The Godfather by Mario Puzo
*Contains Spoilers*
The Godfather is one of the most known and quoted films. Just as the film took the world by storm, so did the book.
I’d been a huge fan of the film for years, feeling as they say in You’ve Got Mail:
Joe Fox: The Godfather is the I-ching. The Godfather is the sum of all wisdom. The Godfather is the answer to any question. What should I pack for my summer vacation? “Leave the gun, take the cannoli.” What day of the week is it? “Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday.”
The book had been on my to-read list for quite some time, but when I meet a hunky guy who said it was his favorite book, well…it was just the push I needed. 😉
Background:
The book was published in 1969 and tells the story of a fictitious Mafia family based in New York. The novel spans from 1945 to 1955, and was the first book to familiarize terms like consigliere, caporegime, Cosa Nostra, and omertà to an English-speaking audience.
A majority of the novel is based on reality, such as the, “Five Families” the Mafia in the New York Area. Johnny Fontaine is based on Frank Sinatra, Moe Greene on Bugsy Siegel, and Vito Corleone being a mixture of Frank Costello and Carlo Gambino.
The Godfather actually is four different stories coming together in one long “thread”. Part I: We have Michael Corleone, son of Vito “The Godfather” Corleone; wanting to be different from his father but circumstances driving him toward it. Part II: Vito Corleone’s backstory and how he went from poor, friendless, immigrant; to the powerful Godfather of New York. Part III: Johnny Fontaine and his adventures in Hollywood, proving that the tinsel screen crowd can be just as cheap as its moniker. Part IV: Lucy Mancini, mistress of Sonny finds herself in Las Vegas dissatisfied by any other man until a doctor comes along saying he has an operation that will fix it. (Of course, Puzo titles them a bit differently than me.) For the purposes of this review, we will save the Vito Corleone backstory for when I review The Godfather: Part II.
This book inspired three films:
- The Godfather (1972): Focuses on the Corleone family restructure after the head of the family is wounded along with Michael going from not wanting to be in charge of the family business to becoming the next Godfather.
- The Godfather: Part II (1974): Half of the film focuses on Vito Corleone’s story and his path from poverty to prosperity. The other half of the film is not based on the book and is about the next steps of Michael’s life and empire; from Las Vegas to Cuba
- The Godfather: Part III (1990): Michael is in his sixties and finds it “lonely at the top”. Sonny’s child is being groomed to be the next “Godfather” and hopes to have a relationship with Michael’s daughter, his first cousin.
- In 2006, Electronic Arts released a video game in which the player takes the role of “soldier” in the Corleone family.
As I saw the film first, I am going to review that.
Film Synopsis:
So we open up with one of the greatest opening scenes in film history. A man has come to ask the Godfather, Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) for help. At first Don Corleone is hesitant, as this man has ignored him until he needed revenge, but agrees to aid him. This request of favors continues for a while until he steps out to be a part of his daughter’s wedding.
The Corleone family has five children; Santino (Sonny), the eldest, a hothead who is being groomed to become the next Godfather although he doesn’t have the patience or ability to control him impulses; Tom Hagen, adopted son, he is the consigliere (advisor/lawyer) to the Godfather; Alfredo, the middle son, is sensitive and not action orientated; Connie, the only daughter, who tries to be a part but finds that her sex relegates her to the backburner; and Michael, the youngest, who wants to be different from his father but is actually the most like him in temperament and intelligence.
The film takes place in the 1940s, as WWII is drawing to a close. Times are changing with the Turk coming to the Godfather to ask for funding for his drug buisness. Sonny and Tom want to invest as drugs will be the money makers of the future; but the Godfather says no. The Turk doesn’t like that answer and puts a hit on the Godfather, aided by crooked cops.
Don Corleone survives, but this brings Michael back into the fold as he comes up with an idea to assassinate those who pose a threat, fleeing to Italy afterwards. While in Italy getting immersed in the Sicilian culture; his family back home are fighting a war. When Sonny gets killed, Michael returns and takes on the mantle of being the Godfather; proving to be just as adept as his father.
How it Differs:
What is Alike:
So the story is pretty much the same as used in the movie. They do cut out parts of Michael’s time in Sicily, but mostly things that are internal and would be hard to express in film, along with having to cut or else the film would exceed its already long runtime.
What is Different:
In the movie Johnny Fontaine is a small character at the beginning and end, in the book his story of Hollywood is a major chunk.
In the movie Kay, Michael’s girlfriend and second wife (his first was murdered), was not as adaptive to the Italian culture. One of the reasons why Michael choose her in the first place was how different she was and what he inspired to be; but while in the book she comes around and tries to support Michael; in the movie her WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) culture does not mesh with Sicilian Italians.
There are quite a few more story-lines to the book and than could fit in one film.
The Book:
Part I: We have Michael Corleone, son of Vito “The Godfather” Corleone; wanting to be different from his father but circumstances driving him toward it. This part is just like the film except more fleshed out
Part II: Vito Corleone’s backstory and how he went from poor, friendless, immigrant; to the powerful Godfather of New York. This is what The Godfather: Part II is partly based on.
Part III: Johnny Fontaine and his adventures in Hollywood, proving that the tinsel screen crowd can be just as cheap as its moniker. After the Godfather helped him get out of his bad contract and become a star again, his old friend (who he brought to Hollywood) tries to destroy him.
Part IV: Lucy Mancini, mistress of Sonny finds herself in Las Vegas dissatisfied by any other man until a doctor comes along saying he has an operation that will fix it. She finally finds satisfaction and love with the doctor.
Characters: Who Was Best?
