Puzo was actually an aspiring "serious" literary novelist, but had no luck. Then he decided to write a work of pure pulp, and The Godfather was the result. The film is a far superior work of art to the novel; just as many of Kubrick's films are superior works of art to their source material.
Seriously, how did they get that cat to sit in his lap and just accept being petted and played with like that?!! If I tried to pick up my wifes cat and pet it in my lap like that, it would and does attempt to kill me and flee the scene! They're cats, so they suck at it, but that would get me some stitches at the very least... It doesn't look drugged or trained to be still and silent like animals in many movies, which rarely works anyway and is kind of horrible. I remember when Bill Murray had to act alongside a groundhog in a vehicle chase scene, in the movie Groundhog Day. That thing was not docile or happy in any way, it attacked him multiple times and got really pissed off when the groundhog had to be held by Bill Murray!! So seeing that happy playful kitten in such a dark movie, in Marlon Brando's hands made me think that the kitten might have been his in real life, or was REAL familiar with him...
@@lordoftherats8215 A stray kitten (not a cat, a kitten) walked onto set, headed for Marlon Brando's arms and decided it wanted his attention so it got an acting role in The Godfather?!! If this is true, that's amazing.
Fun Fact: Lenny Montana, the actor playing Luca Brasi, was actually IN the mafia. He was a former professional wrestler, arsonist, and enforcer for the Colombo crime family, who along with Frank Sinatra and the Italian-American Civil Rights League, seriously contested the film’s release. They would eventually be satisfied, but with a few conditions. Two of the stipulations they made were that the term “mafia” had to be erased from the script, and Lenny had to oversee the project. When Luca’s original actor suddenly died of a stroke, Ford-Coppola figured that nobody would be able to play a gigantic mob enforcer better than a gigantic mob enforcer. Apparently, Lenny was a huge fan of Marlon Brando, and fanatically recited his lines to himself on set as to not embarrass himself, inspiring the scene in the film where Luca Brasi does the same.
And the guy who played Carlo Rizzi Gianni Russo got the part because of the mob. The head of the Colombo crime family Joe Colombo met with Paramount executives to get him the part. And the mafia caused problems during the film's production too.
@@DracoGalboy Yeah, and Frank had even more reason to dislike the book--Johnny Fontane was pretty blatantly based on him. (And his pal Nino, a lovable drunk...yeah, there was no way he was based on Dean "Dino" Martin, was he?)
whenever you say "the Don" all I hear is "The Dom" "The Dom's daughter" "..."If The Dom felt inclined to do so..." "Asked The Dom to bring them justice."
In regards to Puzo's apparent distaste for Hollywood, his other two books that I have read (Fool's Die & Last Don) contain even more negative depictions of the movie business. Also about Puzo's view of women, in Fool's Die there is one particular woman depicted in a very liberal and open way uncharacteristic for someone of Puzo's age so its likely that he was merely depicting the treatment of women as they would have been in Mafia society.
Yeah. The Five Families were gangsters in the 40's and 50's where there was a lot more sexism and so on than there is now so that made sense. There's a bit where Vito feels like he can't do anything about Carlo's abuse of Connie because apparently it's an old fashioned Italian tradition that fathers can't interfere in their daughters marriages. A real dickish thing Vito says in the book is that when Connie tells her dad that he never hit her mother Carmela Vito replies "She never gave me a reason to" implying that Connie was making Carlo hit her even though he was choosing to hit her because he thought becoming friends with Sonny and marrying Connie would get him a higher position in the family than it did and took his anger out on Connie when it didn't.
Yes, Frank Sinatra. Mr. Vegas himself. Puzo’s Portrayal of Hollywood wasn’t off the mark. The mafia killed the producer’s prized racehorse and placed the head in his bed to send a message for Fontaine. But earlier that same evening the producer raped a little girl whose mom dropped her off to “become a star.” 📚
Fun fact. The man who played Luca Brasi was a real mafia hitman. This was his first and only acting role and the scene of him practicing what he'll say to Don Corleone is actually just him practicing the lines. Growing nervous that he had to act in front of his all time favorite actor, Marlon Brando.
Bonus fun fact: He was also a successful pro wrestler that held multiple championships in the NWA and AWA Also, it wasn’t his only acting role, he actually had quite a lengthy career in film from 1969 to 1982
I'm laughing so hard, because that whole storyline about Lucy Mancini, her loose vajayjay, her time with Sonny, and subsequent surgery were my most indelible memories of the book. That sort of thing will leave an impression on a teenager. Lolz.
God I remember getting to that part while I was reading it in high school and was incredibly confused why this was in the book, or why I should feel investment in it. I had no idea why she had an entire chapter to herself about her banging that doctor guy. There was a lot of weird out of place sexual stuff like that, which made it kinda weird to do a book report on in high school.
@@chippydippy1530 I'm actually surprised you were allowed to do a book report on it. When I was in school there was this rule that you couldn't read a book for a report that had been made into a movie.
I read the book before the movie came out, when I was 12 years old, and I read it nearly non-stop in less than a week. It is a story about a family, not one person.
A small defense of Kay. In those times, for a woman to continue to work after marriage and kids, in that type of society, would have made her a kind of pariah. It would have lost Michael "respect".
Yep. Back in the 40's and 50's the old fashioned "stay in the kitchen" mentality was more common than now. Gangsters and some people in general were a lot more racist then too which is why at the five families meeting one of the Dons says he only wants drugs sold to black people and calls them animals.
