Aim: How does The Godfather depict a humanized villain?

How are the members of the Corleone family initially depicted?

Don Vito Corleone – The Godfather

• The first time Don Corleone comes into the view, the camera is behind his shoulder, so the movie begins with providing us his world through his perspective

• The first gesture we see him make (still with the camera placed behind his shoulder) is to have one of his men offer Bonasera a drink. This shows he has sympathy for Bonasera and can be kind and gentle. The gangster, for the first time, is humanized.

• How does Marlon Brando show us the character? With the shape of Vito Corleone’s mouth – of what does he remind you?

Sonny Corleone

• Hot tempered – we see him throw down a photographer’s camera.

• Womanizer – he is having sex with a bridesmaid in the bathroom at his sister’s wedding.

• How does the actor, James Caan, walk, talk and behave as Sonny?

Michael Corleone

• How is the anticipation of Michael’s arrival created?• What are the ways in which Michael Corleone stands apart from the

rest of his family?• It is through Michael that we learn of the true extent of his father’s

brutality (when he recounts the story of how his father helped the career of Johnny Fontaine). Why do you think that is? What

directorial choice is being made here to make you better understand both characters?

Michael Corleone

• broke from family tradition• Ivy League - Dartmouth-educated• uninvolved with his father's activities• Highly decorated Marine captain from

WWII• Has a non-Italian girlfriend - Kay

Michael’s Transformation – The Beginning

• Hospital Visit - Michael senses the danger around his father and acts quickly and effectively, foiling another attempt on his father’s life.

• When faced with possible danger outside the hospital, Michael is cool, calm and collected. (The baker, Enzo’s hand shakes, but Michael’s is steady.)

• Enters the new family meeting not a boy who doesn’t know the family business, but as a shrewd man who knows how to outwit Sollozzo.

Plot• The first image of the film is the image of Bonasera

sitting in The Godfather’s dim office asking him for a favor – justice. His first lines are: I believe in America.

• The day is the wedding of the Godfather’s daughter. All the family is in attendance.

• Hence, what purpose does the wedding scene have?• How is family a crucial idea in this story?