codes

• Analyse mise-en-scene of key sequences in terms of actions, setting, props, dress, figure placement, recurring motifs, music, sound, speech

• Analyse how cultural codes relate to construction of plot, mood, themes

17

Mise-en-scène

• What has been put into the scene i.e. setting, objects (props), people, make up, costumes, figure arrangement and movement, lighting, …

• Mise-en-scène can be motivated by realism or symbolise themes or comment on action

• What is the significance Michael’s costume in these scenes

The Godfather

18

Repeated motifs

The Godfather

Fish and oranges are recurring motifs in the mise-en-scène

19

Language: Anchorage

• Use of music & sound to fix down meaning of images & create mood e.g. use of music at wedding; role of use of screeching rails as Michael kills Sollozzo & McCluskey; use of organ music & sound in baptism/assassination scene

20

Categories: ‘Auteur’ film

• Francis Ford Coppola has a distinctive style (set pieces, hyperclassical narration)

• He chose the actors & key production staff against advice of studio & film’s success is due to his cohering dedication & vision

21

Narrative: Structure 1

• Kristin Thompson argues that mainstream Hollywood films have a 4-part structure:– (prologue)– 1. Setup: initial situation – 2 plotlines

• Turning point– 2. Complicating action: takes action in new direction

• Turning point– 3. Development: protagonists struggle to goals

(action, suspense, delay)• Turning point

– 4. Climax: resolution with sequence of high action– (epilogue)

22

Narrative: Structure 2

Turning points e.g.• Character’s goal becomes clear & is

articulated• One goal is achieved & another replaces

it• There is a shift in tactics to achieve the

goal• There is a new problem which leads to a

new goal

23

Narrative: Structure 3

• Thompson says that this structure helped coordinate all involved in pre-production, production & post-production

• Standardised guidelines with flexibility as every story is different

• Story structure implicitly understood by audience

• The Godfather is lengthy & has more complex structure – 5 acts with 4 turning points

24

Narrative: Structure 4

1. Setup: initial situation – 2 plotlines: Don Vito & Michael– Turning point 1: Don Vito refuses Sollozzo (37.5min)

2. Complicating action: warfare– Turning point 2: Michael leaves Kay & goes to see father in

hospital (59min)

3. Development 1: Michael saves father & kills Sollozzo & McCluskey – Turning point 3: Michael exiled to Sicily (93 min)

4. Development 2: Michael marries Apollonia who is killed; Sonny murdered; Michael returns to woo Kay – Turning point 4: handover of power to Michael (133.5min)

5. Climax: Don Vito dies & Michael takes revenge; he is the new Don Corleone

25

Narrative Structure 5

Can also use Todorov narrative structure of stability-disruption-return to stability

• Stability: Opening sequence showing Don Vito’s power

• Disruption: Sollozzo, Don’s shooting, war

• Return to stability: Michael succeeds father & eliminates opposition

26

Narrative Structure 6

Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey:The hero is introduced in an ordinary world where he reluctantly receives a call to adventure. He is persuaded by a mentor to cross the first threshold & encounters tests, allies & enemies. He approaches the inmost cave, crossing a second threshold & faces the supreme ordeal to receive a reward. On the road back he crosses a third threshold & experiences a resurrection & returns with the elixir.

This is an extremely familiar narrative structure which is often used by Hollywood scriptwriters.

27

Narrative Structure 7• Hero in ordinary world: peacetime USA• Reluctant hero• Crosses threshold into underworld through love for father (mentor)• Helped by allies: Clemenza• Tested by enemies: Sollazzo, McCluskey, Barzini• Approaches inmost world: becomes assassin• Supreme ordeal: assassinates Sollozzo & McCluskey• Reward: Apollonia• Road back: return to USA• Resurrection: new Godfather• Elixir: power

Perverse myth because family is evil – changes universal myth to tragedy in which Michael’s worship of his father turns him into a monster.

28

Narrative: Codes

• Action code: instantly recognisable actions that we understand through our own social knowledge e.g. ritual of weddings, funerals, baptism

• Enigmatic code: posing questions & resolving them e.g. will Michael carry out the Sollozzo killing? Who was responsible for Sonny’s killing?

