One of the greatest movies ever made is by far The Godfather. The film tells about poverty, the turn of the century, a family, and the hierocracy of politics in America. Being the first film that brought the real-life Cosa Nostra and Mafia to reality on the screen; it gave the public and viewers a new awareness and insight into the life of gangsters through the lens of organized crime. The term “Mafia” meaning Cosa Nostra or “our thing” was brought to the U.S with the migration of many Italians from Sicily in 1914. Many Italians turned to the Mafia life as a way of functioning as an alternate to the state, with its own “rights, treaties, and problems” (History.com). I believe that the film The Godfather is an amazing film in history because behind its gangster plot, is a classic story of an American family tracing its journey from immigration and poverty to assimilation and success.
In filming the movie The Godfather, America and all the people were experiencing a time of turmoil and change. Accurately depicting the Sicilian-American experience of migration to America, speaks to many others who can relate to the immigration communities everywhere. A main quote used throughout this film is “its business, not personal” (Bruno) Used multiple times, the meaning of why it’s used is simply stated: “They do this in part to hide from the public the violent reality of what they do” (Bruno). The business that Don “Vito” and his son Michael are wrapped in is, the life of the “mafia”. Dealing with drugs from a rival family is the least they want to do, so Don struggles with leaving his old ways and changing with the new ways that surround him. A scene in the film when after “Vito rejects the idea of dealing drugs with Sollozzo; he sends his body guard Luca to investigate Sollozzo”. “Luca gets murdered soon after, and then while Vito shops at a super market, a hit man attempts to assassinate him but Vito survives” (Imbd). Actions like this in the film The Godfather is why the audience watching it was all stunned, surprised, but yet questioning why it was so violent all at the same time. Making the scenes accurate and based on real events is certainly why the legacy of this film is important in Hollywood film history. With one film that has multiple stories that are each interconnected and tie into an ending conclusion at the end, with the length of the movie being three hours plus; you know there is something unique and special about the film The Godfather. For the producer, “it shows a mastery of the art of film production” (Bruno). Although this film is well known for setting the stage for other criminal movies to follow after, for having no weak scenes and to have scenes that leave you enthralled and want to keep watching it is one reason why so many people still love this old film today. Many have said that saying anything negative about this film is hard, unless you just don’t like it. Three things contribute to the greatness of this film. The first is having contrasting characters; an example is “Michael is rather cool, rational and collected, whereas Sonny is more hot-headed, spontaneous and simple minded” (Imbd). The second is transformation. You have to let the characters to be placed into situations and see how they undergo their transformation. Doing so, “must not only influence the outcome of the situation; it must also have a lasting impact on the character” (Imbd). The third is patience. Due to this film being so long, you will not regret a single second of the time you spend watching it because of the intense interactions between the characters and their relation with the plot. Wanting to wait and find out what will happen next, what the character will do in a certain situation, and the outcome of his/her actions; is ultimately what The Godfather symbolizes in its incredible production. As the film The Godfather is an incredible thing to talk about, so is finding its relationship to theme of our class: “The Myth of the American Outlaw.” In the movie the main thing that stands out in relation to being an “outlaw” is the gangster and mafia aspect of the film. A gangster is defined as “A member of an organized group of criminals” (Free Dictionary). The term Mafia is described as “an organized international body of criminals, operating originally in Sicily and now esp. in Italy and the US and having a complex and ruthless behavioral code” (Free Dictionary). In my opinion I believe that the film The Godfather resembles what an outlaw is perfectly because the members of the Corleone family live the life of a mobster, also known as a gangster; as a way out of the rules and laws of the state. An outlaw as described really well by James Gandolfi: “People have loved outlaws since the beginning…I think it’s just anyone that goes outside the law and outside of the norm. And they do it with a little more flair” (Sicilian Culture). Although Italians migrated to America, they came from poverty in Sicily to the ever changing world of America with the pre and post-World Wars, and didn’t want anyone to tell them how they should live so they followed their own set ways and traditions by turning to the “mafia” and gangster life. Whether or not that meant sacrificing their own life and own family for the heroic image in the end, or killing other families and people to protect their own family. They stood by their family and didn’t want to get involved in the states ways and rules. A movie that is originally based upon a novel by Mario Puzo The Godfather went from being released to the public not expecting to achieve huge success, and having overwhelming different views and takes on the film with organized crime and Sicilian dialect, to being the historical movie in Hollywood film production that many famous actors, producers, directors, and many others quote and reference as being the best movie ever. This is due to the way the producer set up the movie, filmed it, involved the characters highly within the whole movie, and portrayed the image of an Italian-American immigrant from Sicily, and their involvement with the Mafia lifestyle through the lens of organized crime and family business. The Godfather, whether it was seen as positive or negative, changed the way movies were made forever. A gangster who is involved in organized crime, going against the norms of society, is definitely defined as an Outlaw; making this film a great representation to the overall theme of our class “The Myth of the American Outlaw”.

Works Cited
1. Bruno, Anthony. "Fact and Fiction in the Godfather." Crime Library – Crime News and Stories. Turner Entertainment Networks. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. .
2. "Gangster." The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. 2003. Houghton Mifflin Company 11 Nov. 2013 http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gangster
3. "The Godfather" and the Mafia in Popular Culture." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. .
4. "The Godfather." IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. .