Coppola chooses to portray characters in The Godfather as the opposite of what the general public would expect. This provokes the viewer to question the opinions he or she was so certain of prior to watching this film.
In the first scene, Don Corleone is sitting in front of a window shadowed by shades; however, his head is exactly where a border of light seeps through the gaps of the shades, creating a halo around his head. Coppola has already implied that Don Corleone is an angelic figure by calling him "The Godfather", so the appearance of this halo is the second implication that Don Corleone is a holy figure.
When Don Corleone sends Tom Hagen to talk to Woltz, one would assume Hagen, a member of the mafia, to be openly ruthless, aggressive, and rude. It turns out that Woltz, the victim, is the one who fails to be considerate and polite although he is the host. Tom Hagens gives off a respectful, mild-mannered aura although he is still firm in his arguments. It is as if Coppola is attempting to justify the acts of the mafia by revealing the fact that the victim is, at times, not much of a victim at all.
When Sollozzo gets the word that Don Corleone is still alive, an important hint to the allusion of Christianity is dropped. Sollozzo tells Tom Hagen that Don Corleone has been shot 5 times, but is still alive. This is a reference to how Jesus Christ was struck five times with the intention to kill him, but lived. The fact that it was Christmas time supports this allusion. By throwing this allusion into The Godfather, Coppola is again depicting Don Corleone as a holy figure.
Coppola seems to believe that at times, the violence of the mafia is justified by the acts of their victims. Coppola seems to be using characterization to portray this concept to viewers through a string of realistic events that prove more believable and supportive to his idea than if he were just to say that the mafia's acts were justified.
I agree, I really like how Coppola's every move contradicts my beliefs. Especially how in the beggining there was that big Mafia wedding when I was thinking, how could it be possible that anybody would show up to this criminal's wedding. Later I realized that if they didn't show up, they'd be on the "notty" list. An interesting tactic played out by Don Vito.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with what you are saying about Coppola using characterization to portray justification on the acts of the mafia. I don't believe that the acts of the mafia are justified, even though he's taking us through the insider's look on the mafia's life. I think that if he was trying to justify the acts of the mafia, whatever happened to Don Corleone would be justified. However it's not, leading me to believe that Coppola just wants us to side with the Corleones point of view on events. :)