This is the 50th anniversary of the Godfather. Needless to relate I saw it in 1972 along with millions of others. I was thrilled at the announcement of its re-release. But my local multiplex only allocated three nights. And there was virtually no advertising. This dampened my spirits. An iconic film of the 20th century deserved greater celebration! But we live in Netflix’s world. It doesn’t have CGI, monsters, hyper-comic book action, cars turning over, and the tropes of the Marvel Age.
Worse: It has a coherent story with characters, which need to be engaged with. Moral ambivalence of a shocking kind and intense human interest is soaked into every minute. This is a film for adults who have an attention span of more than 20 minutes.
The audience of about 30 were mostly elderly. They were thrilled to be in a cinema after two years of Covid-19 watching a great film. I’d forgotten how wonderful Marlon Brando and Al Pacino are and I luxuriated in the relived experience.
Since 1972 I’ve seen it on DVD (remember them?) and it was awful. If you get the opportunity to see it do so: you will be richly rewarded.
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