The Godfather (English, 1972)

The Godfather , directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is the first in a trilogy of films chronicling the fortunes of the Corleones, a mafia family operating out of New York under the front of Genco, an olive-oil company.

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The plot

The story unfolds in three phases: the first covers the reign of patriarch Vito Corleone (played by Marlon Brando), the second follows the entry of his youngest son Michael Corleone (played by Al Pacino) into the family business, and the third depicts the new regime with Michael in charge.

Phase 1: Vito's reign

The film begins with the wedding of the reigning Godfather Vito's only daughter Connie (played by Talia Shire) to Carlo (played by Gianni Russo). As the wedding guests congregate, we get introduced to the Corleone family-his wife, Carmela (played by Morgana King), the eldest hot-headed son Santino or Sonny (played by James Caan), the feckless middle brother Fredo (played by John Cazale), the youngest son Michael and Connie. Though not a family member, Tom Hagen (played by Robert Duvall) was brought up as a son by Vito after Sonny rescued the young boy from the streets. Tom, now an attorney, is the consigliere to the family. Apart from Tom, the other non-Sicilian in the family is Michael's girlfriend and eventually, wife, Kay (played by Diane Keaton).

During the celebrations, three petitioners visit the Godfather for his help because tradition dictates that he cannot refuse on his daughter's wedding day. The nature of their pleas serves as an introduction to the family business of the Corleones.

The first is an appeal from the undertaker Bonasera (played by Salvatore Corsitto) who seeks revenge for the beating and disfigurement of his daughter by two boys.

The second is from Nazorine (played by Vito Scotti) whose bakery is charged with supplying Connie's wedding cake. He is seeking immigration assistance for Enzo (played by Gabriel Torrei), an employee in his bakery, whom his daughter Katherine wishes to marry. Vito agrees to refer the case to one of the many corrupt public officials on his roster.

The third request comes from Vito's godson, the celebrity singer Johnny Fontane (played by Al Martino) who needs help in pressuring Hollywood film producer Jack Woltz (played by John Marley) into offering him the role of the male lead in a film. While the fulfillment of the first two pleas is not shown, the film's depiction of the recalcitrant Jack Woltz waking up to see the severed head of his prized horse Khartoum on his bed, is an iconic scene of The Godfather.

Phase 2: the son rises

Michael, a recently returned decorated World War 2 war hero, who has been kept away from the family business, gets sucked in because of events precipitated by a Turkish drug-dealer, Virgil Sollozzo (played by Al Lettieri).

Sollozzo, who is sponsored by another New York mafia family-the Tattaglias, approaches Vito seeking support for his nascent narcotics business. In exchange for financing and patronage from Vito's rolodex of government officials, Sollozzo offers the Corleones a handsome share of the profits. Tom, as consigliere, advises the family to enter the new business to avoid becoming vulnerable to rival families profiting from it. Vito declines, citing the greater risk profile of the illicit drugs business as compared to ventures like gambling and prostitution that are condoned by politicians. The stated reason, though, is only partially true. The Godfather is suspicious of the sales pitch and sends his trusted lieutenant Luca Brasi (played by Lenny Montana) to draw out information from Sollozzo, posing as a disgruntled associate. Sollozzo and Bruno Tattaglia (played by Tony Giorgio), a scion of the Tattaglia family, are not deceived by this ruse and kill Brasi.

Vito controls many judges and politicians in New York, making it impossible for the Tattaglias and other mafia families to run the narcotics business in the tri-state area without his cooperation. Hence, Sollozzo orders a hit on Vito, and believing him dead, sends an offer via Tom Hagen to Sonny, who, unlike his father, had seemed interested in the business. Tom favors accepting the offer, but the hot-headed Sonny, who has already gotten Bruno Tattaglia killed in retaliation for the attack on his father, wants to kill Sollozzo.

Vito survives Sollozzo's assassination attempt made at a fruit shop but is badly injured. A second attempt occurs at the hospital with the connivance of Captain McCluskey (played by Sterling Hayden), a corrupt police officer on the mafia payroll, who orders removal of the bodyguards stationed outside the Godfather's ward. Even this encore is thwarted by Michael's quick-wittedness.