True but to be fair, for the time period what better option did women have? Working your ass off at a Low paying job and then working your ass off at home was the only option. Unfortunately the situation for working moms isn’t too drastically different even today with how hostile the corporate world is to parents.
Kay's arc is a prototypical "I can change him!" story. It's probably not a coincidence that the last shot of the movie is a door being shut in her face.
Just wanted to throw out a slight error around 11:57 where Sal is described as "the intelligent but ultimately disloyal consigilere". Tom is the consigilere, where Sal and Pete are the caporegimes. The consigilere is an adviser to the Don who doesn't necessarily take an active role in the illegal operations, where the capos are high-ranking soldiers who may advise the Don, but mainly are active participants in the operations.
From my experience in life, the misogyny in the book was reflective of the way culture in America in the late 40's -1950's really was. Even when I was a child in the early 70's, domestic abuse was an ignored and accepted thing. If daddy had a heavy hand, it was considered the family's business. Same thing with sexism and racism, both institutionalized even more than they are now. I am glad things have started to change.
There are a lot of fun behind the scenes stories to this movie. Including how that cat the Godfather is playing with, that is just a stray cat Marlon found near the set and decided to play with it. Or how cue cards were all over the place because Marlon didn't want to memorize his lines.
I don't think there are that many Persian plushies out there. I mean, there are currently over 600 pokemon; to make plushies of all of them would be a monstrous task. Charmander is a good compromise (although I would've gone with Pikachu).
Luca Brasi only had two bits because he was being played by an actual gangster. His line repeating was what he was doing because he was really nervous about meeting Brando before Coppola added it to the script.
50 Shades. Just yes. Don't forget that James wrote it on her Blackberry AND she included spelling and grammatical errors in the original copies of the book due to not having a competent editor and also just not caring.
Your method of approaching things is likely my favorite kind of reviewing to watch: I really feel reviewers are at their best when dissecting and analyzing. In addition, your quality work and humor gives me a cross-section of stuff I normally would never touch (original work or review), and I think that alone speaks leagues about your ability to write these. Keep up the good work!
I call this "Not liking something when 1st encountered" thing "the dark chocolate syndrome". Because, in a way, it is very similar to a child trying dark chocolate. Once they grow up, they discover that the candy they've grew up on no longer hold the same appeal and are usually, too sweet. Contrary to that very same bar of dark chocolate.
It’s a great analogy. But I still prefer sweet milk chocolate. Coffee is also used in these types of analogies. But I loved coffee from a very young age.
I don't know. I don't think you really need an analogy to explain this. I'm not surprised a 13 year old would find a movie like the Godfather boring. Not saying a younger person can't enjoy or appreciate a movie like this, but I see how media geared towards them would be more appealing even if it's nowhere near the same quality or importance. In other words, I honestly get why a child would rather watch a cartoon.
idk why, i'm really not a book person thanks to dyslexia and so on, but this is by far my favourite youtube channel right now. I just love these videos.
The Godfather I and II are the ultimate vindication of Lee Strasberg's method acting school. That's why it seems so realistic, as though it were hidden camera footage.
I married an Italian, and though my husband was a more Northern Italian (Rome, Naples, Florence, with no Sicilian), I found that reading Godfather, and later the more female-centered Fortunate Pilgrim helpful in understanding his family. Puzo really gets into the relationship between culture and how a person thinks.
For me the most interesting part of the book was Vito’s early life, it details just how intelligent he is, how he deduced the Don putting pressure on him and the rest of the neighborhood had no real power whatsoever and how he became the humanitarian he would be in later life. This also happens to be the same for The Godfather part 2
I seen the God father Mario and now I can't stop thinking of a la costra nostra plumber. "I knew it was you Luigi" "you've broke my heart". Heads of yoshis left in people's beds. That stuff is now in my head and I thank you good sir.
I still love the fact that the cat in that early movie scene was just randomly on set and was picked up by the actor... and no one said anything about it and the scene was shot and done. XD
Awesome Review like always! Also; 20:54 Oh how I wish that was the extent of that subject in the book... I was so baffled by its existence that I swore I hallucinated it or something. I even tried asking a few friends of mine about it (who apparently read the book as well) but they denied that there was any sort plotline involving Lucy Mancini. Thank you for confirming that wasn't the case. I still think the inclusion of this plot was completly insane.
Fun fact: The "life is so beautiful" line is alleged to be the last words spoken by Don Carlo Vizinni, the most powerful mob boss in Sicily after World Ward 2, and was one of the inspiration for the character of Don Corleone(something that both the book and the film got wrong. Properly speaking, he should be called Don Vito). Reportedly Vizinni was sitting on a bench by the side of a road with his driver and he said those words and passed away.
During shooting Coppola had a large binder. The right sided pages had the screenplay adaptation while the left hand side had the relevant pages of the book pasted there. This accounts in part for the faithfulness of his adaptation. He also fought the studio in order to get the budget to make the film a period picture. They wanted to have a modern adaptation.
My parents wanted to show me this one for some time. It was a good addition to my cultural literacy. Also just a good pair of movies. I can't fully explain my emotions and reasoning, but they were incredibly compelling.
Fun Fact: The main reason Johnny Fontaine's role was so cut down was because Frank Sinatra was personally offended by the character, to the point that when he encountered Puzo at a restaurant the two nearly broke into fisticuffs. Naturally he was very much against the film adaptation and allegedly was willing to stop it's production by any means with mafia connections. It was after the producer assured him that Fontaine's part would be massively reduced that Sinatra gave his blessing, and ironically, even expressed interest in the part of Michael Corleone.
