Matt Ott - Final Project

The Godfather: The Birth

The Godfather: The Legacy

Gangster films have always been an acquired taste for me. That all changed when I started watching HBO’s Sopranos, it engaged me in a way that I thought to be realistic and lively, it made this world real. Sopranos gave me a sense to actually watch The Godfather in a new light. I had previously seen it here and there on television, never really taking note of what is what and who is who, it seemed mildly entertaining but until it was shown in class I couldn’t bring myself to sit down and watch it.

Before I had seen The Godfather I had sat down, not knowing what to expect, and watched The Kid Stays in the Picture. This movie was about Robert Evans, actually narrated by Evans himself. The movie was hard to stomach at the times of his own self infatuation, but gems emerged as he talked about his workings as head of production at Paramount and the movies he created with them. Evans was promoted from vice president in charge of production to executive vice president, he was a powerful man (Cook, 305). Evans played a part in the making of such films as The Odd Couple, Italian Job, Rosemary’s Baby, and The Godfather. His talking’s about The Godfather left me quite astounded, as he made it sound as if the whole world was against him in his journey to make the film. He portrayed Coppola as a raging lunatic, crazed and power-hungry. This really sparked my interest is how such a highly acclaimed movie such as The Godfather was be made with so much drama. Luckily after seeing The Godfather I went out and got a copy of the DVDs so that I could watch the special features. Coppola seems to be a genius film maker, I took so much out of his process, the way in which he would break down a scene, work it together and work with the core text which was originally a novel so greatly it was really inspiring. He wrote the script with Mario Puzo, the original writer of the novel, which I think is amazing for a check and balance to make sure you are getting the right details down that are important.

For my first video, The Godfather: The Birth, I wanted to capture the entire conception of The Godfather. We know Al Pacino is the star, we know Marlon Brando is the god of acting, but we rarely get to share the people that put the passion beyond the delivery of lines into the film. I loved Evans for his bluntness and mildly ignorant attitude. I really enjoyed the way he just snapped on anyone and everyone because he thought he could, namely Coppola because then when you actually see those two pieces together you see what they were working for and how much they really just loved the project they were trying to accomplish together (as much as they may have hated each other at the time). I thought this was a good place to start, the birth, the reason this picture was made and the struggles it went through to become one of the most acclaimed films ever.

In an article in Rolling Stone, Sopranos creator David Chase says “In The Godfather, there's this idea that it's not personal, it's business. But in The Sopranos it's all personal, (it) never feels like it's just business.” Though despite that disconnect between these two works, I think there were a lot of similarities, throughout The Godfather I saw The Sopranos. What I really wanted to do was take something like Sopranos, which I think has greatly influenced me as for what I would like to do as a film maker, and put it up against what it had drew from, its inspirations, and then maybe through this I could develop a deeper relationship with both of these works of art.

The first two clips presented in The Godfather: The Legacy to me shows the idolization of what an early Sopranos wanted to evoke. I really love the fact that Tony uses Silvio’s impression of such a classic moment in Part III to cheer him up, it is such a great nod that it was easy for me to get it to flow so seamlessly together. The whole Luca Brasi scene is also awesome. The best part about Christopher, the one that says “Louis Brasi” is that he is the shows film buff; he idolizes The Godfather throughout the show. He even eventually becomes a writer and producer, and because he feels so strongly about gangster movies he makes his own, The Clever. “Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes” has become a classic line that will not die, and The Sopranos does it part in keeping it alive.

Oranges and death, this is the most interesting connection I have found between The Sopranos and The Godfather. What I did for the assassination attempts on Vito and Tony was cut them together in a way that I thought really brought meaning to their differing and shared styles. This was not nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be, but I really think it is the perfect closing to The Legacy. Oranges seem to in some way signify death; you can see Vito buying oranges right before the attempt on his life while Tony buys up a bottle of orange juice. The way these scenes flow together leave me to believe that this is not a coincidence; The Sopranos are directly paying homage to The Godfather. The story of the wicked orange continues, Tony is seen in the last episode in the safe house eating an orange, just as Vito is eating an orange right before he dies. Now this might speak to the open ending us Sopranos fans were left, with the curse of the orange, maybe Tony really did die (The Sopranos, Wikipedia.com).

For a trilogy started in 1972 it is awe-inspiring to know that even through the hardship of making the movie, something so spectacular can come out that will be idolized even today.

