My Favorite Movies: The Godfather (1972)

Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo’s masterpiece is, like me, now a half a century old and its hermetically-sealed world of mobster values feels even more disturbingly inviting. We are invited into a private world of skewed morals in which mob families – the five New York mob families – position themselves and their power structure like countries. They have their own laws, their own code of ethics, their own means of justice and occasionally they go to war with one another, “It helps to thin out the bad blood.” Within this world, the only true sin is disloyalty and as the Bible says, “The wages of sin is death.”

We aren’t supposed to like these people but Coppola’s vision is so culturally personal, so intimate, so detailed that we value them as people. The Godfather himself is an admirable figure whose position of power is dictated by logic and not by the gun (his only burst of anger is a moment when his godson lets emotion get the better of him). He’s such a towering figure of authority and wisdom that when the old lion dies, we feel that the fate of the family will never be the same.

Like a great, sad Shakespearian drama, The Godfather is also about royal succession in a world largely dictated by blood and honor, and how the youngest son Michael is pulled by destiny into the world that his father never wanted for him. The film is high art but also hugely entertaining, like cozying up with a great classic book. It’s my favorite film.