Yes, it's hard to believe, but I had never seen The Godfather. I recently resubscribed to Netflix and went through the AFI Top 100 Films List and added films which I hadn't seen to my Netflix queue.
I didn't expect to like The Godfather. Too much hype. Too much a part of popular culture. But I liked it. In fact, it, even though it is basically a shoot-em-up gangster film, it is a very great movie, right up there with Lawrence of Arabia and Citizen Kane. I think it ranks with those other films, because it tells a similar epic story. It is not a slice of life: it is life. It is not a character study: it is your father and your mother and your aunt and uncle and the IRS man and the guy at work that has it in for you all blown up to 5000%. It is a movie that bears down on you from the big screen, even when you are watching it on the little screen.
I had heard, of course, about the horse head in the bed, but the death of Appolonia in the car bombing in Sicily was a shock. The growth of Michael from a goody two-shoes to a ruthless monster gangster is shocking and riveting.
In my experience, it is as close as a movie has ever come to portraying a novel on the screen. Though, if you can believe it, I've never seen Gone With The Wind either. But it is on the list.
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