Samuel’s review published on Letterboxd:
What can I say that's not already been said? Not much! But I still like to babble a bit....
The Godfather is impeccable. It truly is. Is it perfect? Let me get back to that.
What I do know is that it is a storytelling monolith that still eclipses over anything that came after it - for me anyway. This second and rather massively important rewatch for me on this calm Saturday afternoon has impacted me in such a way that I've found myself wanting to announce it among my all time favourites. But I know it's too soon. With the repeated delays of watching the sequel and the need to go back to the first one beforehand, it's all a huge undertaking. One that I find myself so overwhelmed by. I just don't think any amount of time can be prepare you for such a monumental film. And I don't think anything will prepare me for the sequel either.
Every word and action is delivered with absolute precision among each individual performance and it's all felt throughout. Outstanding vision among writing and beautiful cinematography makes it all that much more timeless. Violence is implied just as much as it is doled out on screen and in such a distinguished fashion. Not too gratuitous but just enough to shock the living fuck out of you when it does happen. Coppola carries his own unique style of horror into this one in parts and it's delivered with such power. Something I completely missed on my first watch. The guy is a wild card as much as he is a visionary.
The beginning 25 minutes of this story is some of the best world building you're ever going to get in a mob movie, and maybe in film as a whole. So believable and so impressionable that I find myself glued, incapsulated from start to finish because of this amazing introduction. Coppolas work lures you in so that you slowly start to invest in the lives of the family. And it is done so so well.
While I have dozens of thoughts pertaining to the whole cast, I'm going to refrain this time around to just talk about one this time. One that I have wanted to put down in words for a long time. Pretty much since my first watch.
Marlon Brando refused to accept the Oscar for best Actor in 1973 due to the treatment and lack of equality for Indian Americans in the film industry and everywhere else. Upon this announcement by Sacheen Littlefeather, the crowd mainly consisted of applause but a portion of the noise was a faint wail of boo's from the back of the crowd. And it tells a chilling story regardless of how you may see it. To think we actually allowed this to go on is baffling. I have an incredible amount of respect for Marlon Brando. Refusing such a prestigious award for taking part in probably the most iconic performance in film history. And for standing up for such a meaningful cause too. A true tragedy that makes his part in all of this that much more legendary. A name and face that will forever be consecrated in the realm of film.
So yeah. The Godfather is perfection.
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