Michael concurs with Sonny that offense is the best defense against further attempts on their father's life, volunteering to meet Sollozzo and Captain McCluskey with the intent to kill them. A combination of creative planning and the targets' complacency, assuming they are meeting a civilian Corleone, leads to him killing both at the Louis restaurant in the Bronx and losing his non-combatant status. Thereafter, the Corleones deport Michael to safety in Sicily with the intent to bring him back when things settle down stateside.

A bloody gang war ensues in New York. While the Tattaglias have lost a son, other mafia families are also angry at the Corleones for inciting a law-enforcement crackdown by killing McCluskey. In Sicily, there is an attempt on Michael's life by blowing up his car but the unfortunate casualty is Apollonia Vitelli (played by Simonetta Stefanelli), a local girl whom Michael was smitten by and married.

Back in New York, after Sonny is killed, Vito calls a meeting with the heads of the rival New York-New Jersey families: Philip Tattaglia (played by Victor Rendina), Emilio Barzini (played by Richard Conte), Carmine Cuneo (played by Rudy Bond) and Victor Strachi (played by Don Costello). The ongoing gang war is draining their finances and halting new revenue. During the meeting, Barzini pushes Vito to support the narcotics business, revealing to Vito that Barzini, not Tattaglia, was behind the attacks on him and Sonny. But not tipping his hand, Vito makes peace with Tattaglia, agreeing to support the narcotics trade under safeguards all families endorse. This truce sets the stage for Michael’s return to the U.S.

Phase 3: the new Godfather

With an aging Vito frail from the aftermath of the assassination attempt, Sonny dead and Fredo inept, Michael becomes the Godfather's natural successor. Sanitizing the family business is a strategic imperative for the new Don in the face of a more hardline stance from the authorities. Key to this detoxification plan is the legal gambling business in Nevada, where Michael seeks to usurp a casino owned by Moe Greene (played by Alex Rocco).

The handover from father to son is also accompanied with organizational changes. Michael removes Tom from the consiglieri position, moving him to the legal part of the business in Nevada. The two caporegimes, Clemenza (played by Richard Castellano) and Tessio (played by Abe Vigoda), are restless to branch out on their own. Michael asks them to continue for six months in the family till the Nevada operations are stable.

The peace accord between the families is fragile. Vito forewarns that Barzini will trick Michael into a meeting through an emissary he completely trusts, where he will be killed. After the Godfather dies, Tessio reveals himself to be the traitor when he approaches Michael at Vito's funeral with a message from Barzini. Michael unleashes a wave of killings whose victims include Tessio, Moe Greene and the heads of New York's rival mafia families. His final act in the film is to order the killing of his brother-in-law Carlo for luring Sonny into a death-trap set by Barzini.

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Observations

The mirage of honor

Like modern corporations that espouse values to signal they are not merely money-making machines, the Corleones also profess their own form of bushido. The film depicts several aspects of their Sicilian mafia code of honor:

The importance of family. Tom alludes to the Sicilian tradition of not refusing a request for help on one’s daughter’s wedding day. Vito subtly admonishes Sonny for his adultery, proclaiming that a a man who does not spend time with his family can never be a real man. Vito’s rebuke to Sonny for publicly siding with an outsider like Sollozzo against a family member is later mirrored in Michael’s reprimand of Fredo for defending Moe Greene. While presiding over the dining table, Sonny scolds Carlo for talking business over a family meal. Michael prefers to marry Apollonia over Kay—her Sicilian roots make her a better fit for the family. After Vito has retired, in a conversation with Michael, he attributes his entire life of crime to be motivated by taking care of his family.

Tradition and ritual are sacred. Weddings, baptisms, and funerals gather large congregations of family, friends, and business associates. The role of being a godfather is treated as a sacred relationship. When Michael is enamored with Apollonia, he approaches the Vitelli family to ask for her hand in the ceremonial Sicilian way.

