{"id":1852,"date":"2012-03-11T13:31:40","date_gmt":"2012-03-11T19:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bmovienation.com\/?p=1852"},"modified":"2012-03-11T13:31:40","modified_gmt":"2012-03-11T19:31:40","slug":"the-godfather-hits-40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bmovienation.com\/?p=1852","title":{"rendered":"‘The Godfather’ hits 40"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nLeave the gun, take the cannoli, and make movie history:<\/p>\n

Forty years ago this week, \u201cThe Godfather\u201d opened.<\/p>\n

And Francis Coppola\u2019s masterpiece crime drama is still able to wrap you in a kiss-on-each-cheek embrace no film can match.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s rare for any piece of art to both comfort and energize us at the same time. But \u201cThe Godfather\u201d is in our blood; its first line may be \u201cI believe in America,\u201d but it\u2019s hard to find an American who doesn\u2019t believe in the cinematic supremacy of the Corleones.<\/p>\n

The stories of its production are well-documented. Here are 5 ways it changed the movies:<\/p>\n

1. It showed genre doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n

Set to be just an exploitative gangster flick, it became an event thanks to Coppola\u2019s vision and lucky turns of fortune. It wasn\u2019t polarizing generationally a la \u201cBonnie & Clyde,\u201d and was seen as the maturing of a tradition that began with 1930s mob movies.<\/p>\n

Since \u201cThe Godfather,\u201d westerns (\u201cDances With Wolves,\u201d \u201cUnforgiven\u201d) and fantasy epics (the \u201cLord of the Rings\u201d and \u201cHarry Potter\u201d franchises) have benefited from the same acceptance.<\/p>\n

2. It proved grown-ups were fine with onscreen violence.<\/p>\n

Only a decade earlier, the kind of bloodshed and brashness seen in \u201cThe Godfather\u201d were more common in a 42nd street B-movie (or would cause a rush of commentary as with \u201cBonnie & Clyde\u201d or \u201cThe Wild Bunch\u201d). Suddenly, it symbolized seriousness.<\/p>\n

Of course, later audiences haven\u2019t blinked twice at violence in serious fare like \u201cGoodfellas,\u201d \u201cPulp Fiction\u201d or \u201cDrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. It had movie stars that didn\u2019t resemble \u201cmovie stars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paramount producers thought Robert Redford, or anyone else for that matter, should play Michael. Coppola fought for Al Pacino, and nearly cast Robert De Niro as Sonny before deciding on James Caan. Countless young actors screen tested for Michael, but once execs saw Pacino \u2014 too Italian, too New York, too short \u2014 in the restaurant scene where Sollozzo is shot, he was safe.<\/p>\n

That paved the way for new wave of 1970s stars, and is surely echoed in the careers of Sean Penn, Adrien Brody and even Coppola\u2019s nephew, Nicolas Cage.<\/p>\n

4. It looked like nothing else.<\/p>\n

Cinematographer Gordon Willis\u2019 noir-inspired color scheme and use of shadows throughout upset the studio execs (who also thought Coppola should update the post-war setting of Mario Puzo\u2019s novel). Since then, critical and commercial hits alike have embraced the dark side.<\/p>\n

5. It was eminently quotable.<\/p>\n

You could start a greeting card company with \u201cGodfather\u201d saga lines: From offers you can\u2019t refuse to \u201cI knew it was you\u201d (from \u201cPart II\u201d) to \u201cGo to the mattresses\u201d to \u201cI hope your first child is a mas culine child,\u201d there\u2019s one for every occasion. And as \u201cThe Silence of the Lambs,\u201d \u201cFight Club,\u201d \u201cGladiator\u201d and others show, great lines can keep a movie from sleeping with the fishes<\/p>\n

Read more: http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/entertainment\/godfather-hits-40-article-1.1036207#ixzz1oq2OqSlk
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