University: University of Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus
Grace H.
Rodríguez Cruz
843 09 6818
Prof.
Castillo
Film Art
Notes for “The
Godfather”
Day 1- A 1972 movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Music opens the movie in a mysterious manner. The first
scene opens from the darkness to show a man talking about his daughter and how
she got beaten and raped by some men and how the law didn’t punish them
correctly. The Godfather appears to say they are not murderers but by the end
of the scene, he agrees to bring justice to this man’s daughter.
Wedding scene: The godfather’s daughter gets married. We see
the contrast of happy and normal looking family in the celebration and the
dark/ mysterious side of the business. Two different worlds collide in the
Corleone family.
We get introduced to Michael, the youngest son and
Corleone’s favorite. The only male in the family not included in the business.
Johnny Fontane is the godson of Don Corleone and he is
asking for his help. He needs a movie role to make him famous but the director
doesn’t want to give it to him.
“I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.”
Johnny doesn’t know of his godfather’s work.
Next scene: we are shown the California style and a relaxing
music kicks in.
The movie director and Tom Hagen have a conversation about
Johnny and his movie role. A walk through the horse barn and the admiration of
the director’s most expensive and loved beast is shown for no reason. He
refuses to work with Johnny because of his ways with taking women. Tom Hagen
politely leaves in a calm and professional way. He threatens the director in a
very soothing way.
The next day: The scene starts from the outside of a house
It goes in the house to show the director sleeping with
drips of blood. He wakes up and gets scared of this. He follows the trail down
to his sheet to find the head of his precious horse in bed with him. Screams in
panic. The scene goes back to the far angle of the house to put a more dramatic
effect to the situation.
Day 2- The discussion of drug business. We see Sarantino,
the oldest son, incapable to keep calm during the movie. He is not suitable to
run the business. The business of the drug issue is denied in a polite way. We
hear about the Tattaglia family for the first time. Luca Brasi is assigned to
infiltrate the Tattaglia family.
Michael is seen to be enjoying his normal life with his
girlfriend. The Christmas spirit kicks in with songs from the radio. A
transition from Michael to Luca is seen with the same song to provide
continuity.
Luca enters the Tattaglia lands. A reflection is seen ( it
represents Luca’s duplicity). He gets murdered shortly after.
“Sleep with the fishes”- A box with a fish is sent to the
Corleone family. A warning about what happened.
Day 3- The godfather gets shot in the market place and
Freddy was unable to shoot back. His bodyguard is killed due to failing ( he
was absent the day of the shooting due to sickness). Sonny runs the business
right now and he is going out of hands. Michael is asked to come back because
of the situation.
In the hospital, the godfather is not being watched and
Michael uses his calm mood to make the enemies think he is being guard after
all.
The man helping Michael is trembling. We see Michael being
suitable for the family job.
Policemen arrive and beat Michael for staying and protecting
his father. The corruption is shown and how the Tattaglia have the police
officer in their service.
Michael plans the killing of a Tattaglia member and the
police officer who did a beating on him. The suspense of the scene is heighten
beause of the railroad sound and the silence and emptiness of the restaurant.
He shots both men dead and runs away without saying anything
to Kay (his girlfriend). She is not shown as important to him as he is to her.
Day 4- Michael’s life in Europe is a contrast to the one in
New York. He falls in love and gets married while his family fights a war with
the other clans. The scenes go to each other opposites. Sonny gets killed after
he runs to find his sister’s husband because he beaten her up again. He is
cornered and shot multiple times. Michael and Appollonia are happy together
until she gets killed with a bomb destined for Michael.
He is never the same again. The Mafia found him and he is
destined to go back to war.
Day 5- Michael comes back after the killing of Appollonia
and looks for Kay. Now he is the head of the family and he quickly convinces
Kay to return to him and get married. He never speaks of Appollonia ever again.
He is rough, cold and straight to the point.
The heads of the five families agree to a peace treaty and
explain how the drug business is ruining everything. There, it is shown that
the Tattaglia weren’t really the masterminds of everything. But another head of
family was. They suspect of a traitor in the Corleone.
Michael uses his father as the advisor. During the rest of
the movie we see Don Corleone being affected by age and keeps forgetting
things. Time passes by quickly. Michael has a family and a son. His father dies
playing with his grandson in the backyard.
At the funeral, we
see Sally (one of the Corleone men) making an offer to have a meeting with the
other families at his place. There it is known he is a traitor.
He refuses to make a good agreeing business with Moe Green
because of his part of fault in Sonny’s death. He agrees to be the godfather of his sister’s
son.