Violence is virtuous if it serves justice. Since Bonasera's daughter survived, Vito views killing her assailants as murder, not justice, as the punishment lacks proportionality. He delegates the task to Clemenza whom he trusts will exercise restraint.

Masculinity and toughness are central to this culture. Fredo is disrespected because he is weak. When Johnny Fontaine sniffles over his inability to secure a coveted role, an agitated Vito sharply tells him to act like a man. Vito's henchman Luca Brasi, grateful to be invited to Connie's wedding, expresses the wish that the married couple's first child be a boy.

Finally, the separation of personal feelings from business decisions is respected. Akin to rival politicians who maintain social niceties, Don Barzini attends Connie's wedding and later Vito's funeral. After the assassination attempt on Vito, Tom, as consigliere, advises Sonny to make peace, warning that if the Godfather dies, the family would be weakened by the loss of political connections. Sollozzo speaking to Michael in Italian at the Louis restaurant rationalizes the attempt on his father's life as a business decision. Later, when Tessio’s betrayal is unmasked, he offers the same justification.

Yet, as the film makes clear, there’s no right way to do a wrong thing. These behavioral covenants serve merely as a veneer of respectability to a modus operandi characterized by three far less lofty ingredients.

One is favor banking—dispensing favors to create a ledger of debts to be cashed in when needed. Vito’s handling of Bonasera’s request to avenge his daughter is a masterclass in this tactic.

The Godfather feigns offense when Bonasera offers him money, guilt-tripping him for shunning the Corleones because of their unsavory reputation, only to approach them when the traditional legal system has failed him. After rejecting the financial remuneration, Vito, with performative magnanimity, offers his assistance as a “gift” on his daughter’s wedding day. In Bonasera's case, the reciprocation demanded, later in the film, is not mercenary. He merely asks the undertaker to restore Sonny's battered body to spare the mother's feelings. In other situations, as when Michael asks Johnny to perform at their casino and enlist his Hollywood friends to do the same, the payback is financial.

Two, use of violence to extort wholesale acquiescence. The broken windows principle of policing postulates that addressing minor signs of disorder, like vandalism or loitering, deters more serious crimes by promoting a sense of accountability. In a similar vein, taking no for an answer would open the floodgates of insubordination. When Jack Woltz expresses his openness to other actions for appeasing the Godfather, Tom responds "he never asks for a second favor when he has been refused the first".

The coercion often lurks behind a veil of politeness in a manner that leaves the other party in no doubt of what is expected. It takes a couple of false starts for Bonasera to realize that he must kiss Vito's hand and call him Godfather for his appeal to be acted upon. Tom is very courteous to Jack Woltz, even complimenting him on his films but the gloves are off when his demands are not met. While Michael acts out the role of a respectful suitor, Signor Vitelli, incidentally the owner of the real Bar Vitelli in Sicily, is under no illusion on what a refusal might mean for him.

Three, the ruthless punishment of betrayal. The mafia’s mimicry of military culture notwithstanding, perfidy is rife. The car bomb that kills Apollonia Vitelli is planted with the connivance of Michael's bodyguard Fabrizio (played by Angelo Infanti). The assassination attempt on the Godfather is facilitated by his personal chauffeur and bodyguard Paulie (played by John Martino), who suspiciously calls in sick three times that month, leaving the Don unprotected. Tessio, who served the Corleone family for years, tries to entrap Michael to to his death. While its exact form is by nature unforeseen, treachery itself is expected and is the cost of doing business. When Tessio's betrayal is discovered, Tom expresses surprise only at the traitor not being Clemenza.

The most egregious deceit comes from Carlo, who helps Barzini kill Sonny—his own brother-in-law. While Michael’s punishment that makes his own nephew fatherless, may seem cruel, it is necessary. To show mercy would only encourage further treachery in the ranks than already exists.

