Opening of ‘The Godfather’

The Godfather’ is not a thriller film, however the opening is slow, and simple, yet still captivating, and I want to have a look how the director has made such a gripping beginning so simply.

The screen is black and then you can hear the famous ‘Godfather’ motif. Straight away this sets the scene for the film you are about to see. The music stops sharply. Most of the screen still stays black, but we see a close up on a characters’ face, he is speaking what appear to be a monologue, with the opening line ‘I believe in America’.

From the man’s accent, we can tell that he is foreign. During his speech the camera goes from a close to, and moved to a wide angled shot, revealing more of the frame around him. Revealing a dark, richly decorated room. The man talks about how his daughter has been beaten up, by other Italian men. From what he has said so far, we have already deduced they are likely to be Italian Americans, and from the film title, we know that this is a mafia film; the audience now have a good idea of how the film is going to be. 

The camera keeps zooming out until it passes over a man’s solider, and we are left with a traditional ‘over the shoulder’ shot. The camera now changed to a different shot, and is of a man’s face. We realise the man is now asking his Godfather for help. The main character has now been introduced and we see an insight in to his personality.

Although a slow paced and simple opening to a film, the opening of ‘The Godfather’ is gripping and sets the mood for the rest of the film. I like the idea of bringing a narrative to my opening, starting my film with alternating plots.