In 1972, director Francis Ford Coppola intended to use the tragedy of a fictional Mafia dynasty to chronicle the ruinous costs of the American dream. The result of course, has become a national pop culture artifact.
“The Godfather” and it’s two sequels, which methodically follow the Corleone family’s rise from poverty to power, continue to wield greater influence over public discourse than any other film of our time.
In a gesture befitting the movie’s stature, Paramount and Coppola have collaborated to release “The Godfather Trilogy,” a deluxe, long-awaited DVD edition of the entire saga.
Though restored versions of “The Godfather” pictures were released in 1997, The clearer letterboxed transfer provided by the digital format is unmatched. Now the deep shadows looming within the Corleone estate, produced through careful underexposure by cinematographer Gordon Willis, are rendered in the true blacks and browns of their original issue.
Supplemental features in the five-disc package include an hour-long documentary on the turbulent making of “The Godfather,” deleted scenes, three theatrical trailers and separate interviews with key persons associated with the production.
Best of all are Coppola’s audio commentaries, one taped for each film, which play over and take note of action unfolding onscreen.
Director commentaries are fast becoming a ubiquitous extra feature on DVDs, but many prove surprisingly dull. Owing to Coppola’s eloquence and emotional candor, however, his tracks are among the best on record.
What makes his insight special, indeed what rewards repeat viewings of the six-hour saga, is the overflowing compassion Coppola has for his characters and the unique depth of character that passion beget each time he and “Godfather” scribe Mario Puzo went back to the drawing board in preparation for the next installment.
Granted, there are holes. “Part II,” which simultaneously depicts patriarch Vito Corleone’s (Robert DeNiro) material rise and his son’s (Al Pacino) moral disintegration, remains limited by Coppola’s reticence to thread his two narrative tracks into a conceptual whole.
Also “Part III,” which finds the Corleones having bought their way into the “legitimate” worlds of big business and organized religion, is often awkward and confusing.
Yet each entry resonates because all are anchored wonderfully to the hushed torment of Michael Corleone, the youngest and brightest of Don Vito’s sons, whose metamorphosis from wallflower to killer and lost soul remains the most moving psychological odyssey in American cinema. Stalked by the legacy of his father and haunted by the ideals and expectations of his immigrant forebears, he is always at a precipice between salvation and dread.
Generations of viewers have become endeared to the “The Godfather Trilogy” is testament to Coppola’s ability to interpose his conflict with a buffet of odd characters, incongruous set pieces and tragicomic lines of dialogue unrivaled in their tastiness. The horse’s head. The canoli. The flickering lamp light. Luca Brazi, sleeping with the fishes. “I know it was you, Fredo.”
Eat up.