Michael's transformation

The transformation of Michael from a civilian to becoming the new Don Corleone is riveting. Like Joseph Campbell's hero, Michael lives an ordinary life before crossing the threshold but unlike Campbell's archetypal hero, he never makes the return journey. In the beginning, he appears to be a bystander describing his father's criminal exploits to Kay with clinical detachment. He declares that his family does not represent who he is.

The process of Michael's induction into the family business begins after the first assassination attempt on his father. His quick thinking in moving his father’s gurney to another room ahead of an imminent attack, and enlisting a terrified Enzo—the baker’s employee Vito had helped with immigration—to pose as an armed bodyguard, reveals his grasp of mafia tactics. His confrontational stance with the police captain McCluskey also shows gumption.

The hospital episode, notwithstanding, we share Sonny's bemusement, when Michael, with a businesslike tone, offers to kill Sollozzo and McCluskey. The shock comes from the incongruity of the proposed act with his Ivy-League persona. Yet, as a decorated war hero, his capability is unquestioned. His plan is clever: meet the drug dealer and corrupt cop at a restaurant, where a gun would be hidden in the bathroom. During the meal, Michael would excuse himself, retrieve the weapon, and shoot them on his return. The plan is flawlessly executed after Sonny's informant within McCluskey's staff, identifies the restaurant—Louis in the Bronx—enabling the gun’s placement in advance.

Michael’s willingness to kill police captain McCluskey hints at a personal vendetta, fueled by the slap he received. Like his hot-headed brother Sonny, he struggles to separate personal feelings from business. Yet, unlike Sonny's emotional outbursts, Michael’s demeanor is impenetrable. Even at his most ruthless, he remains methodical. To ensure he is not executing an innocent man, he coaxes a confession from Carlo. While his brother-in-law, under the illusion of being sent to Vegas, is escorted to his garroting, Michael assures him that Connie will be told he’s in flight—a finesse Sonny could never manage.

It is intriguing to speculate whether given Michael's superior temperament, Vito would have anointed him as his successor even if Sonny had lived. In fact, Vito once tells Tom "I never thought you were a bad consigliere, I thought Sonny was a bad don". Realistically, in that counterfactual, Michael would have become a politician according to his father's original plan and Sonny led the family business.

We observe Michael modeling himself after his father, whether as the head of the family at a baptism ceremony or rebuking Fredo for defying the family in favor of a non-family member. It is notable that the phrase "an offer he can't refuse" is only spoken by Vito and Michael. Yet, like any succession, the transition is fraught with tension, as the old guard hesitates to accept the new regent. This dynamic is palpable in a tense meeting where Vito firmly asserts Michael's role as the new leader to his trusted lieutenants—Tom, Clemenza, and Tessio. The strain Michael feels when he removes Tom as consigliere and faces demands from the caporegimes to be let go, is subtly revealed when he loosens his tie afterward, receiving a tender pat on the cheek from Vito.

In ruthlessness, however, he eventually surpasses his father. Vito, who had never trusted Carlo and instructed Tom Hagen to keep him out of family business, must have inferred his son-in-law’s role in Sonny’s murder. But it is Michael who is willing to make his sister a widow. His ability to look Kay in the eye and feign innocence over Carlo’s death betrays an unsettling comfort with deception.

The Michael we see in the end is unrecognizable from the man introduced to us at the beginning of the film. It is certainly not the same Michael who cannot get himself to say "I love you" on the phone to Kay for fear of being mocked by gang members within earshot. The man who once told Kay that he was not like his father later reasons with her that Vito Corleone was no different than a senator or a president.

In the final scene of the film, employees are seen paying obeisance to the new Godfather, reminiscent of his father's interactions with visitors at Connie's wedding. The shutting of his office door as Kay looks on from the outside is a powerful image of the vast gulf between them now.

Cannoli and carnage

Many, if not all, would find themselves rooting for the Corleones. The idea of the anti-hero itself is not unique to The Godfather. However, the manner in which the characters integrate their violent work selves with their personal lives is surreal. An iconic example of this is Clemenza asking his accomplice Rocco to "leave the gun, take the cannoli" before abandoning the car in which they have just killed the traitor Paulie. Clemenza had picked up the cannoli on the way to "work" for his wife. It just so happens that his "work" that day involves killing another man.