I have to say this: Clemenza and Tessio weren't The Don's Consiglieres, they were his two most trusted Capos (Captain). Basically, they get squads of Soldiers to do their dirty work. Tom Hagen was his Consigliere (I believe the book spelled it Consigliore), even though he wasn't Sicilian.
Dating an American? Oh please please PLEASE say it's Calluna! You two were dripping chemistry in the Hobbit bloopers! xD Sorry I don't normally try and ship people, but you two were seriously adorable together.
I only really appreciated the Godfather after my college French teacher through an end-of-semester party where he showed us the Godfather while occasionally pausing the movie to explain cultural notes we might have otherwise missed. It also broke up the movie a bit, which probably helped.
I finally got around to this episode. I’ve been watching your channel for about a year now. New stuff as soon as you post it, and savoring the older episodes in your channel. I had no idea there was a lead up to the 50 shades review that explained the handcuffs and suit. This is amazing. I love everything about your videos. The care you put into them, reminders that this isn’t just about a good book or movie but the adaptation, warning about content to help beautiful watchers keep to whatever standard/rating they desire, and so much more. Thank you for all your hard work.
The removal of Johnny Fontane was actually most likely done because many though the was a reference to Frank Sinatra, which caused Sinatra to hate the book and have a vulgar argument with the author.
I had to read The Godfather in college and wrote a term paper on Lucy Mancini becoming the only female character with any agency within the crime family. My thesis was that her large anatomy was a metaphor for her boldness and willingness to pursue what she wanted unapologetically, which initially equated to pursuing Sonny's large anatomy. But her later position in Vegas and even her choice to change her body to better suit her needs showed more autonomy than other women were afforded. She also chose to marry a man who's whole backstory was getting in trouble for aiding in women's choices over bodily autonomy. The irony is that most of the other women portrayed in the story were encouraged to adhere to traditional submissive gender roles, but were denied their wants once they complied, because they asked the men's permission to have their desire instead of just taking it. Connie asked her father to save her from her abusive marriage. Kay asked Michael to be let into the fold and know what was going on. Fontaine's first wife wanted to get away from Fontaine after everything that he put her through emotionally, but was threatened into reconciling. Only Lucy got to have a say in what she wanted and was supported by those decisions by the mafia family.
Also, this review reminded me that I've been meaning to add this one to my DVD collection (since I no longer have a working VCR to play the VHS version I've got). Thank you.
Thank you so much for these Lost in Adaptation videos. I read The Godfather (as well as many of the other books in your series) and remember well those elements the movie didn't address. I'm listening to this as I type so you may have addressed this but I recall at the time that Al Martino was upset the role of Johnny Fontaine had been drastically cut back. But in all candor, Johnny Fontaine's narrative did seem like a full third of the novel and mostly served to further fill out the story of Sonny's little-something-on-the-side. Again, thank you for all your amazing videos. It's truly appreciated.
Sidebar: real mafia loved this film so much they modelled themselves after it. It is debatable to what extent Puzo took stuff from his research on real mobsters and to what extent he just made stuff up. But after the movie the question became muddled up further, because if they didn’t talk like Marlon Brando before, they certainly did so after.
9:58 Gianni Russo who played Connie's abusive husband Carlo Rizzi actually got the part because of The Mafia. Joseph Colombo, a mob boss got him the role.
I perfectly understood and the fact I understood makes me want to watch it because it makes me even more fascinated with Italian mafia without actually putting myself in danger of actually being a part of it.
With the way he describes it, I can almost see the Godfather being adapted as something of a film anthology series, where each major subplot gets adapted into a separate film. I can see the chronology getting confusing, but I think it's an interesting concept, especially considering what they did with Part II
StarTsurugi Uh... Corrections aside. The Dom decided to put Fifty Shades of Grey on the never list. Assuming that Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Free will be put on the never list also.
Yes well, there is the Never List, and then there is Patreon xD People throw enough money at him, demanding those movies, he's pretty much going to do them.
My son choose the Godfather to read and write a book report on in the 8th grade. His teacher asked my wife to encourage him to choose a shorter, less complicated book since she felt he couldn't complete the assignment on time. My wife believed he could do it and he did! We are proud of both our sons.
Love your reviews of the movie and the book. Makes me want to hunt down my copy of the book for another read before slipping Godfather 1 and 2 and (cough) 3 into the DVD player. for a marathon.
I think it was a smart move for the Godfather movie to limit the stories of Jonny Fontaine and Lucu Mancini, as well as eliminating the Nino and the doctor's characters, they were unnecessary to the story.
Haha loved the episode but the punishment is the best part. good luck my friend. Tell terrace to take over that one, I'm sure he's enough of a masochist to like it. 😂
Your backstory of trying to watch the film at 13, finding it boring, and then watching it again in your 20s and appreciating it properly is is literally what happened to me 😂
24:50 haha wow what a wild piece of fiction wow, the author sure had a wild imagination, could you imagine something like that going on in real life? : ^ )
Just finished the book. You're video is pretty much 100% accurate to what I thought. The Godfather was my parents favorite film growing up and I've seen it a crap ton of times. I was worried reading the book was going to ruin the movie for me (I still haven't been able to watch Hannibal since reading it). Luckily I think I can still enjoy Godfather. Very well done. Also great video!!
