046 The Godfather (1972)

Retro Grade Podcast

“IT’S NOT PERSONAL. IT’S STRICTLY BUSINESS.“
On this week’s episode of Retro Grade Podcast, we talk about what’s considered to be one of the greatest films of all time: the 1972 classic, The Godfather. Because the film is so massive in runtime and story, we are going to be breaking up the episode into two parts, similar to the original Godfather trilogy, Godfather: Part I and Godfather Part II. Don’t be confused, part 2 will not cover The Godfather Part 2, it will cover the behind the scenes and what made this film different from gangster movies in the past.

In this first part, we will be focusing on the story and the characters. We begin with the very first shot, breaking down the opening monologue where the undertaker Bonasera talks about his daughter being assaulted and asking Vito Corleone to bring him justice. From there we go over how the beginning thirty minutes, Connie’s Wedding, is effective in conveying everything the audiences needs to know going into the movie: the themes, setting, tone, and most importantly, the characters.

We talk about the film’s many positive elements, including the suspense and the acting, but also about any few potential shortcomings it might have. One of them being the runtime, whether the film justifies it’s extended runtime. And to the depiction of the women in this world, and whether maintaining realism of the film’s patriarchal underworld justifies their limited screen presence and lack of characterization.

So while this episode may not be the complete picture of The Godfather, it is the perfect episode to listen to if you want to delve deep into these characters and themes, and to find out if this film should be the next thing on your watchlist queue. So sit back, relax, and enjoy our episode on Mario Puzo’s The Godfather.

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o