I would like to present the argument that the story of The Godfather would have been able to be told without the actors themselves. Even though, that would be a book, I would like to show a glimpse of where I am coming from. I do understand that I started to scratch the surface about how I felt the actors did in their roles, mainly Al Pacino; However, I would like to write this blog on other elements of the film that made the story for me with muse-in-scene. The Godfather is a story about family but there are individual changes that each character undergoes though out the film, the objects that I would like to focus on is the lighting of the Godfather’s office and Marlon Brando’s costuming.
The movie opens with “I Believe in America” is heard and there is a hard cut to a man looking towards the camera. The overhead light lights him in a way that shadows his eyes, and the lack of back lights makes him appear to be in a room of black as he stands out even more in the shot. The very low fill lighting just gives him enough light on his face so his shadows are not over dominating his eyes. The camera zooms out to reframe the out of focus head of Marlon Brando. He is also semi lit by a somewhat similar 3 point lighting. This lighting plot helps give the office as a feel of a catholic confessional between the two men. As the cuts of the scene progress, the lighting changes. It is at first a bit distracting but as the scene goes on it is increasingly interesting. After the man among the dark background, it then cuts to a shot of Brando much more lit. When Brando get up and walks over to the man to talk to him, the long shot shows the room is also much more lit then the earlier part of the scene. It is a high contrast view from to the shot in the beginning of the movie. This sets the tone for the rest of the movie, which is the office tells the story of The Godfather.
The scenes that take place in the office in the first part of the movie (Please refer to the prior blog for parts of the movie), the office remains dark and dimly lit. For instance, when Sonny dies or when Brando gets shot, the meetings in the office are dark and there is only so much light. At the end of the movie when Al Pacino takes over, the final shot of the film is fully light and everything can be seen in the room clearly. This represents the starting of a new era.
What makes The Godfather, The Godfather. One of Marlon Brando’s most famous roles was made possible outside of just his method acting. The character of the Don is able to be depicted through many things, I would like to focus on mainly his clothing. Brando’s costume helps tell the transformation and the power that the character has. I am going to give a few examples of this: The first is the beginning of the film when his daughter is getting married. To help show that he is the father of the bride, he has a red flower on his tux, making him stand alone from the other men at the wedding. Second, his clothing at during the meeting with the drug dealer where Sonny speaks out. All the men in this scene are dressed extremely nicely in full suits but Brando is wearing a somewhat presentable shirt and a tie. This shows that he is so powerful that he can dress comfortably during meetings. Moreover, his clothing is even more relaxed when he gets shot at. He is simply wearing a nice button down and large jacket. When he returns after the hospital, his hair is unkept and there is no tie at all after that. Overall, his shows his decrease in power from when he is first seen in the film. What I do like but I won’t go to in depth about is that how Brando’s costume is becoming less and less nice but Al Pacino’s is getting more and for classier from the military uniform from the beginning of the film. Its a very interesting parallel. I find that Brando’s costume had a large effect how he handled the role overall.
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