+Eric Rhodes The heck are you taking every chance to say you'd look better in a suit? Seems like a weird thing to leave multiple comments over. Especially since we all know I'd look better than both of ya :P
The context and tone of the last shot of the film when we see at the end of the hallway opposite the camera, after Michael has become the Don of the Family and is in the Office with those two men kiss his ring to show respect and loyalty and one of them closes the door and then the screen goes black; is probably one of the most ominous shots in all of film history. It leaves the viewer with this sinking feeling at even after all the terrible thing that had to happen for that moment to take place, for Michael who didn’t want to be apart of this aspect of his family to be standing where is father and even brother once stood, things will never get any better. That when it comes to the Mafia, there are no happy ending.
I heard that Mario Puzo once said that if he had known that the movie was going to end up this famous, he would have written a better book.
Puzo was actually an aspiring "serious" literary novelist, but had no luck. Then he decided to write a work of pure pulp, and The Godfather was the result. The film is a far superior work of art to the novel; just as many of Kubrick's films are superior works of art to their source material.
My favorite thing about the book is the constant bringing up of how big Italian dicks apparently are.
@@keiskay So no "whiskers on kittens" for your list then?
keiskay And the whole chapter about woman with the huge labia that Johnny Fontaine paid to have a reduction. Good idea to skip that bit 🤦♂️
Such an author thing to say lol authors always think they can improve the story. Every artist kinda hates their art
fun fact: apparently the kitten marlon brando was petting in the request scene was purring so loudly they had to redo all of his lines
lion, the friebd that is adrobel
Seriously, how did they get that cat to sit in his lap and just accept being petted and played with like that?!! If I tried to pick up my wifes cat and pet it in my lap like that, it would and does attempt to kill me and flee the scene! They're cats, so they suck at it, but that would get me some stitches at the very least... It doesn't look drugged or trained to be still and silent like animals in many movies, which rarely works anyway and is kind of horrible. I remember when Bill Murray had to act alongside a groundhog in a vehicle chase scene, in the movie Groundhog Day. That thing was not docile or happy in any way, it attacked him multiple times and got really pissed off when the groundhog had to be held by Bill Murray!! So seeing that happy playful kitten in such a dark movie, in Marlon Brando's hands made me think that the kitten might have been his in real life, or was REAL familiar with him...
@@tomosheax Nice bait
Secluded Misanthrope I remember hearing that it was improvised, the cat just walked on the set for pets, tho idk if that’s true
@@lordoftherats8215 A stray kitten (not a cat, a kitten) walked onto set, headed for Marlon Brando's arms and decided it wanted his attention so it got an acting role in The Godfather?!! If this is true, that's amazing.
Fun Fact: Lenny Montana, the actor playing Luca Brasi, was actually IN the mafia.
He was a former professional wrestler, arsonist, and enforcer for the Colombo crime family, who along with Frank Sinatra and the Italian-American Civil Rights League, seriously contested the film’s release. They would eventually be satisfied, but with a few conditions.
Two of the stipulations they made were that the term “mafia” had to be erased from the script, and Lenny had to oversee the project. When Luca’s original actor suddenly died of a stroke, Ford-Coppola figured that nobody would be able to play a gigantic mob enforcer better than a gigantic mob enforcer.
Apparently, Lenny was a huge fan of Marlon Brando, and fanatically recited his lines to himself on set as to not embarrass himself, inspiring the scene in the film where Luca Brasi does the same.
And the guy who played Carlo Rizzi Gianni Russo got the part because of the mob. The head of the Colombo crime family Joe Colombo met with Paramount executives to get him the part. And the mafia caused problems during the film's production too.
@@Xehanort10 Yeah, the only real problem with the godfather movie was it was made during a time the mafia was at their height
Oh yeah, Fontai... Uh Frank was weirdly close to some people who knew some people
@@DracoGalboy Yeah, and Frank had even more reason to dislike the book--Johnny Fontane was pretty blatantly based on him. (And his pal Nino, a lovable drunk...yeah, there was no way he was based on Dean "Dino" Martin, was he?)
Died “suddenly” you say? Makes you wonder…
whenever you say "the Don" all I hear is "The Dom"
"The Dom's daughter"
"..."If The Dom felt inclined to do so..."
"Asked The Dom to bring them justice."
"The Dom had become so powerful even Death could not stop him"
I legitimately didn’t know it was the Don.
wait it wasn't the dom
That happened once or twice to me as well, until i realized he ment the mob boss, and not himself.
@Cili. "Instead you come to my house on the day of my daughter's wedding and you say "Dom Corleone give me justice."
I love how you put the graphic violence disclaimer AFTER someone gets blasted in the head!
I love your videos. Keep up the good work.
Went and watched some of your videos after reading this.
It's like slapping you in the face before warning you about it. Basically Fifty Shades of Grey in a nutshell.
This coming from the gent who showed the scalpings in “Maniac” (thankfully with a warning) 😜 no offense as I enjoy the vids regardless
we stan legends who support legends
Leave the gun, take the canoli
A well improvised line
Leave the cream soda
"You want I should wipe the blood and brains off it first, boss?"
She took the Cannolli
In regards to Puzo's apparent distaste for Hollywood, his other two books that I have read (Fool's Die & Last Don) contain even more negative depictions of the movie business. Also about Puzo's view of women, in Fool's Die there is one particular woman depicted in a very liberal and open way uncharacteristic for someone of Puzo's age so its likely that he was merely depicting the treatment of women as they would have been in Mafia society.
