Film
The Godfather
Revisiting Francis Ford Coppola’s classic fifty years on
by Florence Honybun •
James Caan as Sonny Corleone, Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone, Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, and John Cazale as Fredo Corleone in The Godfather. (image courtesy of Alamy)
The Godfather, the first instalment of Francis Ford Coppola’s three-part mafioso epic, premièred fifty years ago last month. Released in March 1972, The Godfather became a huge commercial success. By year’s end it was the highest-ever grossing film. And despite its brutal and salacious content, and its pulpy source material – which may help explain its attraction to moviegoers – it was a critical success. Pauline Kael, writing in the New Yorker, described it as ‘a great example of how the best popular movies come out of a merger of commerce and art’.
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