Michael Corleone

Michael Corleone's character changes throughout the movie. In the beginning he abandoned his family.

He was dating Kay Adams. Seemed like he was the only Corleone that was living his life to the fullest, by not being a part of his family. Though deep down we all know that he does truly care for his family. I thought he did not want to be part of the mafia, so he was just trying to stay away from them. 

After the first 2 hours of the movie you find out that Michael changes, he use to stay away from his family but now he is all about the family. What I am trying to say is he is maturing, he is taking responsibility becoming a true Corleone. This all started when The Don got shot. 

He has done so many things that make him a Corleone. He stood up for his father. When Sonny said to him that Sollozzo and McClutsey wanted to have a meeting with them, he came up with this whole plan, for him to kill them. He went through with the plan and he killed a cop something no Corleone has ever done, he also killed Sollozzo. He did it al for his father. For killing a cop and Sollozzo he would have gone to jail for ages. He flees to Sicily for 2 years under watch of a family friend Don Tommasino. In Sicily he lives a wonderful life. He falls in love and gets married to Apollina. A few weeks after the marriage he finds out that his brother Sonny gets murdered from an ambush by the Tattaglia family. Michael and his wife Apollina are getting ready to move to Siracusa, though Apollina gets killed from a car bomb that was meant for Michael planted in the car by one of the Bodyguards. 

Michael now acts more mature, me is more responsible. He was trying to take care of his father, now that Sonny is dead when Michael goes back home he will have to take care of his father. 


Sakina 

The Colour Orange

In class Mr. McGuigan said when an author repeats a literary feature 3 times, he or she is telling us that this literary feature is important. While I have been watching The Godfather I have been keeping track of the literary features I see, and how many times I see them. If I only see it once it is just a coincidence, if i see it twice it is a pattern and then if I see it three times or more the author is trying to say something.

Susan mentioned the colour orange last class, so I went back through my notes and I saw that orange might be symbolizing death. I have now three scenes where people either die or are attempted to get murdered or rape. The First scene was when Luca Brasi went to go see the Tattaglia family.  You see lots of red and orange ish colours on the walls, as you see him walk into the bar you see the fishes on the glass which have an orange reflection from the wall behind the galss. The second scene was when The Don got shot. Before he gets in the car with his son he goes to the fruit stand to get some fruit then as he sees the hit men coming towards him he try's to run away and kicks a bucket of oranges which scatter across the road, though they shoot him before he can get some distance. The third scene is the meeting with Sollozzo, Michael and McClutsey. The sign on the windows outside of the restaurant were in a bright flashy orange, then inside the restaurant the lights were orangey, usually lights are white though sometimes yellow but this one was defiantly orangey.  

Out of all colours I would think that red would be a death sign because red is the same colour as blood. Though Francis Ford Coppola choose orange I wonder why? Could it have been because red would have been too noticeable and he wanted the audience to think while watching the movie, or is it just a coincidence that all the scenes where people are murdered or attempted murder or rape have orange in it. Hhhmmmm 

Sakina 

Camera Angles

A camera angle refers to the way the shot is composed."It is used to position the viewer so that they can understand the relationships between the characters. These are very important for shaping meaning in film as well as in other visual texts." Camera angle accentuates how close knit the family is and how we are getting inside the family. 

Francis Ford Coppola uses the technique of camera angles a lot throughout the movie to show some drama effect, I think so at least. In class last week we talked about the hospital scene, when Michael came into the hospital and walked to the room where his father lays. You see a"2" on the door. The "2"  is in a numerous amount of shots in the corner, though there was one shot where it was only the "2" for a whole 16 seconds. It is not normal to have a 12 seconds long shot of the same thing unless it is very important. In class we thought it may have meant that Michael is going to be the second Don. We also came up with a bunch of other conclusions, though this one kept coming up. If you think about it a lot it seems like it could be right. 

Another example is when Michael is coming back from the hospital and going to see Sonny. Sonny says to everyone in the room that Sollozzo called him and he wants to have a meeting, with just Michael, McCluskey and himself Sollozzo. After Michael heres that he sits down and comes up with a plan. Which in tales that he meets with Sollozzo and McCluskey and blows their heads off with a shot to the head each. The Camera shot starts with a wide shot seeing everyone in the room, then the camera slowly comes closer and closer to Michael face. By the end all you see is him in the chair, it is a close up shot. I believe it is a very significant shot, because well Michael is taking responsibility, coming up with the plan all by himself. The camera angle empowers him. 

"Camera Angle ." Camera shots, angles and movement, lighting, cinematography and mise en scene. 
SKWirK, n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2011. 
<http://www.skwirk.com.au/p-c_s-54_u-251_t-647_c-2411/camera-shots-angles-and-movement-lighting-cinematography-and-mise-en-scene/nsw/camera-shots-angles-and-movement-lighting-cinematography-and-mise-en-scene/skills-by-text-type-film/film-overview>


Sakina 

Light and Darkness

Light and darkness is a motif used in The Godfather, a numerous amount of times. Light represents truth, existence and knowledge. Darkness represents evil, death and fabrication.

 Francis Ford Coppola uses this motif many times every time he uses it,

it represents something different. For example, in the beginning of the film The Godfather is sitting in his chair and Francis Ford Coppola puts a halo around The Godfathers head with the light. Another example when Sollozzo kidnaps Tom Hagen and you see him sitting in the chair, half of his face is in the dark and the other half is in the light. Why is that?  Francis Ford Coppola is trying to show that Tom Hagen is indecisive, half leaning towards the good and half leaning towards the good. 

There were two times when Francis Ford Coppola uses the light to add a halo to The Godfathers head. That was at the beginning of the movie. Then the second time was when the halo appeared on Michael's head. If any one besides The Godfather were to have a halo it seems that it would be Sonny. I say that because when The Godfather was shot and in the hospital, Sonny was calling all the shots and telling people what to do. Though Francis Ford Coppola puts the halo on Michael’s head. Why is that? At the hospital seen after Michael moves The Godfather to another room, he says to his father “Lie here pop, ill take care of you. I’m with you now... I’m with you now” Michael is finally acting like a Corleone, he is maturing. He is taking responsibly for who he is, he is doing what he thinks is right. That is why I think the halo is on Michael’s head not Sonny’s head because he deserves it. He is the one that came up with the plan to blow Sollozzo and Captain McCluskey head off. It is something that no one in the family has ever done before, killed a cop. This is a big plan and Clemezo said himself "you know mike we are all proud of you being a hero and all even your father", if this happens they would all be delated. 


Sakina