The portrayal of the mafiosi as conventional men who just happen to be murderous brutes is disconcerting. Vito projects the image of a kindly family man—officiating his daughter’s wedding, offering a home to Tom, scolding his eldest son for neglecting family duties, and doting on Johnny as a godfather. When Michael is sent to safety in Sicily, Sonny volunteers to explain his sudden departure to their mother. Clemenza, sharing his spaghetti recipe with Michael, could easily be mistaken for an indulgent uncle. Even moments before Tessio’s execution, Tom addresses him as “Sally,” a fond nickname for Salvatore, a jarring blend of affection and brutality.

Stories within the story

The film contains four beautifully crafted episodes that can be standalone short films on their own, though each acts as an athlete in a relay race, propelling the bigger narrative forward:

Episode 1-the dead horse

The terror of the iconic horse head scene is intensified by the masterful technique of immersing the audience in the perspective of Jack Woltz, the target of this grisly threat. When Woltz awakens to find himself in a pool of blood, we share his confusion, especially as the top side of the duvet is pristine. As his gaze drifts to the source of the blood, like Wotltz, it takes us a moment to grasp the horror of what we’ve just witnessed. The shock of the denouement is amplified by the trivial motive behind it—securing a role for Johnny—and the outward gentility of Tom Hagen, the Corleone family negotiator.

This episode marks the film’s first live demonstration of the true nature of the Corleone family business. Until now our understanding has been shaped by Michael's description of the family business to Kay and the nature of pleas made to the Godfather. The transition between scenes—from Woltz's piercing scream echoing through his grand estate to the unflinching image of the Godfather calmly sitting in his office—signals that this seemingly genial old man means business.

The vignette also underscores that the Corleones have elevated terror into an art form. Simply roughing up Jack Woltz wouldn’t suffice; instead, their method telegraphs a chilling message: they know his home and his most cherished possessions (like the horse), they possess an unconstrained imagination for brutality, and they can manipulate his household staff to cooperate.

Episode 2-the two assassination attempts

The twin attempts on Vito's life, one at the fruit shop and the second at the hospital is another memorable episode. The contrast between the atmospheric pulse of the first and second attempt creates a thrilling tonal whiplash. The first attempt, set within the context of a daily errand, takes us by surprise and has a climactic ending in the form of Fredo's helpless sobbing. In comparison, the atmospherics behind the second attempt is laden with foreboding but ends anticlimactically when the killers abandon their plan.

The forlorn hallways, the sole nurse on night duty, the shifting of the gurney out of the Godfather's ward and the sudden appearance of Enzo the baker set our hearts racing. Just as Woltz's scream of terror resonates with our horror in the dead horse episode, Enzo’s trembling hands fumbling to light his cigarette after the would-be assailants abandon their plan reflect our own terror.

Episode 3: the twin killings at Louis

This is the only time Michael directly kills someone in the film. As with the rest of The Godfather, this signature chapter invites the audience to savor every intricate detail.

First, there is Clemenza’s avuncular coaching, advising Michael to deliver "two shots in the head apiece", then drop his hands to his side and discreetly drop the gun, ensuring bystanders—fixated on his face—believe he’s still armed.

Next is the setting where Michael waits for his pick-up by Sollozzo’s men: Jack Dempsey’s Restaurant on Broadway, an iconic Manhattan watering hole of the era. The plan appears to be failing when Sollozzo’s car heads toward Jersey instead of the Bronx, contradicting Sonny’s intel. The driver's sudden U-turn reveals that it was a calculated ploy to shake off any followers.

The tension mounts during Michael’s conversation with Sollozzo, conducted partly in Italian. When Michael demands assurances that Sollozzo will not repeat an attempt on Vito’s life, the drug-dealer mysteriously replies that he cannot guarantee anything as he is now the hunted one. This signals that Sollozzo may have fallen out of favor with Barzini because the failed assassination attempt has sparked the risk of a gang war without the accompanying benefit of a diminished Corleone family. Negotiating peace could be Sollozzo's desperate effort to extricate himself from the mess he created.