• Semic code: connotations of images, sounds, words e.g. opening: darkened room v. the bright sunlight of the wedding

• Cultural code: knowledge of architecture, cars, fashion, other texts

• Symbolic code: binary opposites that structure the narrative: e.g. good v. evil, male v. female (see next slides)

29

Narrative Codes 2: Binary Opposites

Own family Mafia family

Church (God) Mafia (Devil)

Don Vito (good) Other Dons (bad)

War hero Murderer

Men (active) Women (passive)

Control Impulse

Don Vito (benevolent) Michael (vindictive)

Order (Mafia control) Chaos (Mafia wars)

Domesticity

(making a family)

Business

(making money & death)

Young Old

Honesty Hypocrisy

Sicily USA

30

Narrative Codes 3: Binary Opposites in Michael

Defends country in a just war Mafia mobster

Upholds Constitution Kills policeman

Protects father Breaks father’s heart

Protects family Kills sister’s husband

Respectful to Apollonia Fails to protect Apollonia

Loyal to second wife Lies to Kay

Publicly renounces Satan Mass murderer

31

Representations: Crime• Mafia loved their portrayal• Michael - who is a monster - is appealing to us (war-hero, intelligent,

composed, faithful, family man, not interested in money) in comparison with his brothers (sex, impulsive), other mobsters (drugs)

• We never see the results of the Corleone’s criminal activities on ordinary people – everyone who suffers deserves it in some way

• Police ineffective & corrupt (don’t see effective & honest cops)• Don Vito has set up an alternative policing system• If Michael was portrayed purely as a monster this would destroy

audience identification & pleasure• Could be said to represent audience desire for effective policing

32

Representations: Italian-Americans

• Codes of Italianicity: food, faces, music, names ending in vowels, decor

• Carries connotations of the past: music, mandolin, rugged barren Sicily, old Sicilian ways of comportment for men & women, Rembrandtian interiors

• Vito & Michael are chivalrous, controlled, patient family men cf. stereotypes (dagos, palookas, romeos, wise guys)

• Those who offend good man’s code (Woltz, Sollozzo, McCluskey, Sonny, Carlo) deserve what they get

• Could be said to represent nostalgic desire to return to the old days which reflects people’s concerns about the modern world

33

Representations: Gender

• Patriarchal male-dominated society• Man as breadwinner• But real men spend time with family• Women as homemakers, cooks, sexual objects• Kay (naïve), Connie (spoilt, hysterical), Mama Corleone

(would never question her husband)• Male child valued over female• Masculinity as machismo valued over femininity• Toleration of misuse of women for sex• Could be said to represent a desire to return to

perpetuate the patriarchal society – but we see the negative effects of this

34

Representations: USA

• Coppola saw films as metaphor for the USA• Although set in post WWII 1940s, film reflects concerns

of early 1970s• Discontent at US role in Vietnam • Corrupt politicians• Failing justice system• Police corruption• Disintegration of nuclear family• Effects of the profit motive• Represents concerns over 1970s USA – original ideals

(the American Dream) corrupted

35

Audience: Target Audience

• Mainstream naïve audience which likes a good story with action & thrills

• Smart audience which likes style, innovative storytelling, intertextual reference, deeper meanings

• Other filmmakers (need a reputation to succeed in the business)

36

Audience Pleasures• Plaisir: familiar pleasure of a good story well told (nearly 3h but does not

drag)• Jouissance: bliss of experiencing something radically different e.g. opening

scenes, baptism montage• Pleasures of genre: represents what we have seen in the news; charismatic

characters to identify with; thrilling action sequences; mixes conventional gangster pleasures (identify with villain, thrilling action) unconventional (detail of Italian-American family)

• Performance: Method acting of Brando & Pacino• Script has phrases that have entered the language• Nino Rota’s memorable music• Revisiting film: each subsequent viewing reveals motifs across whole trilogy• Intertextuality: spotting references to film noir, Welles, Hitchcock, Visconti,

Penn• Fantasies: fantasy of power & defeating enemies• Structure of feeling of age: reflects feelings about 1970s USA (corruption,

break-up of nuclear family, modernity)

