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

We discussed The Godfather and its place on the list of “Greatest Films of All Time”. The director, Francis Ford Coppola, came from film school and was very well educated with a talented family as well. It was nominated for numerous awards and won Best Picture along with a few other awards. The film included a number of big time actors whose careers really flourished after this film. We talked about how this was one of the first films from the gangster’s perspective and made them look like the good guys or “anti-heroes”. The Godfather had an impact on every mob story since its release, even effecting more modern television shows like the Sopranos. We finished with again how successful the film was. 2) Find a related article and summarize the content. (on the film, director, studio, actor/actress, artistic content, etc.) You can use the library or the internet. We will discuss suitable references in class. Cite the article and copy the URL to your journal entry. You should also mention the title of the article and author directly in the answer. Summarize in your own words the related article but do not plagiarize any content.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2013/08/godfather-negative-influence.html

“The negative influence of Coppola’s ‘The Godfather’” written by Richard Brody explains how the film was an adult drama that can be compared to Jaws or Star Wars to a young audience. He describes how it was “filmed with a combination of passionate proximity and gestural freedom that both reveals actors in intense physicality and abuts the hard, unbreakable nucleus of inner opacity”. The family isn’t ordinary but the visuals and language makes it seem so for a mob family to the ordinary viewers. He states how there are boundaries in films and traditions in the Corleone family are questionable. He argues that the some parts of the film were to fill the screen, and give a skewed impression on these types of mob movies or families. 3) Apply the article to the film screened in class. How did the article support or change the way you thought about the film, director, content, etc.?

I personally don’t agree with the article. There will always be viewers who don’t like or agree with the film. I don’t think it was “too much” for the screen, but that’s what a film is about; to get the viewer’s attention and keep them entertained. The article contradicts what we spoke about in class in the aspect of it having a negative effect, but it did go hand in hand by saying it was an adult drama that everyone felt they needed to watch at the time.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of 4 things: the screening, class 3 discussions, text material and the article. I am less interested in whether you liked or disliked a film, (although that can be part of this) than I am in your understanding of its place in film history or the contributions of the director.

In class we discussed how important it was and how The Godfather impacted all mob movies and shows after it. We talked about how successful it was but the article by Brody says

otherwise and how it negatively impacted the audience and mob genre. In class we mentioned the awards it won and even mention a review by Ebert that said it showed no scenes of prostitution or families ruined by gambling or even murders that didn’t have a credible cause. As mentioned before, there will always be critics who don’t like certain films or scenes so you can’t win with everyone. I enjoyed the film very much, being the first time I watched it I can see why it was voted one of the best movies of all time.

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM

1) ( X ) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.

2) ( X ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper.

3) ( X ) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text.

4) ( X ) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper.

5) ( X ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read.

6) ( X ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography.

7) ( X ) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality.

8) ( X ) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.

Name: __Renato Segatto_________________ Date: _____5/12/2014____________________