Dread Baron That's a relief. I hate it when art creators turn out to be assholes.
I'm actually thankful that's the case because I would've had to say something if he truly saw women that way
Fools die is awesome
Yeah. The Five Families were gangsters in the 40's and 50's where there was a lot more sexism and so on than there is now so that made sense. There's a bit where Vito feels like he can't do anything about Carlo's abuse of Connie because apparently it's an old fashioned Italian tradition that fathers can't interfere in their daughters marriages. A real dickish thing Vito says in the book is that when Connie tells her dad that he never hit her mother Carmela Vito replies "She never gave me a reason to" implying that Connie was making Carlo hit her even though he was choosing to hit her because he thought becoming friends with Sonny and marrying Connie would get him a higher position in the family than it did and took his anger out on Connie when it didn't.
Yes, Frank Sinatra. Mr. Vegas himself. Puzo’s Portrayal of Hollywood wasn’t off the mark. The mafia killed the producer’s prized racehorse and placed the head in his bed to send a message for Fontaine. But earlier that same evening the producer raped a little girl whose mom dropped her off to “become a star.” 📚
Yeah, that suit does look good on you ^_^
Sakura4anime25 It does!
@@fraya1022 it does indeed
You have my vote too. Go Suit
It looks sexy!
I kind of want The Dom to do a cover of Barney Stinson's Suit Song.
Fun fact. The man who played Luca Brasi was a real mafia hitman. This was his first and only acting role and the scene of him practicing what he'll say to Don Corleone is actually just him practicing the lines. Growing nervous that he had to act in front of his all time favorite actor, Marlon Brando.
Bonus fun fact: He was also a successful pro wrestler that held multiple championships in the NWA and AWA
Also, it wasn’t his only acting role, he actually had quite a lengthy career in film from 1969 to 1982
13:04 There is one major exception: _"Leave the Gun. Take the Cannoli."_ That line was ad libbed.
I'm laughing so hard, because that whole storyline about Lucy Mancini, her loose vajayjay, her time with Sonny, and subsequent surgery were my most indelible memories of the book. That sort of thing will leave an impression on a teenager. Lolz.
God I remember getting to that part while I was reading it in high school and was incredibly confused why this was in the book, or why I should feel investment in it. I had no idea why she had an entire chapter to herself about her banging that doctor guy. There was a lot of weird out of place sexual stuff like that, which made it kinda weird to do a book report on in high school.
@@chippydippy1530 I'm actually surprised you were allowed to do a book report on it. When I was in school there was this rule that you couldn't read a book for a report that had been made into a movie.
@@utopua4all Tbf this was summer school so the rules were a bit more loose. Doubt I'd be able to get away with it otherwise.
It's the greatest filler one can have.. it's so lurid and weird to see all that shit in a book about the mafia.. this makes it quite memorable...
Some of this medical advice seems suspect, but I'm kind of into this random heroic (by the book's standards) abortion doctor.
I made a considerable effort to talk slower in this one. Let me know if you prefer it this way.
Good job! By the love the suite!
#dashing!
The Dom YES!!
The Dom > yes, preferable this way, excellent video, very funny, the end made me laugh and laugh and laugh
Ps: I feel you I hate Fifty Shades with a passion, can you promise us you won't do the sequels?
Yes, I did notice I picked up quite a bit more on this episode! Thank you!
I read the book before the movie came out, when I was 12 years old, and I read it nearly non-stop in less than a week.
It is a story about a family, not one person.
Interesting perspective when you put it that way.
A small defense of Kay. In those times, for a woman to continue to work after marriage and kids, in that type of society, would have made her a kind of pariah. It would have lost Michael "respect".
Yep. Back in the 40's and 50's the old fashioned "stay in the kitchen" mentality was more common than now. Gangsters and some people in general were a lot more racist then too which is why at the five families meeting one of the Dons says he only wants drugs sold to black people and calls them animals.
True but to be fair, for the time period what better option did women have? Working your ass off at a Low paying job and then working your ass off at home was the only option. Unfortunately the situation for working moms isn’t too drastically different even today with how hostile the corporate world is to parents.
Kay's arc is a prototypical "I can change him!" story. It's probably not a coincidence that the last shot of the movie is a door being shut in her face.
Just wanted to throw out a slight error around 11:57 where Sal is described as "the intelligent but ultimately disloyal consigilere". Tom is the consigilere, where Sal and Pete are the caporegimes. The consigilere is an adviser to the Don who doesn't necessarily take an active role in the illegal operations, where the capos are high-ranking soldiers who may advise the Don, but mainly are active participants in the operations.
From my experience in life, the misogyny in the book was reflective of the way culture in America in the late 40's -1950's really was. Even when I was a child in the early 70's, domestic abuse was an ignored and accepted thing. If daddy had a heavy hand, it was considered the family's business. Same thing with sexism and racism, both institutionalized even more than they are now. I am glad things have started to change.
There are a lot of fun behind the scenes stories to this movie. Including how that cat the Godfather is playing with, that is just a stray cat Marlon found near the set and decided to play with it. Or how cue cards were all over the place because Marlon didn't want to memorize his lines.
I agree The Dom, the suit should be a permanent addition.
You have the wrong Pokémon for a mobster. Giovanni has a Persian.
I don't think there are that many Persian plushies out there. I mean, there are currently over 600 pokemon; to make plushies of all of them would be a monstrous task. Charmander is a good compromise (although I would've gone with Pikachu).
I've never seen a Perssian plushie.
Still that would have been funny!
