“The Godfather” turns 50 and is re-released in Peru: 7 figures related to cinema tell what their favorite scene is

From “The Godfather” (1972) could be cited for many reasons that make it a near-perfect classic: Francis Ford Coppola’s remarkable direction, for starters; performances by Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Duvall, Caan, Cazale; its plot about ambition and power, which makes it so current and universal; or the music of Nino Rota and the photography of Gordon Willis.

But it is also a huge and memorable film because of the number of scenes that have remained for posterity. Proof of this is that we asked several local figures to choose their favorite sequence and, with one exception mentioned twice, they were all different scenes.

Serve this review of some crucial moments of “The Godfather” to celebrate its 50 years and the re-release of its remastered version on the big screen, starting this Thursday, February 24. An opportunity not to refuse.

Bonasera’s Favor

“The Godfather” is a round movie for various reasons (script, direction, music, acting, cinematography, costumes, sets, editing), but, above all, because it is full of memorable scenes. The opening scene, the wedding scene, where Coppola introduces most of the characters, includes an aside that establishes the premise of the story. One of the guests, after requesting an audience with Don Corleone in his private office, recounts the brutal beating suffered by his daughter for refusing to be outraged. The father went to court and the aggressors were released, with suspended prison. The Godfather reproaches him for not looking for him sooner, but asks, “What do you want?” The guest replies: “Justice”. And at that moment the dramatic axis that mobilizes a less favored sector of humanity is defined, one that resorts to a system parallel to the legal one, both to repair tarnished honor and to obtain reparation and respect, although, in the long run, many end up muddied by that power in the shadows.

a pact of loyalty

The first scene is key to understanding the story and the outcome of the plot. It verbally and symbolically establishes the way pacts and loyalties are celebrated in the mafia. I have used this scene in courses to explain to anthropology students questions about kinship (compadrazgo), rituals that consecrate loyalties (in this case when Bonasera bends down to kiss the ring and calls Don Corleone “godfather”) and subordinations. Loyalty is sealed in that pact. How much of this have we seen in other videos on corruption, for example when Montesinos received great personalities in the SIN room or had officers of our Armed Forces sign allegiances? It is a scene that also serves to understand the operation, the hierarchy and the mafia system and the way in which corruption spreads.

the horse scene

After showing off his mansion and his $600,000 stud, Woltz refuses to hire Johnny Fontane (and thus condemns himself, which is what anyone who doesn’t accept a proposal from Corleone does). In his room you can even see an Oscar on the nightstand. Woltz has everything you could wish for, but seeing Khartoum’s head in the middle of his own blood shows him and shows us that even from (apparent) power he is always vulnerable. Woltz’s scream is like Munch’s, a brutal ‘memento mori’.

The attack on the Godfather

It takes place in broad daylight, in the market where Vito Corleone buys fruit and vegetables to take to his family, making him look like a harmless elderly gentleman, a character oblivious to the violence that is about to burst in his face, except by his reflexes to intuit a death threat and try to avoid it. The long and slow fall to the floor of Marlon Brando, dejected in front of his car, is a superb aesthetic gesture, immediately replicated by an extraordinary image of pathos and impotence: the crying of his son Fredo, unable even to wear a firearm. Thanks to his clumsiness and fragile humanity, John Cazale makes the scene even more painful to watch.

Father and son face to face

“Michael, I never wanted this for you.” That scene appears towards the end, when the Godfather confesses to his son Michael that he always dreamed of being a deputy or a governor, a big shot of the “decent” life that he could not have, but to which he never had to surrender. like a puppet The sobriety of the performance and the staging of this kind of confession make it even more moving.

Tessio, trapped traitor

It is very difficult to choose a scene, but I really like this one for its subtlety. Here Tessio (Abe Vigoda) goes to the gallows without any gesture. He locks eyes with Tom (Robert Duvall), realizes he’s not going to be riding in the same car, and immediately accepts his fate. “Tell Mike that I only did it for business, that I always liked him,” he tells Tom. And when it seems that there is the thing, he looks at him again to say “Can you help me? For the old times”. I like the scene because of how it highlights the codes. Because Tessio, although he started from a very young age with Don Corleone and Clemenza, now has to pay for his betrayal. Even he hurt me.

The baptism

It is actually a great sequence made up of several scenes that take place in parallel after the death of Vito Corleone and that are the climax of this cinematic masterpiece. The sequence combines religiosity and sacredness with violence, death and evil, the religious sacrament with the criminal sacrament. From a close-up of the face of the baptized child we move on to a close-up of a machine gun and the values ​​of the shot that follow are the same in opposite worlds and all loaded with great symbology. The music of Nino Rota is an element that brings all the final meaning of this sequence, while Michael Corleone is asked the question: Do you believe in God? Yes, he says. Do you renounce Satan? Yes. But the music becomes more and more sinister until it reaches the tritone, which in the Middle Ages was thought to be the sound of the devil. And yes, the devil has entered Michael Corleone, who is the godfather of a child that he himself will later leave an orphan. The boy cries as everyone dies in the parallel scene. It is the sequence that tells us what kind of Godfather Michael will be and the symbol is completed with the final candle on his face, the candle of all the deceased. The sequence is perfect in its brutality and symbology, in its visual correspondences. That’s why I remember it perfectly despite the years that have passed since the last time I saw this wonderful movie.

• The remastered version of “The Godfather”, the first installment of Francis Ford Coppola’s trilogy, opens in Peruvian cinemas this Thursday, February 24.