The Godfather Opening analysis

The Godfather Opening Analysis

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Production company: Paramount

Budget: $6,000,000

Earnings Domestic: $133,698,000

Genre: Crime.

Opening: Black screen with voice over creates suspense as souds track is introduced over I dent and titles. Soundtrack is very famous and a very traditional Italian style song, creating strong pride in culture something the mafia are well known for. Cut to close up shot shows what we would think to be the protagonist but the slow pull back tracking shot then reveals the protagonist who the initial character is talking too. This creates narrative enigma. We switch from POV to looking over the shoulder of "The Godfather".

Italian accent of the voice over shows a foreign culture and the lack of foliage creates an environment of a secluded nature, secretive.

The absence of an establishing shot creates a mysterious environment almost like the characters don't want us to know where they are. In addition our main protagonist is in the shadows creating him as a "shady" character which links with the rest of the film. Mafia theme.

We are introduced to the protagonist from behind, we do not see much of him to start with and we see him making hand gestures to a charecter off screen which gives us a sense of him immediate power. The protagonist is sat down yet we still look slightly down on the undertaker who speaks fearfully talks about the crimes committed on his daughter and begs for help, furthering the sense of power the protagonist holds. 

The mise-en-scene consists of a dark room which very little of is revealed to us at first but as the camera pulls back to reveal the "godfather"  with his body guards in the room shows him as an instantly important person sat in a very large chair.

In addition the hard down lighting on the main character shows him as menacing and almost evil, which links with the dialogue of the other character in the shot who is begging the "godfather" to take illegal action against his daughters beaters.

  The shot shown at the bottom.shows a medium shot however the character who is in need is looking up at the "godfather" further depicting him as a very important or high ranking character.

In overview the scene is very up close and personal which fits in with the close community of the Mafia and how they operate. This causes the audience discomfort to us as an audience creating uncertainty towards the characters. The Godfather also speaks with a very strong voice where as the inferior other character almost trembles as he speaks.                                                                                            

To conclude the scene we see the protagonists need for respect, this is  a very powerful way to introduce this character as it shows his  showing the group as very exclusive and something many would desire to be a part of. The warm colours of the scene and lighting also suggest there is a humble side to the characters and community.

There is minimal sound in the opening, this draws attention to the protagonists strong voice and very disctinctive accent which is normally associated with the mafia this contrasts to the undertakers nervous and fearful accent as he approaches the Godfather for help.