The Godfather

In order to discuss how The Godfather shares continuities with Classic Hollywood cinema one has to define it. However asHollywood [cinemaincluded hundreds of filmmakers and thousands of films, and it existed for over six decadesit might seem impossible to circumscribe a distinctive group style. One can nevertheless list some of the characteristics that outline Classic Hollywood. Narrative is the basic formal concern in the Hollywood group style and unity is a basic attribute of the film form. The film strives to be realistic and to conceal its artifice through techniques such as continuity editing and invisible storytelling. The film should be comprehensible and unambiguous and have an emotional fundamental appeal.

Although one cannot state that the narrative structure of The Godfather, and the film as a whole is uncomplex and unambiguous one can argue that the events in the narrative occur chronologically and that cause and effect serve to move the narrative along. Coppola obviously focused on the narrative structure of The Godfather as throughout the film carefully constructed climaxs are formed that shape a definitive conclusion at the end. In fact the film has been praised as a result of its ability to weave the often-disparate layers of the story together into a cohesive whole.

Therefore as the narrative structure has aspects of compliance with traditional Hollywood cinema so does the use of editing and cinematography. Coppola uses continuity editing to ensure the action flows coherently from one shot to the next. He also creates idealistic visual imagery by using the dissolve technique another form of continuity editing. As far as cinematography is concerned, the aim was to create a realistic picture and therefore the film made little use of zooms or pans or any other camera movement. The theme of realism pervades the movie in stylistic elements such as settings, costumes and make-up. The settings are realistic and detailed. The costumes are functional and fit the time period and the make-up in the Godfather is mainly used for realistic purposes such as, to age characters effectively.

Although I have referred mainly to the stylistic elements that make up the The Godfather it is clear that the film shares these continuities with the Classic Hollywood period. The film abides by some of the conventions that shape the first age of Hollywood cinema however at the same time it subverts the very conventions it uses and highlights its differences, making it to a certain extent a product of transformation in Hollywood cinema.

One of the final features that Hollywood renaissance cinema upheld was that it is was deeply influenced by other European cinema. Coppola is influenced mainly by French New Wave and Italian Neo-realism cinema. I have mentioned Coppolas use of montage for dramatic juxtaposition of shots, this technique as well as the lighting techniques that Coppola makes use of are infl uenced by European cinema. The term for the technique of using light and darkness to accentuate one another is an Italian term called Chiaroscuro. Also the idea of auteur directors arose in the 1970s in Hollywood renaissance cinema influenced by the French New Wave directors that insisted they were authors of their films. Coppola is an example of an auteur director as he both wrote and directed The Godfather.

It has always been known what a celebrated film The Godfather is, every other Gangster movie has been judged by its brilliance and few films, no matter what genre will ever achieve ten academy award nominations. What was not clear however was whether The Godfather really was a product of the Hollywood renaissance period. By considering the continuities and conventions that this film shares wi th conventional cinema and discussing how it also defied these conventions, exploring the changes in cinema that emerged after the 1960s. It is now clear that The Godfather is most certainly a product of the Hollywood transformation period.

Mary Anne Winslow is a member of Essay Writing Service counselling department team and a dissertation writing consultant. Contact her to get free counselling on custom essay writing.

Author:: Mary Anne Winslow
Keywords:: Godfather, Gangster
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