That moment when you realise that Giovanni's Persian is a tribute to the Godfather as well.
802 Pokemon to be exact
Luca Brasi only had two bits because he was being played by an actual gangster. His line repeating was what he was doing because he was really nervous about meeting Brando before Coppola added it to the script.
No one should be forced to sit through the 50 shades of book or film on their own let alone both.
Tuba sings Tenor I have read it sadly, and yeah while some of the lines where funny I was pulled out of it by all the really uncomfortable parts.
@Maya Zulf. Don Corleone needs to make EL James an offer she can't refuse.
@@Xehanort10
To never write a book ever again
50 Shades. Just yes. Don't forget that James wrote it on her Blackberry AND she included spelling and grammatical errors in the original copies of the book due to not having a competent editor and also just not caring.
manband20 none of that changes the fact it's shit
Seantoxictoad Oh I know it sucks. I just want Dom to have as much ammunition as possible for his reviews. I mean a book being written on a cellphone??
manband20 oh I misunderstood what you said. I thought you were supporting the book
Seantoxictoad Lol noooooo
manband20 thank god for that I thought I might have had to bring up the fact it was apparently orginaly a twilight fanfic
Your method of approaching things is likely my favorite kind of reviewing to watch: I really feel reviewers are at their best when dissecting and analyzing. In addition, your quality work and humor gives me a cross-section of stuff I normally would never touch (original work or review), and I think that alone speaks leagues about your ability to write these. Keep up the good work!
I call this "Not liking something when 1st encountered" thing "the dark chocolate syndrome".
Because, in a way, it is very similar to a child trying dark chocolate.
Once they grow up, they discover that the candy they've grew up on no longer hold the same appeal and are usually, too sweet.
Contrary to that very same bar of dark chocolate.
Dark chocolate is indeed superior to all other chocolate.
I've always preferred dark over milk chocolate, ever since I was a little kid.
It’s a great analogy. But I still prefer sweet milk chocolate. Coffee is also used in these types of analogies.
But I loved coffee from a very young age.
I liked dark chocolate as a kid but as an adult I absolutely love. Its bitter taste matches my bitter and dead inside personality.
I don't know. I don't think you really need an analogy to explain this. I'm not surprised a 13 year old would find a movie like the Godfather boring. Not saying a younger person can't enjoy or appreciate a movie like this, but I see how media geared towards them would be more appealing even if it's nowhere near the same quality or importance. In other words, I honestly get why a child would rather watch a cartoon.
The real star of The Godfather is cinematographer Gordon Willis who earns his title The Prince of Darkness.
I still can't get over the fact that Sonny's death in the movie was done in one take. Damn!
idk why, i'm really not a book person thanks to dyslexia and so on, but this is by far my favourite youtube channel right now. I just love these videos.
It's a shame you didn't mention Johnny Fontaine is basically Frank Sinatra.
Frank Fontaine. From Bioshock. I understand everything now.
Just like Moe Greene is based on Bugsy Siegel
Frank was nothing like Fontaine and he hated this book and movie for that assumption.
Mitchell Salazar How about “Loosely Inspired By?”
Most fans of the movie already know that Johnny is based on Frank.
You petting the Charmander is really all I would have needed out of this adaptation.
The Godfather I and II are the ultimate vindication of Lee Strasberg's method acting school. That's why it seems so realistic, as though it were hidden camera footage.
"I'm afraid we're going to have to go for a little ride" - if the Godfather were set in England.
Channel Awesome presents: The Domfather
The end is funny until you realize how much the movie(s) really took a toll on his mental health.
I married an Italian, and though my husband was a more Northern Italian (Rome, Naples, Florence, with no Sicilian), I found that reading Godfather, and later the more female-centered Fortunate Pilgrim helpful in understanding his family. Puzo really gets into the relationship between culture and how a person thinks.
For me the most interesting part of the book was Vito’s early life, it details just how intelligent he is, how he deduced the Don putting pressure on him and the rest of the neighborhood had no real power whatsoever and how he became the humanitarian he would be in later life.
This also happens to be the same for The Godfather part 2
I want everyone to remember that a former Mafia guy gave this a lower accuracy score than the Simpsons.
I seen the God father Mario and now I can't stop thinking of a la costra nostra plumber. "I knew it was you Luigi" "you've broke my heart". Heads of yoshis left in people's beds. That stuff is now in my head and I thank you good sir.
I still love the fact that the cat in that early movie scene was just randomly on set and was picked up by the actor... and no one said anything about it and the scene was shot and done. XD
and said cat was purring so loudly they had to redo the lines
I know they couldn't do in the film but I love how every single character had a backstory I loved it.
Awesome Review like always!
Also; 20:54 Oh how I wish that was the extent of that subject in the book... I was so baffled by its existence that I swore I hallucinated it or something. I even tried asking a few friends of mine about it (who apparently read the book as well) but they denied that there was any sort plotline involving Lucy Mancini.
Thank you for confirming that wasn't the case. I still think the inclusion of this plot was completly insane.
Absolutely agree with the midwife's flashback scene. It wasn't the first time a book made me nauseous but certainly the most memorable.
17:45 Even by the standards of gangsters Luca was evil. In the book even some of the Corleone henchmen said he should be roasting in hell.
You relentless hope that your audience is as caring as you are about how stereotypes are presented in fictional works is very endearing.
My goodness, Dom. You're synopsis alone proves why this is iconic. The best film I've ever seen xxx
Oh no not 50 shades of grey, I feel sorry for you Dom.
