“The Godfather” blows out its fiftieth candle. During an event organized to celebrate this anniversary, Francis Ford Coppola unveiled his favorite scene from his masterpiece.
The Godfather: the monument of Francis Ford Coppola
Released in 1972, The Godfather celebrates its fiftieth candle this year. To celebrate this anniversary, the feature film by Francis Ford Coppola will be released in cinemas on February 23, 2022, in a restored version. The perfect opportunity to dive back into the mafia tribulations of the Corleone family between 1945 and 1955, magnified by the tragic and funereal notes of Nino Rota.
Led by patriarch Don Vito (Marlon Brando), the clan is offered an alliance by Virgil Sollozzo (Al Lettieri), the godfather of the Tattaglia family who seeks to develop the heroin trade in New York. While his eldest son Sonny (James Caan) is in favor of this association, Vito refuses it.
Shortly after, he was the victim of an assassination attempt. Yet out of business, his son Michael (Al Pacino) avenges him. He then left to take refuge in Sicily to escape possible reprisals. His departure does not prevent bloodshed, in the United States as in Italy.
The Godfather ©Paramount Pictures
Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall, John Cazale, Richard S. Castellano, Sterling Hayden, Talia Shire, and Richard Conte complete the phenomenal cast of this adaptation of the eponymous novel by Mario Puzo. In 1973, the feature film wins three Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor for Marlon Brando, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The Hollywood consecration continues three years later for Francis Ford Coppola with The Godfather, part 2, who leaves with six golden statuettes from the ceremony, including those for Best Film and Best Director.
A poignant scene
The Godfather is full of unforgettable scenes. How not to remember the real horse’s head that ends up in the bed of tycoon Jack Woltz (John Marley), or the particularly barbaric execution at a tollbooth? Asked by Hollywood Insider on a red carpet for the fiftieth anniversary of the feature film, Francis Ford Coppola confided in the sequence he prefers. And this moment has nothing to do with the aforementioned passages since it is the opposite imbued with sweetness. Quoted by Screening the filmmaker said:
I think my favorite scene is when the little boy is with his grandfather in the garden, and Marlon surprises him with an orange in his mouth.
This scene comes after a poignant exchange between Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. The first then assures the second that he would have liked never to involve him in his criminal affairs. Then, a few seconds after this moment of complicity between a grandfather and his grandson evoked by Francis Ford Coppola, Vito Corleone succumbs to a heart attack. Upon his death, Michael takes over as head of the family. He shows no mercy towards the other leaders of the New York mafia clans. The sweetness was only short-lived.