There are a lot of characters, so I am just going to narrow it down to seven
Johnny Fontane Vs. Al Martino
Film- So in the film we only see Johnny two times. He comes in at Connie’s wedding to ask his Godfather for help. He wants out of his bad contract and a part in a movie the director refused to give him, as he knows this role will make him a star. Don Corleone agrees after a bit of reprimand and he goes on to sing at the wedding.
We see him again when Michael goes to Vegas to talk about buying the rest of the hotel shares. There Michael asks him to do a few shows a year, and he agrees.
Film Johnny is nice, sweet, agreeable and a bit of a wimp but not annoying.
Book- We get a long picture of Hollywood and the ugly side. Johnny is rude, selfish, and just not that fun to read about. I really could not stand his character and this part of the book (along with Lucy’s stupid storyline) were just unbearable.
Winner: Al Martino
Kay Adams Vs. Diane Keaton
Film- Kay is a WASP from a very old established family. She and Michael meet at college, start dating, and are living together when he has to flee to Italy. Later when he returns; the two resume their relationship but there is some friction. Kay doesn’t really understand the Italian culture, especially Sicilian Italians. She goes along with Michael, but unlike how Italian women were taught not to interfere with the men’s business (like Mrs. Corleone Michael’s mom and Connie), Kay wants to know. And she wants to be a part. To me I saw her as a big whiner and didn’t enjoy the character (Diane Keaton’s performance was good it was just the character I didn’t care for).
Book- Kay is the same character as above, but there are a few differences. Instead of continuing to exert her differences and desire to change the family dynamics, Kay tries to go along more with the culture. In the book she is portrayed more naive and sheltered, which I think worked better than asserting her, I guess you would call it “Americaness”. I also love the interactions between her and the mom, as Mrs. Corleone tries to help her understand her new life.
Winner: Kay Adams
Alfredo “Fredo” Corleone Vs. John Cazale
Film- Fredo is the middle son and no dancing around the subject. He’s weak-willed. He is scared, he’s not a man of action, and he can’t do anything without direction. While he doesn’t have a “huge role” in screen time compared to his brothers; Fredo is important in how he shows the strengths of his siblings. We see him only a couple of times; when his father is shot and he does nothing and him moving to Las Vegas opposing /Michael when he comes in for domination.
Book-The Fredo in the book is exactly the same as in the film, just a bit more detail. It is great that they clearly followed the source material to the letter.
Winner: Tie
Tom Hagen Vs. Robert Duvall
Film- In this Robert Duvall plays Tom as thankful and a part of the family. He is quiet, intelligent, and always considering the options in planning what is best for his family. Tom is an all around good guy and great businessman.
Book-Same as above. Coppola was really good at keeping true in this film.
Winner: Tie
Santino “Sonny” Corleone Vs. James Caan
Film-Like Duvall as Tom, they choose the perfect actor to portray Sonny. He just plays the aggressive, angry, impulsive, tough, man about town, etc.; so well.
Book- Same as above.
Winner: Film. The only reason why I choose it over the book is because Caan is just perfection. He embodies the character so well, I don’t think there is a single soul who could have done it better.
Vito Corleone Vs. Marlon Brando
Film-What can I say, have you seen that first scene? When he is in his chair and we see him for the first time giving the speech, I had chills. Perfection! Brando just embodied the character so well from friendly father, mafioso, and the all amazing Godfather.
Book-The only thing that is better in the book is that we get to really know everything about him as we get his complete story from immigrant, to family man, to protector, to Godfather, to injured, to worried, to retired, etc. I loved that we were able to get every facet of him.
Winner: Tie
Michael Corleone Vs. Al Pacino
Film- Al Pacino is perfection, pure perfection. He plays Michael so perfectly! We see in the beginning an idealistic man wanting something pure, true, and as far as possible from the shady dealings his dad does. He even rebels by quitting college and joining the military; along with dating a WASP instead of a good Catholic Italian girl.
But then when his father is shot and Michael arrives in the hospital creating a plan to protect his father, save his life, and even encounters blows.
Then in the next scene when everyone is worried and trying to figure out the next step we have my most favorite scene. The scene in which Michael comes up with a plan to kill the cop and the Turk in which they can still be okay with their senators and such. In that scene, we see that Michael has the intelligence of his father and encompassed every other positive trait. We also see that he and he alone can carry the mantle of Godfather. It is also just one step down the road to him becoming the next one.
From there we have even more great scenes and I firmly believe that Al Pacino should not only have been nominated for an Oscar but should have won as well. The Academy really snubbed him.
Book-The book is once again the same except having more information on his thoughts, ideas, and time in Italy. Like with the other main characters, the screenwriters stayed true to the book.
Winner: Al Pacino. The way he brought life to this character is so amazing. When I watch this I forget it is Al Pacino acting, but believe he is Michael.
Setting/Costumes
As this is a historical fiction piece, I decided to add in a new category. (The Sherlock Holmes piece was too modern in setting, I felt it would be a waste of time).
The clothes were perfect. The setting sensational! And the angles and lightings just perfect. Love it!
Conclusion:
This was hard…but the book and film were amazing. But after a LONG deliberation, I had to choose…
Winner: Film
The reason why I choose the film was because I didn’t like the story-lines of Lucy and Johnny. I felt those weakened the novel and took away from an already compelling story.
The film was amazing in its choice of actors, no one could have done as well as the ones chosen. That paired with one storyline, clothes, setting, lighting; it was just fantastico!
For more film/book reviews, go to A Ring of Thieves Versus A Poisoner: A Study in Scarlet
From Print to Screen 