If you’ve never had the gracious opportunity that is to view The Godfather, after this review I recommend immediately clearing your schedule for the next three hours to rent and watch it immediately. For a movie that was made in the 70s it more than holds up to the movie standards of today. Although it was quite a lengthy journey, it was one that I thoroughly enjoyed and it contains a lot of key cultural elements that continue to be relevant to this day. 

          As initially mentioned, an important aspect of the movie The Godfather as a whole is much more than the content it provides, it’s the content it keeps supplying to others. Regardless of subjective opinions on the plot and content of the film, it has undeniably shaped the way we perceive parts of the world and it has a very powerful take on intense themes such as death, loyalty within family and power vs money. In regards to how it’s shaped the way we perceive parts of the world, although it is a huge dramatization it is a large part of how we perceive Italians and their culture or at least the way things about their culture were in the mid-late 1900s and the movie continues to be one of the only movies to do so. At the same time, The Godfather helped shape much of culture today as its iconic scenes have become memorable for literal generations. Quotes such as, “Look how they massacred my boy” and the “You come into my house” monologue have been memed for decades now! I knew some iconic quotes before I even saw the movie. That’s how impactful the culture of this movie is and why I think it’s target audience is mainstream, culture as it is still relevant 50 years later. 

          However, in my opinion the most important element of this movie was its storytelling and its themes. For a three hour movie it had ridiculously good pacing and was able to solidly develop a world with complex and diverse characters and explore these themes. Each one of the characters that belongs to their respective family has a deep and heavy loyalty to this family and they all know each other well enough to the point where they oftentimes can predict each other’s actions or whereabouts. As I was watching I began to wonder if Don Corleone was going to live or if his family would give up on him. Their closeness and loyalties inspired me to take a solid look at my life and consider how I value and act around my own family. Finally, the main conflict is about which of the head families should rule and get the power they sought after. The Godfather forces you not only to think about the characters actions and by which of these themes they were motivated, but also to delve into our own lives and take a look at which we ourselves are motivated by, money/power, or family.