The Godfather is arguably one of the greatest films of all time. It was released in 1972 and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The movie follows an Italian-American Crime family, and the cycle of betrayal and violence in the mafia. The film has many big actors including Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and Diane Keaton.
The film opens with a man asking for the help of Don Vito Corleone, the head of the family. With an over the shoulder shot, and Corleone cast behind a shadow, it draws and eerie, but powerful image of the man – even without being able to see his face.
We later find out that his daughter’s wedding is happening as they are having the discussion. At the wedding we see many wide shots at eye level, creating the idea that we are with the large Corleone family and are apart of the wedding.
Just outside of the wedding we see the police writing down the license plate numbers of all of the attendees.
A common theme throughout the movie is showing the back of Don Corleone’s head while he is in his office, speaking with other guests. This consistency continues to show that Corleone is a powerful man and not to be messed with.
The movie moves to Los Angeles, where they are trying to make Johnny get a part in the movie. Throughout these scenes, the camera does not move. Rather, it is stationary and is just at various different angles. It does not travel with the characters.
After the studio head refuses to cast Johnny, the camera travels with the mafia member as he stands up and says his farewells. The scene cuts to someone asleep in their bed and the camera dollys in towards the bed. From a high angle and a close up shot, the camera pans left down the bed after the studio head wakes up covered in blood. He lifts up the covers to find the head of his beloved horse.
After meeting with the drug dealer, the family sends out Luca to spy on the other families. The camera follows Luca in a close up at eye level in to a bar. In an extremely close up shot, Luca’s cigarette is lit, but he is then stabbed with the knife and chocked. Following his death, there is another close up shot of the knife in his hand.
In the following scene, there is a wide shot from a high angle of Vito buying fruit from a stand while his son Fredo waits in the car. There is a close up shot of two men pulling out their guns and then a high angle shot of their feet while they are running. In another high angle shot of the street, the men shoot down Vito and he collapses to the ground – presumably dead.
Michael is scene walking out of the theater in a medium shot at eye level with his girlfriend Kay. They are walking down the street when she sees a newspaper that publishes the possible murder of his father.
In a close up shot, Sollozzo has Hagen kidnapped and is seen talking to him. At a low angle, the camera shows Hagen sitting and looking up at his kidnapper, and hears about the assassination of his boss.
Michael is later seen in a medium eye level shot sitting on a bench. The rule of threes is applied here as his eyes hit the upper part of the lines and the bench is at the lower line. He then moves inside after receiving a phone call. Someone is cooking and the camera pans left and right to capture the scene. The camera is still at eye level to get the affect that the viewer is inside the kitchen with the Corleone family.
Following the incident at the hospital, the scene changes to the Corleone family house and from a high angle we see the gate being guarded and cars coming in and out. With Sonny in charge, he sends out men to kill those who have been threatening his family. The camera pans left as follows him as he shows his excitement. The camera continues to pan right as it follows him and Hagen arguing about what to do. Michael realizes that he must kill the Sollozzo and his bodyguard. The camera dollys in toward Michael and he comes up with a plan on how to kill them both. He decides that the best way to do it is in a public space with a handgun planted somewhere he can easily access it without it being on him in case he gets searched. This dolly in is a key turning point as Michael is now okay with becoming one of the members of the family who actually kills someone.
Further along in the movie, Sonny is driving and stops at a tollbooth. In a wide shot, the camera pans along to show the car pulling up to the booth. The camera stops panning at the car approaches the stop. The camera does a close up shot of Sonny as he pays for the toll and in the background you see the man working conveniently drop his change and shut the window. The camera turns to see men with machine guns ready to gun down Sonny. He is shot multiple times and the camera does a wide angle to see the damage of the car. The camera does a high angle of a Sonny on the ground, shot to death.
At the baby’s christening, the camera switches between different scenes. At first, there is a wide shot of the chapel, and then the camera switches to a high angle and showing the baby being baptized. It then goes between different men as they are doing every day activities. One is a medium shot of someone packing a suitcase, another is a high angle close up of a man at the barber. The scene then shows other men grabbing guns getting ready to gun down people. Throughout the christening, Corleone’s men are killing those who betrayed the family.
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