Bibliography:

Cook, David A. lost Illusions. Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. 305

Dana, Will. "Godfather." Rolling Stone. 23 March 2006: 34-34.

The Godfather: DVD Collection. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Paramount, 2001. DVD.

The Kids Stays in the Picture. Dir. Nanette Burstein. Highway Films, 2002. DVD.

On Annie Hall

Annie Hall introduced several innovative narrative conventions into the romantic comedy genre that were a departure from the classical Hollywood style and were greatly influential on the genre as it evolved into the 1980s and 1990s. Identify two conventions/qualities that stood out to you along these lines and discuss why you think that they are innovative and/or influential. The film is very much seeped in 1970s culture but approaches the era from a much different (i.e. comedic) perspective. What similarities and differences does it have to other films that we have viewed in class this semester?

FINAL PROJECT ALERT!!!

I apologize for the confusion about the due date for the final project. I have decided to extend the deadline in order to help out those who need extra time. (If you still want to submit your project in class, next Wednesday, the 5th, please feel free.)

Here is the schedule for the remainder of the semester:

Wednesday, December 5: Class discussion of Annie Hall and screening of Raging Bull

Monday, December 10: Final Projects due by 5 PM. See below for specifications regarding where you should submit your project:

• Written component (Everyone) : E-mail (as a Microsoft Word attachment) to your TA (Defne: dtuzun@uwm.edu/Andrea: andreamaio@earthlink.net) by 5pm. Those submitting written projects should have their images embedded in the body of the document.
  

• Visual Project, with still images: Save as .jpg files, and burn on to a DVD or CD. Submit in person to Prof. Schreiber in her office (Mitchell B55A) between 3 and 5 pm or by 5 pm to your TA's mailbox in the Film Department Office (Mitchell B70).

• Visual Project, with moving images: Save as a Quick Time movie file, and burn onto a DVD (follow still images submission protocol listed above).

Wednesday, December 12: Presentation of final projects (off of course blog).

On Network

After reading Chapter 10 of Lost Illusions, identify and discuss two ways in which television influenced film exhibition in the 1970s.

How does this speech by Mr. Jensen (Ned Beatty) fit in to Network's portrayal of the intersections between news, entertainment, and commerce? Compare and contrast the representation of the news media in All the President's Men and Network.

On All the President's Men

What stood out to you most about All the President's Men? What were your impressions of the film's representation of historical events? According to David Cook (in Lost Illusions) what impact that "bankable stars" such as Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford have on the film industry? After reading Chapter 8 of Lost Illusions, which of the various forces that affected the film industry do you see as being the most important and/or as having the most significant impact?

On JAWS

In response to the JAWS phenomenon, critic Stephen Farber said "Movies were a form of circus spectacle long before they began to tell stories - and long before they were considered an art...[A]nd that is the backwards direction they seem to be taking in the seventies."

Using Cook's discussion of the blockbuster film in Lost Illusions (cite the text at least once) and making specific reference to JAWS, present arguments for and against Farber's contention that the film is representative of a shift in seventies filmmaking. What characteristics does the film share with others we have seen in class thus far? How does it differ?

On Chinatown

Director Roman Polanski said "I saw Chinatown not as a 'retro' piece or conscious imitation of classic movies shot in black and white, but as a film about the thirties seen through the camera eye of the seventies." Do you think that he is successful in making a period piece that reflects 1970s culture?

Throughout the film there are repeated references to "Chinatown." Given that the only scene in the film that actually takes place in this location is the final one (see below) what you think "Chinatown" is meant to represent in the world of Chinatown? Make specific mention of its significance with regard to the closing scene (and last line) of the film.

On Hearts and Minds

Identify one image, moment, or scene that struck you most about Hearts and Minds. And, using the Cook book as your guide (please cite it specifically), discuss whether you think the film works within the cinema verite/direct cinema tradition.

Following Hearts and Minds's release in 1975, the late 1970s (and 1980s) saw a plethora of fictional films that attempted to represent the Vietnam experience from multiple perspectives. Below, I have posted clips from two of the earliest examples of this trend, Hal Ashby's 1977 Coming Home and Francis Ford Coppola's 1978 Apocalypse Now. After watching these clips, compare and contrast their representation of the war experience with that seen in Hearts and Minds.

Coming Home (Ashby, 1977)


Apocalypse Now (Coppola, 1978)