We also see the ingenious placement of the gun, taped behind the tank of a high-mounted, chain-pull toilet—a classic setup from which the flush mechanism dangles.

Finally, there is the moment of truth itself. Michael, eyes glazed and tense, pulls the trigger as Sollozzo rambles on in Italian, the shots perfectly timed to the piercing screech of a train, drowning out the noise of the gunfire.

Episode 4: the Silcilian exile

The short interlude depicting Michael's life during his protective exile in Sicily provides a respite from the murder and mayhem in the rest of the film. Just as the twin murders at Louis mark Michael's departure from civilian life in the professional context, his marriage to Apollonia and abandonment of Kay mirrors this shift in his personal life.

This segment unfolds with a lyrical beauty, capturing a slow pace and idyllic scenery: sheep grazing, mountain vistas and a village woman balancing a basket on her head. While Italy is a wealthy nation today, post-war Sicily would feel familiar to those in the global south. Michael's bodyguards shouting at passing American GIs—still lingering after World War II—to take them to the U.S. mirrors the way white tourists are often approached in poorer countries today. Michael's formal proposal to Apollonia in a family setting, along with their courtship under the watchful eyes of village women is reminiscent of arranged marriages.

Yet, just as crime is intertwined with rhythms of everyday life of the Corleones, the ostensibly traditional village is also a scene of much violence. Walking along the village, when Michael wonders at the absence of young men, his bodyguard explains "they are all dead from the vendettas" pointing to wall posters displaying names of deceased men. The Mafia emerged from small private militias, known as mafie, employed by absentee landlords to safeguard their estates from bandits in Sicily. Eventually they became Frankenstein's monsters, extorting payments from the landlords in exchange for crop protection.

The climactic violent end to this episode helps us emotionally segue back into the "real world" of the Corleone family.

Endings and beginnings

Two sequences—one of Vito's death while playing with his grandson Anthony in the garden and the other, depicting the baptism of Connie's son juxtaposed with Michael’s orchestrated killings—elegantly mark the end of one era and the rise of another.

The scene of Vito playing with his grandson cleverly creates ominous anticipation as the prolonged play between the two feels like the proverbial lull before a storm. The storm in this case is not a volley of bullets or bombs but Vito dying a natural death, possibly from a heart attack. It is ironic that a man who lived by violence died in a peaceful manner.

The baptism of Connie's son is not only the beginning of the child's journey in the Kingdom of God but also marks the initiation of a new Don's reign. The mafia's Janus-faced pretense of respectability is depicted beautifully in the juxtaposition of Michael's renunciation of satan during the baptism ceremony and the violence he unleashes.

Five murders are committed as the ceremony continues. Victor Strachi is killed stepping out of an elevator. Moe Greene is shot while enjoying a massage. Carmine Cuneo is trapped and killed within the revolving door of a hotel. Tattaglia is assassinated while having sex with possibly a hooker. Barzini is murdered on the stairs of a courthouse by a man posing as a policeman ticketing his car for illegal parking

Connecting the dots

One of the joys of viewing The Godfather is discovering how seemingly trivial details are imbued with weightier meaning as the story unfolds. Jack Woltz's boast about his prized horse Khartoum to Tom Hagen takes on chilling significance when it's severed head appears in his bed. Carlo's domestic violence is puzzling given that he was beaten by Sonny mercilessly for the same infraction till it is later understood as a stratagem to ambush Sonny. In Sicily, when Michael asks Fabrizio to bring out his car, the bodyguard asks whether he will be driving alone or his wife will accompany him. The real purpose of the question is revealed momentarily when the car that Michael was supposed to drive blows up.

The film's intricate details, easy to miss without repeat viewing, at times serve merely to lend verisimilitude to the story. Don Tommasino (played by Corrado Gaipa), Michael’s protector in Sicily, is seen struggling to get out of a car and later appears in a wheelchair during Michael’s wedding procession. Similarly, the moving company truck parked outside the Corleone estate along with a property sale sign aligns with Michael’s earlier declaration of moving the family’s business to Las Vegas.

