Characterizing the Godfather

The Godfather, Vito Corleone, has a very unique personality. He strongly believes in the concept of family. A quote from a scene indicated just that “A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man.” His strong belief in family also gives clue to his nickname as the “Godfather”. He also wants to have a strong sense of security both with himself and his family which he exemplifies by being the boss of his mafia. He also places a lot of thought into the concept of justice. He has his own theory on how justice should be delivered. He believes in “an eye for an eye” type of justice. This is best shown in the first scene of the movie when Bonasera is testifying himself in front of the Don. The scene is set up to look like Bonasera is standing witness to a trial in a courthouse where in reality; he is in a small dark room trying to plead his case to Vito. To further push the point of Vito’s belief in eye for an eye, when Bonasera asks the Don to kill the men that defiled his daughter, he says that isn’t just. The men didn’t kill the daughter, why should they die? He later agrees to hurt the men like they hurt the daughter. He would send a few men to beat them up just like they beat up Bonasera’s daughter. The most valuable personality trait that Vita has however is his ability to balance aggression with foresight. That’s how he leads his mafia so successfully. If you have seen the other movies, there are more clear examples of this.

Vito Corleone is the head of his mafia family. He built this criminal empire from the ground up. His role in it is very important in the movie. We follow his from the start of the movie and we get to know his a little bit. It’s kind of like an initiation; we are following the leader and getting to know him so we can connect with the mafia. Though he is sidelined and killed in the story to make way for Michael to take his place, he leaves his mark as a favourite to many. Any who, his role in the movie is being the head of the Corleone, the big boss who controls everything mafia and family related.

Vito’s physical appearance is even more defining for his character. He is an old man, wise and highly experienced. He is also slightly corpulent or rotund. His days as a physically active human are over. He wears a tuxedo or a suit almost every time we see him in the film. Here are several examples of when we see him in his formal attire. The beginning of the movie, he is wearing a tuxedo. He is partaking in his daughter’s wedding but it still indicates he is up for business. It also lets him blend in with the theme of the wedding. Second example is when he slaps the actor to get him to stop crying. It would have been intimidating, a large old mafia boss slapping you in the face. Vito used his presence and reputation to manipulate and control the actor. Vito also has a certain style to him. Beside him, the other mafia leaders look like a bunch of brutes. They lack in class. They lack that air of calm and determination that is present in Vito. Base line is that Vito’s physical form assists in further defining his character in the film The Godfather. He is depicted as a wise old man whose experience and collective will forged the largest mafia family in New York City.

The sinister orange tint

It seems that in ever scene where there is some sort of violence, the film goes into an orange tint. It is a very subtle motif that is hard to notice without re-watching some scenes over again.

A subtle orange tint seems to appear whenever there is a death scene or a scene of violence in the Godfather. The part with Michael  is sitting at the table right after he got the gun. Before he shot Sollotzo in the face and the crooked police chief in the neck and then in the face the screen had taken on a orange tint. In the Godfather, orange seems to represent death. Again in the scene with the attempted assassination of Vito Corleone, right when the guys were coming down the street and drew their guns, the orange tint came on screen.

In another scene, the one where Sonny gets gunned down by seven people with machine guys, he had just payed the fare at the cause way. The fare man just closed the door on Sonny and then the orange tint came on as all of the guys came out and started shooting.

It is obvious through the examples above and other death scenes in the movie that the orange motif is used to simulate death in the Godfather. I would also speculate that it is used in the other movies of the Godfather.

Motif of the door

Symbolism is used extensively throughout the course of the Godfather movie. One example that you see a lot is the motif of the door. The infamous door. This motif has been used numerous times by the director in the hope of getting a certain message across to the viewers.

The door has been used mainly in the film as a transition between the life of the mafia and the life of a normal person. All of the quiet and criminal acts are committed inside and all the normal everyday life events are committed outside. For example when Tom Hagen left that wonderful $600,000 horse head on Woltz feet. That was committed behind closed doors. Every criminal act that is committed in the godfather is done behind closed doors. That opposed to the nice scenes like the wedding are all outside. As stated above all the scenes involving the criminal empire of the mafia are done inside and all the normal life scenes are done outside. Coincidence? I think not.

Doors mean a lot of things. In the Godfather, they represent the transition between the mafia and normal life. If any other meanings of doors are represented in the Godfather, I would say they would be in the future scenes. 

How does The godfather glorify the mafia

In the movie The Godfather, the Corleone mafia seems to be "glorifying the mafia. This being said, a lot of people are already into guns and violence and action in their media, but In the godfather, it seems that everything is being made into something that could be acceptable. Through the camera angles, the storytelling and the characters, it feels like these are good people and you can relate to them. I feel that the mafia is being glorified since its showcasing the lives of the Corleone as if they were a normal Sicilian family. This is best shown in the wedding scene at the beginning of the movie. It looks like a normal wedding but in truth it is all consisted of mafias and criminal masterminds. For example that scene where that guys takes a picture of that mafia boss. He orders some people to give him the photo picture and he ripped it up. The FBI was also at the wedding writing down all the licence plates of the cars parked outside. That doesn't happen at normal weddings. these people are powerful and they glorify what they do by calling it "good business". From what Ive seen, they treat it as if it is an honest living. In reality its not a honest living. Its a crime and they are all criminals with distinguished records. Its just the way the movie is set up, it feels like your a part of the family and make you sympathize and even accept the fact that they are all killers. Its also represented through the manners of the mafia members themselves. They all seems so "gentlemen" like.