The Godfather
“Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”
The men in THE GODFATHER clearly have their priorities straight after a hit.
New York, 1945. Don Vito Corleone (played by Marlon Brando) is the aging head of a powerful mafia family and the de facto Godfather of the Five Families, the five most prominent mafia clans in New York and Jersey. He has three sons – Sonny (James Caan), Fredo (John Cazale) and Michael (Al Pacino). Sonny is his natural successor but is impulsive, short-tempered and not much of a thinker. Fredo, on the other hand, is overly passive. Michael is a war hero and choosing to not be involved in the family business. The Corleone family and the other four mafia families of New York and New Jersey have been at peace for several years now. Then one of the families decides to get into the illegal narcotics business and wants Don Corleone’s help. Don Corleone decides that his family should stay out of narcotics. This has disastrous and far-reaching consequences, consequences that will suck Michael deeper and deeper into the family business.
Who thinks about an epic gangster movie, thinks about THE GODFATHER, about Marlon Brando who makes his opponents an offer they can’t refuse and who stuffs his lower jaw with cottonwool to look as much like a bulldog as he can. About a star-studded cast like they were never able to get together after this, with Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall. Directed Francis Ford Coppola was 33 when he made the film and was picked by the studio Paramount because he was of Italian descent and wanted to work for little money after the flop of his previous movie THE RAIN PEOPLE. Paramount was convinced that THE GODFATHER could only become a success with an Italian American cast and crew to made the project as faithful to the subject as possible – and to make it as believable as possible. And that clearly was the right choice. The movie became a commercial and critical success. THE GODFATHER became one of Hollywood’s greatest success stories: not only did the movie transcend expectations, but it established new benchmarks for American cinema.
Even more than 50 years after its release, THE GODFATHER remains iconic for its universal themes such as power, violence, family and loyalty, for the memorable and quotable performances, and for its lasting impact on the gangster genre in general. A masterpiece – not with a .38 caliber, but on 35MM at De Cinema.
On Sunday the 1st of November 2026, we screen THE GODFATHER TRILOGY at De Cinema. With THE GODFATHER on 35MM, THE GODFATHER PART II on 35MM and THE GODFATHER CODA: THE DEATH OF MICHAEL CORLEONE in 4K.