I actually offered to do it for him as The Sub (see what I did there?) but he said it would only work with him. Looking at the setup I have to agree.
Daniel Lado THE Dom
That is exactly what the 8th amendment was referring to by "cruel and unusual punishment".
Unfortunately for the Dom, he's British.
Wait, I thought that was on his blacklist list?
20:53 Hearing the Dom's attempt of sounding Italian is really great! 😁
Fun fact: The "life is so beautiful" line is alleged to be the last words spoken by Don Carlo Vizinni, the most powerful mob boss in Sicily after World Ward 2, and was one of the inspiration for the character of Don Corleone(something that both the book and the film got wrong. Properly speaking, he should be called Don Vito). Reportedly Vizinni was sitting on a bench by the side of a road with his driver and he said those words and passed away.
I love how you're petting the "villain Charmander" as opposed to the "villain cat".
Did anyone else hear The Dom saying "The Dom" when he was saying "The Don"?
Anyway, great episode
During shooting Coppola had a large binder. The right sided pages had the screenplay adaptation while the left hand side had the relevant pages of the book pasted there. This accounts in part for the faithfulness of his adaptation. He also fought the studio in order to get the budget to make the film a period picture. They wanted to have a modern adaptation.
25:38 - the absolute coolest cigarette inhale in film history.
about this; that clip just seems so damn weird to me. I don't know why.
Damn, the Dom, you're looking sharp AF in that suit
My parents wanted to show me this one for some time. It was a good addition to my cultural literacy. Also just a good pair of movies. I can't fully explain my emotions and reasoning, but they were incredibly compelling.
Fontaine's parts in the book are really tedious. When I read it, I just kept thinking 'can we get back to the gangsters, please?'
Fun Fact: The main reason Johnny Fontaine's role was so cut down was because Frank Sinatra was personally offended by the character, to the point that when he encountered Puzo at a restaurant the two nearly broke into fisticuffs.
Naturally he was very much against the film adaptation and allegedly was willing to stop it's production by any means with mafia connections. It was after the producer assured him that Fontaine's part would be massively reduced that Sinatra gave his blessing, and ironically, even expressed interest in the part of Michael Corleone.
I have to say this: Clemenza and Tessio weren't The Don's Consiglieres, they were his two most trusted Capos (Captain). Basically, they get squads of Soldiers to do their dirty work. Tom Hagen was his Consigliere (I believe the book spelled it Consigliore), even though he wasn't Sicilian.
I genuinely love The Dom in suits. So classy looking 🙌
lol
Another great video. Thanks for your hard work.
The entire cast was fantastic. Best movie I ever saw. The best and I saw Citizen Kane.
Dating an American? Oh please please PLEASE say it's Calluna! You two were dripping chemistry in the Hobbit bloopers! xD Sorry I don't normally try and ship people, but you two were seriously adorable together.
Considering The Dom loved your comment, I assume he is.
I hope it is
I only really appreciated the Godfather after my college French teacher through an end-of-semester party where he showed us the Godfather while occasionally pausing the movie to explain cultural notes we might have otherwise missed. It also broke up the movie a bit, which probably helped.
I finally got around to this episode. I’ve been watching your channel for about a year now. New stuff as soon as you post it, and savoring the older episodes in your channel. I had no idea there was a lead up to the 50 shades review that explained the handcuffs and suit. This is amazing. I love everything about your videos. The care you put into them, reminders that this isn’t just about a good book or movie but the adaptation, warning about content to help beautiful watchers keep to whatever standard/rating they desire, and so much more. Thank you for all your hard work.
I always feel more sorry for the horse than the director. I have a soft spot for animals.
The horse was the more human of the two...
The horse was drugged in the book and probably felt nothing so...that's good.
Woltz was a paedophile who molested underage actresses so no need to feel sorry for him.
The removal of Johnny Fontane was actually most likely done because many though the was a reference to Frank Sinatra, which caused Sinatra to hate the book and have a vulgar argument with the author.
I had to read The Godfather in college and wrote a term paper on Lucy Mancini becoming the only female character with any agency within the crime family. My thesis was that her large anatomy was a metaphor for her boldness and willingness to pursue what she wanted unapologetically, which initially equated to pursuing Sonny's large anatomy. But her later position in Vegas and even her choice to change her body to better suit her needs showed more autonomy than other women were afforded. She also chose to marry a man who's whole backstory was getting in trouble for aiding in women's choices over bodily autonomy. The irony is that most of the other women portrayed in the story were encouraged to adhere to traditional submissive gender roles, but were denied their wants once they complied, because they asked the men's permission to have their desire instead of just taking it. Connie asked her father to save her from her abusive marriage. Kay asked Michael to be let into the fold and know what was going on. Fontaine's first wife wanted to get away from Fontaine after everything that he put her through emotionally, but was threatened into reconciling. Only Lucy got to have a say in what she wanted and was supported by those decisions by the mafia family.
Also, this review reminded me that I've been meaning to add this one to my DVD collection (since I no longer have a working VCR to play the VHS version I've got).
Thank you.
Mario Puzo is to the Mob what Anne Rice is to vampires... Far too interested in the scenery......
Thank you so much for these Lost in Adaptation videos. I read The Godfather (as well as many of the other books in your series) and remember well those elements the movie didn't address. I'm listening to this as I type so you may have addressed this but I recall at the time that Al Martino was upset the role of Johnny Fontaine had been drastically cut back. But in all candor, Johnny Fontaine's narrative did seem like a full third of the novel and mostly served to further fill out the story of Sonny's little-something-on-the-side. Again, thank you for all your amazing videos. It's truly appreciated.
