Analysis of the first 5 minutes of Mario Puzo's, 'The Godfather'

Mario Puzo's 'The Godfather' is arguable one of the greatest films ever made. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola who co-wrote the screenplay with Puzo. The godfather serves as an exciting, tense, and moving story into the Corleone mafia family of New York. created by paramount studios, with a budget of $6-7 million dollars. Upon its release, it shattered the box office and instantly became the highest-grossing film of 1972, grossing an estimate $246-287 million for a long time it also held the position of the highest-grossing film of all time.

The movie begins with the iconic Godfather theme playing on a black background this quicky switches to the signature paramount logo and then to the words 'paramount pictures' on a black background this is followed by the title card. While the audience focuses on this the theme continues to play smoothly in the background already establishing the film as having an Italian background which features heavily in the latter parts of the film not only this but it also makes us think about the genre and the other parts of the narrative such as action and potentially having ties to the mafia. Furthermore, the theme is quite pleasant to listen to and already entrances audiences with its soft melody. The words on the screen our in white this is a contrast with the black background making the words stand out to catch the audience's attention. However, I also believe it could've been done as a way to pay homage to the black and white films from the time period in which the film is set

The screen goes to black again and the first words of the film are spoken 'I believe in Amerca' this is spoken in an Italian accent which further helps reinforce our earlier established idea of it being an Italian film. The words 'I believe in America' also tell us a little about what the narrative might feature for example the location will most likely be in America and it will centre around some Italian Americans who are proud to be American and their potential struggles.

We then see the man behind the voice and we have immediately greeted with a close up on the man's face the background is black again meaning we can't see anything behind him. This immediately creates enigmas as we want to know where the man is and who he is talking to. As the scene, progresses and the man continues talking the camera slowly pans out so we can begin to see more of what's in the frame on top of this the background begins to clear and we can see an expensive-looking wooden door however it still remains blurry. This suggests the man is in a room and probably in an expensive house.

The camera zooms out more until we can see a big wooden desk and another man in the frame we can see the desk looks busy but tidy implying the man sitting at it is a busy or important man this links with the idea that the film could be about the mafia. At 3:40 the perspective changes and we get our first look at the man behind the desk. He is an older man and speaks in quiet a low Italien accent. This solidifies our interpretation that the film is about the mafia and we as the audience finally get the context behind the problem that the other man laid out.

Within a few seconds of this shot, we go from only having close-ups of the two men, to a wide shot of the whole room. We get a lot of new information from this. we can see that there are two other men in the room one who is standing up near the man behind the desk making him seem like a bodyguard and the other is seated making him seem more professional and probably a man that helps with more statistical parts of the 'business'. This shot also builds on the previous idea that they are in an expensive building as there are lots of expensive-looking pieces of furniture around the room. All the men appear to be wearing suits this aspect of the Mise en Scene makes it seem like a formal/important meeting.

Then the camera zooms back in, and we get a low wide shot of the bottom left side of the man however we can see the whole of the man behind the desk. An interesting piece of Mise en scene is the cat the man is holding and playing with. This has connotations of evil and villainy as in a lot o modern-day spy films there is the villain stroking the cat in his lair when he is approached by the main protagonist. This suggests the man behind the desk is in fact a bad guy who does bad things.

Throughout the entire scene, there is no background noise. All the sound we hear is diegetic, this includes the speaking and the creaking of the wooden furniture. Our understanding of the narrative improves as the scene progresses mainly through the use of dialogue. We understand the man's problems at first but we don't understand the relevance then as the scene begins to open up we get a better understanding of whats going on as we tie it into the mafia. this understanding progresses further as names are put to faces and we hear the term 'Godfather' this is a notorious term for a man in charge of a mafia family and at this point, the audience understands the basic story.

The target audience for this film is probably adults. As from the dialogue alone, we can tell it's going to be a brutal and violent film that is unsuitable for younger audiences.

In conclusion, this film opening links to the one I want to make, as this opening perfectly encapsulates emotion and narrative while also introducing our characters. These are all very key elements of any films opening as they set the foundation in which the rest of the film's narrative and development will take place. It also links as the opening I would like to make, as I may also try to make a drama or potentially a crime film.