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.