I just found this channel and as an avid reader and aspiring actor, I absolutely love it!
Yeah, but that "fake cop" was Al Neri, who later became Michael's right-hand man.
Michael's Luca Brasi
@@thedude951 Tom even says to Michael "Well. Now you've got your Luca" in the book after Neri joins the family as Michael's bodyguard.
Sidebar: real mafia loved this film so much they modelled themselves after it.
It is debatable to what extent Puzo took stuff from his research on real mobsters and to what extent he just made stuff up. But after the movie the question became muddled up further, because if they didn’t talk like Marlon Brando before, they certainly did so after.
>pet charmander
Looks legit.
Exactly what I was thinking.
When you realize Rugrats in Paris parodied the freaking Godfather film...
With Angelica as Vito Corleone.
Him petting the charmander in the beginning almost made me loose it
9:58 Gianni Russo who played Connie's abusive husband Carlo Rizzi actually got the part because of The Mafia. Joseph Colombo, a mob boss got him the role.
Is it bad that this is the first time I've fully understood the plot to this movie?
I actually understood the plot a lot better now that The Dom explained it. I was quite confused in parts.
Saaaaaaaaaaame
I perfectly understood and the fact I understood makes me want to watch it because it makes me even more fascinated with Italian mafia without actually putting myself in danger of actually being a part of it.
I happen to love the book and Godfather one and two. I thought your analysis was dead on. Also the end had me laughing for a full minute.
I like the use of footage of Marcello Mastroianni for Nino Valenti.
watching his newer videos in comparison to his older ones shows how he's improved as a creator and it makes me so happy
The Godfather is such a classic
With the way he describes it, I can almost see the Godfather being adapted as something of a film anthology series, where each major subplot gets adapted into a separate film. I can see the chronology getting confusing, but I think it's an interesting concept, especially considering what they did with Part II
Damn it The Dom I have an exam in a few minutes.
Good luck ^_^
The Dom thank you I think it went well.
L. T C. What was your grade?
96.
L. T C. I know this is late, but great job man!
I love all the shots from that weird Doctor Strange TV movie. They work so well in the section they appear.
I was actually watching 50 shades recently and I was thinking to myself "I want a Dom review of this."
*The
StarTsurugi Uh... Corrections aside. The Dom decided to put Fifty Shades of Grey on the never list. Assuming that Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Free will be put on the never list also.
The Dom ....
I think I should've waited til the end that you are doing Fifty Shades of Grey!!!
...
What made you do that?
I bet you everyone commenting and begging had something to do with it. Plus the sequel just came out.
Yes well, there is the Never List, and then there is Patreon xD People throw enough money at him, demanding those movies, he's pretty much going to do them.
Damn, Dom, I'm usually not a fan of these out-of-review skits, but this ending was bloody perfect.
Great video and analysis. Well done.
This might be my favorite Lost In Adaptation of yours, and you truly look amazing in that suit 😂
"Tell the Snooty Critics it was only business."
My son choose the Godfather to read and write a book report on in the 8th grade. His teacher asked my wife to encourage him to choose a shorter, less complicated book since she felt he couldn't complete the assignment on time. My wife believed he could do it and he did! We are proud of both our sons.
Love your reviews of the movie and the book. Makes me want to hunt down my copy of the book for another read before slipping Godfather 1 and 2 and (cough) 3 into the DVD player. for a marathon.
I think it was a smart move for the Godfather movie to limit the stories of Jonny Fontaine and Lucu Mancini, as well as eliminating the Nino and the doctor's characters, they were unnecessary to the story.
He does look fucking amazing in that suit.
Haha loved the episode but the punishment is the best part. good luck my friend. Tell terrace to take over that one, I'm sure he's enough of a masochist to like it. 😂
This is gold... How have i've never listen of this channel??
Your backstory of trying to watch the film at 13, finding it boring, and then watching it again in your 20s and appreciating it properly is is literally what happened to me 😂
24:50 haha wow what a wild piece of fiction wow, the author sure had a wild imagination, could you imagine something like that going on in real life? : ^ )
Just finished the book. You're video is pretty much 100% accurate to what I thought. The Godfather was my parents favorite film growing up and I've seen it a crap ton of times. I was worried reading the book was going to ruin the movie for me (I still haven't been able to watch Hannibal since reading it). Luckily I think I can still enjoy Godfather. Very well done. Also great video!!
Cutting out that whole Vegas subplot was a major improvement over the movie.
How the hell does The Godfather look like a modern film, a 70s film, and a classic 30s/40s film all at once?
Yes you DO look fucking amazing in that suit, Dom.
+Eric Rhodes
The heck are you taking every chance to say you'd look better in a suit? Seems like a weird thing to leave multiple comments over.
Especially since we all know I'd look better than both of ya :P
The context and tone of the last shot of the film when we see at the end of the hallway opposite the camera, after Michael has become the Don of the Family and is in the Office with those two men kiss his ring to show respect and loyalty and one of them closes the door and then the screen goes black; is probably one of the most ominous shots in all of film history. It leaves the viewer with this sinking feeling at even after all the terrible thing that had to happen for that moment to take place, for Michael who didn’t want to be apart of this aspect of his family to be standing where is father and even brother once stood, things will never get any better. That when it comes to the Mafia, there are no happy ending.