At other times, these details subtly connect the narrative’s dots. Below are a few examples:

• The glass window of the restaurant where Luca Brasi is murdered is etched with fish—a detail echoed later when the Corleones receive two dead fish wrapped in Brasi’s bulletproof vest, prompting Tessio’s iconic line: “Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.”

• Vito’s pained reaction to learning that Michael killed Sollozzo makes sense when he later confides to Michael that he had always hoped his son, unlike himself, would wield legitimate power of politicians whom he characterizes as puppet masters—a nod to the film’s logo of a puppeteer’s hand holding strings over the last five letters of the film's title.

• A newspaper headline after the killings at the Louis restaurant "Mobster Barzini questioned in underworld feud" connects with Vito's assessment that it was Barzini and not Tatagglia who started the war.

• Both Sonny and Michael tell Tom that he is not fit to be a wartime consiglieri but the manner in which they deliver the message reveals the stark contrast in their personalities.

• Michael gets Carlo garroted immediately after he has been anointed godfather to his nephew, indicating it was a calculated decision to become the child's guardian before killing his father.

• One of the film’s final images shows Clemenza kissing Michael’s hand and calling him “Don Corleone.” This action gains additional meaning when coupled with Clemenza's earlier hesitation in serving under the new Don. He had feared that the power of the Corleones will diminish without Vito, limiting his capacity to withstand Barzini's growing attacks on his territory. The same Clemenza now is ready to accept the authority of the new Don, a man whom he had affectionately called "Mikey" once.

Connecting the dots in *The Godfather* is an immersive joy, but contemplating its loose ends is equally compelling. Why does Luca Brasi operate outside the Corleone family's formal hierarchy? Why is he surprised to be invited to Connie's wedding? What drives Tom to warn Sollozzo that Luca would be difficult to control after the attempt on the Don’s life? What does Sonny mean by, “Pop had Genco; look what I got”? Why is Paulie shot while Carlo is strangled for the same crime of betrayal?

Humor

No description of The Godfather is complete without acknowledging its humor, often rooted in the absurdity of the characters' words given the dire contexts in which they are uttered. They deliver lines like "making an offer he cannot refuse" or "we are getting out of the olive oil business" oblivious to the irony. Sollozzo’s declaration, “I don’t like violence. I am a businessman. Blood is a big expense,” is both chilling and darkly comical. Equally amusing is Barzini’s quip that Don Corleone can bill them for the use of his political contacts because “after all, we are not communists.”

Apart from the standout "leave the gun, take the cannoli", another Clemenza gem is his justification of Michael's imminent attack at the Louis with the deadpan historical reference "they should have stopped Hitler at Munich". Another moment of dark humor occurs during Paulie's final ride, during which the caporegime uses the expression "going to the mattresses", an expression that refers to a mafia family’s tactic during a gang war of retreating to a secret location, where mattresses must be provided for those in hiding. Clemenza’s insistence on procuring clean mattresses is met with Paulie’s reassurance: “They told me they exterminate them.” Clemenza’s response, “Exterminate? That’s a bad word to use: exterminate!” adds an ominous comedic touch given Paulie's looming fate.

Not all humor is verbal. There is some great situational humor too. Tom continuing to eat calmly while his dining companion Woltz is getting worked up and then asking for his car to drop him to the airport is funny. Similarly, Sonny’s advice to Michael not to take McCluskey’s slap personally is hilariously hypocritical, considering his own explosive outburst against Sollozzo just moments earlier.

The humor in The Godfather lies in the tension between what’s said, who says it, and the lethal seriousness of the situations—a perfect blend of menace and wit.

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The Godfather catches your attention even before the story starts with the haunting theme music accompanying the opening credits. The roughly three hours' duration would breeze by leaving you with the inclination to revisit the film to unravel its many mysteries. Link here for an essay on The Godfather Part II.