37

Escapism

Social Inadequacy

Utopian

Solution

Example

Exhaustion Energy Michael saving his father; killing Sollozzo; taking revenge

Scarcity Abundance Opulent wedding

Monotony Intensity Love at first sight; emotions during Sollozzo killing; Vito’s grief for Sonny

Manipulation Transparency Love between Michael & his father

Fragmentation Community Corleone family

38

Audience: Differential Decoding

• Italian-Americans may be offended by its portrayal of them as gangsters

• Some viewers will be offended by the glamorisation of the Mafia

39

Society

Film captures structure of feeling of early 1970s• all institutions - including the family - are

corrupt• conspiracy theories about invisible forces

controlling world events

40

Institution: Internal Context 1

• Robert Evans paid Mario Puzo $12.5k for early draft of The Godfather in 1967

• Mario Puzo’s novel(1969) became bestseller• In 1970 Paramount 9th behind 6 majors & 2

independent studios• Owners Gulf & Western wanted out of movies &

try to sell studios for real estate• Put Robert Evans in charge of production &

Frank Yablans in charge of marketing• Budgets cut to $2.5m per picture• Many directors considered before FFC

41

Institutions: Internal Context 2

Budget: originally budgeted at $2.5m (low-budget) – cost $6.5m; 62 day shoot with constant threat of FFC being sacked

Results: ‘box office poison’ Brando plus unknown actors; Brando only paid £50k plus $10k per week for 6 weeks plus % of gross (he sold it to Robert Evans for $100k & so lost estimated $11m)

LA shots done by second unit; some NY car shots used ‘poor man’s’ process shots & stock footage

Wedding shots of Michael & Kay shot at night (Gordon Willis’ expertise crucial here)

Worldwide gross: $245m

42

Institutions: Internal Context 3

Talented teame.g. cinematography Gordon Willis

(responsible for lighting; did not like FFC’s ‘stylish’ Orson Welles-type high angle shots – preferred to use motivated POV shots)

e.g. production designer Dean Tavoularise.g. music Nino Rotae.g. post-production Walter Murch

43

Institutions: Internal Context 4

• Paramount retained right of final cut

• Wanted max of 2h15min; FFC delivered 2h20min cut which Robert Evans hated & wanted scenes reinstated; cinema ending was Evans ending not FFC’s (FFC had Kay lighting candles & praying for Michael’s soul)

44

Institutions: Internal Context 5

• FFC brought his scriptwriting skills & his cinematic knowledge to make an arty movie out of a pulp novel

• Style influence by great auteurs he studied at UCLA e.g. Welles, Hitchcock, Visconti

• Different segments of the film show FFC’s mastery of differing ways of telling story e.g. opening wedding sequence & its foreshadowing; horse’s head sequence (leaving audience to fill narrative gaps in sequence); Carlo’s betrayal of Sonny (‘hanging’ enigma for 45 min); Sollozzo killing sequence & building of tension

• Makes gripping story for naïve readers as well as stylish movie for cine-literate audience & fellow professionals

45

Institutions: External Context 1

Excerpts from US Production Code of 1930-1934:• “… the sympathy of the audience shall never be

thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin.”

• “Revenge in modern times shall not be justified”• “No picture shall be produced that tends to incite

bigotry or hatred among people of differing races, religions or national origins.”

Replaced in 1968 with a rating system (G,M,R,X)

46

Institutions: External Context 2

By 1972 US ratings system was:• G: Suggested for General Audiences. All ages

admitted. • PG: Parental Guidance Suggested—Some

Material may not be Suitable for Pre-Teenagers • R: Persons under 16 are not admitted unless

accompanied by parent or adult guardian (age limit varied in certain areas).

• X: Persons under 16 not admitted (age limit varied in certain areas).

The Godfather was rated R.

47

Institutions: External Context 3

• Relaxation of Production Code meant that a gangster film could finally feature Italian-Americans

• Also meant that the audience could be allowed to see films in which they could identify with criminals, where revenge seems justified & where crimes go unpunished

48

Institutions: External Context 4

• Italian-American Civil Rights League (in fact a front for the Mafia) demanded that no reference be made to the Mafia or Cosa Nostra

• Used the “five families”

49

Technology

• Film underexposed during shooting but processed normally to produce dark look of scenes in Don Vito’s office

• In opening shot used a computerised slow reverse zoom