The Corleone Family In Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather
The Godfather trilogy of Francis Ford Coppola is an icon of American culture and international cinema. Released over a span of eighteen years, the set includes The Godfather (1972), The Godfather: Part II (1974), and The Godfather: Part III (1990) (Marcia 423). As classic novels about Mafia in the world, they are made into an internationally renowned film that won multiple Oscars. Besides these, the films also have been praised by many celebrities. Literary critic Paul Giles, for instance, writes that “whereas Puzo’s novel emphasizes plot and fast action, Coppola’s films emphasize lavish, operatic ritual” (qtd. in Marcia 423), and he mentions “the hyperbolic and operatic elements in the films—the decapitated horses, the ritual slaughters, and so on” (qtd. in Marcia 423). Film scholar Kent Jones offers
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In the novel, everyone spares no effort to take fully use of money and power for the sake of personal interests or selfish desires. Corleone family is the main character in the novel as well as a represent of Italian immigrants and Mafia. Don Vito Corleone, the founder of Corleone family, is a typical victim of the game of money and power. In order to resist the social realities, he would like to make friends with anyone who needs for his help and never refuses his friends requests. Therefore, he has gradually built up a strong interest relationship with people at all levels of society and also established his own business kingdom.
In this book, Mario Puzo has described the story about love, family, friends, criminal, money and power, which reflects the real social conditions of the age he lived in. In this paper, I will take the money-for-power trades as the clue, to deep analyze the mutual use relationship between money and power. Finally, I will reveal the corruption of the American social reality in the 40-50’s of the 20th century, including the loss of moral and the ugly features of
In the novel, everyone spares no effort to take fully use of money and power for the sake of personal interests or selfish desires. Corleone family is the main character in the novel as well as a represent of Italian immigrants and Mafia. Don Vito Corleone, the founder of Corleone family, is a typical victim of the game of money and power. In order to resist the social realities, he would like to make friends with anyone who needs for his help and never refuses his friends requests. Therefore, he has gradually built up a strong interest relationship with people at all levels of society and also established his own business kingdom.
In this book, Mario Puzo has described the story about love, family, friends, criminal, money and power, which reflects the real social conditions of the age he lived in. In this paper, I will take the money-for-power trades as the clue, to deep analyze the mutual use relationship between money and power. Finally, I will reveal the corruption of the American social reality in the 40-50’s of the 20th century, including the loss of moral and the ugly features of