1972

Well, if Stanley Kubrick described it as "possibly the greatest movie ever made," who is anyone else to argue? Francis Ford Coppola's gangster-movie-redefining adaptation of Mario Puzo's Mafia novel is the Empire Greatest Movies Poll No. 1 incumbent, and for a very good reason. It sits right at the juncture between 'classic' and 'modern' cinema; it feels respectably venerable, while at the same time vibrant and vital — not a dry, cinematic relic that you feel obliged to bow before, but a hot-blooded, living god that you embrace.





The classicism is in no small part down to Coppola and cinematographer Gordon Willis' genius decision to shoot it with a minimum of modern film-making bells and whistles. We see the Corleones' '40s and '50s New York at eye level, never via the rooftop-scudding bird's-eye view of the helicopter-camera lens. And, in keeping with its underworld setting, it's moodily, dimly lit throughout, its underexposure lending it an aged, sepia-tinged quality.





The modernism, meanwhile, is felt not only in its squib-heavy bloodletting, but also the way it handles the gangster flick itself. Back in the genre's heyday, Hays Code restrictions ensured it could only dole out rise-and-fall tales which established in no uncertain terms that the Mob was a seething, violent force of corruption that a good society would always quell. Here, though, we had an Italian-American film-maker (the first to make an American gangster film) showing the Mafia as something, if not quite sympathetic, certainly more human; an organisation which is very much the product of society, rather than simply a malevolent, morally alien force.





That theme, of course, being brilliantly embodied by Al Pacino as Michael Corleone: the World War II hero, determined to stay distant from his Dad's dodgy business but who ultimately becomes enwrapped in its soul-tainting shadows. Brando may get the most attention as the wheezing Don, but there's no denying this is really Pacino's show.



Read Empire's review of The Godfather

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