The Godfather

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

The film “The Godfather” was and is one of the greatest films ever made. “The Godfather” came at a time in Hollywood when it was changing. The director of this film, Francis Ford Coppola, was one of the “film school brats” to emerge at this time. Coppola was one of the new and up and coming directors that came out of film school. This was his first major film, and it was a huge success critically and box office wise. It is still one of the greatest films ever made, and people compare every gangster film made to it still. 

2)  Find a related article and summarize the content.  

http://mentalfloss.com/article/62427/15-things-you-didnt-know-about-godfather

The article that I found for this film talks about 15 facts that everyone may not know about “The Godfather”. The list is very interesting. It talks about all the things that Paramount wanted for the film, but Coppola stood his ground and made the film he wanted to make. Which was for the better, and made the film an instant classic. One of the things I found interesting from the list was that Coppola asked all the characters to have family dinners as their characters so they could get into character and know their character’s inside out. Another interesting fact was that the horses head was real. They had gotten it from a dog food factory close by, which is really disturbing. The wedding scene was also shot guerrilla style, so as to seem more authentic. 

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class.  

The article only reinforced the idea that Coppola was a genius in his film making and stuck to his guns. “The Godfather” would not have been the same film if Paramount had gotten its way. They wanted someone different for the roles of Vito, Sonny, and Michael. To think of the film without Brando as the iconic Vito Corleone, is just ludicrous. He was the perfect part to play the patriarchal don. Brando may not have been the easiest person to work with, but he was the right man for the part. The Oscar he won proves that. The Oscar nominations for Pacino and Caan also prove that Coppola was right in his casting decisions. All of the decisions that Coppola made reflected back on the film. He knew what he was doing at such an early age in the business. Coppola made all the right decisions for this film, and that is why it is still a classic and one of the greatest movies ever made.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film

The Don about his "harmless vices"

The film “The Godfather” is of cinemas greatest master pieces, not only because of the great direction from Francis Ford Coppola, but because it gets the audience to root for the typical bad guys. Vito Corleone in the films of the 1920’s would have been a dastardly villain, twirling his moustache, making plans to take over New York. In this film he was the sympathetic family man, who just also happened to be the don of one of New York’s greatest organized crime syndicates. The main cast of characters for this film are what we call anti-heros in film today. But this film was the start of the anti-hero drama. These men do bad things. They shoot, torture, scare, and kill people, but they draw the line at selling drugs. Vito says he only deal with “harmless vices”, which is just racketeering, gambling and hookers. Those crimes he counts as harmless. I think that is ironic because there are people who are harmed in those “vices”, but to Vito and his crime syndicate, no one he can see is getting hurt, so he need not bother except to collect his finder’s fee. These men are reprehensible in their crimes, but in this film, and many others like it, we root for these men and their crimes. I think that is the genius behind Coppola’s storytelling. He made the audience want to root for Vito and Michael in the end. What the audience sees at the end of the film is Michael taking over for his father, and he does it in a hostile bloody take over. But the audience sees this as being justified. Michael Corleone ordered the hit on all of these men, but he was justified in doing this because these men stood in his way as don. I think that is the beauty of “The Godfather”, we root for the awful men because they have a family and want to provide for them. The men commit crimes for a living, but they do it with their family at their side, so it’s ok.

The Graduate

the poster for the film

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

            “The Graduate” was released when Hollywood was in a transitional period. It was a funny time for Hollywood. They were in a fierce competition with something new that had come onto the entrainment scene; television. Television changed the name of the game for Hollywood, and it reflected back on the movies that were to be made and shown in theaters. Auidences could get the same entertainment value from television that they could get from the movies, and they even did not have to leave their house. This reflected poorly on the movies that were being produced, so Hollywood had to change, and change it did. Hollywood got rid of the self-regulating production code, and out of it came movies with more adult themes, like “The Graduate”. Television spurred Hollywood into a change and out of it came fantastic movies like “The Graduate”, which changed film history.

2)  Find a related article and summarize the content.  

http://www.wordandfilm.com/2014/09/back-bed-mrs-robinson-5-must-knows-about-the-graduate/

                 This aricle talks about how the film “The Graduate” was made and five must know facts about the making of the film. It talks about how Mike Nichols‘s good friend Buck Henry wrote the script. Then it goes onto talking about the casting for this film. Nichols’s wanted Hoffman to play Ben because he could come off as sort of a loser. While the studio wanted someone like Robert Redford to play Ben, but Nichols could not see someone like Redford as a loser. The article also talks about the soundtrack. Nichols asked Simon and Garfunkel to use their music for the soundtrack because he had cut the whole movie listening to them. Then the article talks about the reception of the film. Rodger Ebert younger audiences loved the film from the get-go, while older audiences did not. That speaks to this film being one of the first youth in revolt movies.

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class.  

            The article relates to the film screened in class because almost fifty years after “The Graduate” was made it still hits home with younger audiences like it did when it was released. This film speaks to a younger generation who are stuck going through the motion and have no idea what to do after they graduate college and have to enter the real world. What Nichols did with his casting and Henry’s script, he made a film that will last forever. Not just for its iconic soundtrack or lines, but because it has heart and lets the audience know that it is ok not to know what you are going to do with your life. It is ok to be lost like Ben, but do not take drastic measures to find yourself like he did. The facts about this film give more insight into the mind of the creators and how they wanted the viewer to understand this film and what to take away from it.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film

            “The Graduate” is one of the most influential films ever made, because it spoke to a whole generation who was lost in a transitional phase of their lives. This film spoke to a whole generation, and still speaks to younger generations. It is ok to be lost, being lost when you are young is a part of life. Knowing what you want to do at such a young age is a hard thing to come by. It is ok for one who just graduated college of high school to be lost and not know what they want to do with their life. Ben had no clue what he wanted to do after his college graduation, but he knew that he was disappointing his parents by not doing anything. But he had no clue what to do next. His life was in a confusing period of his life, and he was destructive about it. Someone who is Ben’s age and has it all figured out is one lucky person. Most people who graduate college are lost and confused and have no clue what they next step should be. This is very relevant to those who are graduating college now. Being lost and confused upon graduation is to be expected now, due to the job market. But one most not take to drastic measures and start affairs with married people to find themselves.

Elaine and Ben both not knowing what to do next

When one thinks about what Ben and Mrs. Robinson did, one can view what they did as selfish. They were both being very selfish and doing what they wanted, not thinking about the repercussions of their actions. What happens between them is a gigantic mistake on both their parts. Mrs. Robinson enters this affair because she is bored and knows she can take advantage of this young man and easily manipulate him. While Ben enters this affair because he is confused and needs something tangible to hold onto in this confusing period of his life. When Ben falls for Elaine, both he and Mrs. Robinson know they have made a mistake with their affair. Mrs. Robinson knows that she is being cast as aide for a younger version of herself, and is terribly hurt by that. Causing her to take it out on both Ben and Elaine. Ben ruins Elaine’s life by taking her away from her family and fiancé, without having a plan as to what to do next.  This is the ending shot of the film, maybe love cannot save all, and one needs to think about other before they do something. The ending shot is very poetic because it shows that Ben is still confused, but he had dragged Elaine into his world of confusion now, proving once again how selfish he truly is.

Ben and Elaine realizing their mistake

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 



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