In the baptism, Michael agrees to be a faithful and honest
Christian while at the same time, his men under his oarders, are killing every
single head of the five families of New York. Moe Green is killed as well.
The cross-cutting of the scene is intense and slow. Perfect
way to describe the opposite sides of the family and the irony behind it.
Under his regime, he finds out about his sister’s husband
selling out Sonny, which caused his death.
He lies to Kay about him being responsible of his
son-in-law’s death and she is relieved. She goes out to get him something to
drink (coffee) and some men enter the business room where Michael is. He is
called the Godfather. The door shuts in front of Kay, leaving her to understand
she will never be part of that world.
Movie ends.
Notes for
“Goodfellas”
Day 1- A movie from 1990 directed by Martin Scorsese
The first scene is in a dim light with three men in a car. A
sound is heard and one of the says it may be a flat tire. The trunk is opened
to see a badly injured man in it. He is stabbed and killed. A red light and a
pause. A character starts speaking.
It was a shocking first start. It gets the attention of the
audience quickly.
The movie is a narrative form of his life. The life of Henry
Hill and his desire to live the Mafia life. He is an irish-italian American
mix. His family was big and not in a good sources. He started working when he
was a teenager for Paulie at his business place. He did simple things and sent
messages here and there.
He starts getting attach to them and his father notices he
is skipping school to do the business. He gets beat up and complains to Paulie
about it. Mailman gets threaten to not send anymore school letters to Henry’s
house.
He meets Jimmy the Gent. Someone he gets to admire and hang
with throughout the rest of the movie. He is quite out in the business, paying
everyone who would do a favor and keeping himself high.
Henry gets caught by the police selling illegal cigarettes.
He never tells on his peers. He is congratulated for his first time in court.
Day 2- Henry meets Karen. She becomes a narrative character
through the movie as well.
The bittersweet relationship they have is shown since their
first date. This was a favor he was doing to his friend Tommy.
In the next date, he leaves her waiting and she rages at him
that same day she looked for him.
The next date she is taken to a restaurant. The scene is a
one shot from the outside of the place and the journey they have to walk from
the entrance, to the backside (the kitchen, the backstage, etc) all the way to
the entrance of the main room where people are dining.
He lies to Kate about his job saying he works at
construction and how she wants to believe him.
The flash forward motion occurs when the stand-up comedy
starts at the restaurant. The scene where Henry and his friends enter to rob an
airport follows with the same audio of the jokes made in the restaurant.
Time passes and Henry and Kate marry. She explains how the
Mafia treats everyone like family in the same circle. Everybody has the same
name and keep themselves in the same circle.
Pictures of events with the family are shown. And the time skip is noticeable.
Day 3-
Kate is getting to the idea that her husband’s job is quite
right and he’s earning his money.
The concept of infidelity is introduced when Henry explains
the accommodations made for his lover in an apartment. The marriage starts to
crumble because of this.
Henry goes to jail with the other family men.
He starts selling things behind their backs. Henry gets in
trouble with Karen once more because of his lover.
Henry switches of lover and this time, the other girl helps
him prepare the drug he is selling.
Even with the warning of Paulie about selling drugs. The
trio of Jimmy, Henry and Tommy go on a wild drive with it.
Tommy keeps bringing trouble with his hot temper.
Tommy is called to be a “made man” but is tricked just to
get killed for the killing of a man who was “made” (the one at the beginning of
the movie)
Henry and Jimmy realize how they will never be on the top
because of only having half Italian blood.
Jimmy starts to lose his cool temper and becomes paranoid
with everything.
Day 4- We learn from Henry that the people that can take you
down are the ones who have always been with you and get closer to you.
Henry notices Jimmy is trying to get him killed for him not
to tell anything to the cops.
The scenes now represent suspicion and fear for their lives
in a subtle way.
Jimmy’s intention in killing Karen is an example of this.
The effects of cocaine are expressed with fastened music,
Henry’s paranoia and the fast tempo of the scenes from one to another. Henry
gets caught for drug possession and Karen throws away the cocaine kept in the
house to prevent it from being found.
Since the connection
with Paulie is broken due to Henry’s drug selling, they have to deal with
themselves now. Henry speaks about dedicating his life to them and not even
being paid correctly about it.
Day 5- Broke and with no other solution in his life, Henry
decides to help the cops arrest the family he has always lived with.
The differences between the common life and the one he was
accustomed to be a huge step and negative change for him. But he is okay with
living outside the prison walls.
