In 1973 The Godfather won the Oscar for Best Picture. In 1975 its follow-up, The Godfather II, also won the Best Picture Oscar… the only time in Oscar history that a sequel has won the award.
The gangster genre is one which I’ve never been drawn towards whether it be in television, film, or novel. It’s simply always been outside my wheelhouse. For this reason, until this weekend I was in an elite and very small group of movie lovers who had never seen any of the Godfather films. I’m very pleased to no longer be a member of that elite group!
Both films are masterfully executed. I can easily say that both films are among the best I’ve ever taken in. They each demand your complete attention from beginning to end and watching the descent of Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone is enthralling. Despite my general aversion to the genre, after viewing the original movie, I couldn’t wait to watch the sequel. I can’t say which I think was better because they each stand on their own as great movies. The most obvious distinction is that the original is told in a linear timeline, while the second movie is two separate storylines being told in time-spanned vignettes that are juxtaposed against each other. Both movies are filmmaking and storytelling at their finest.
I’m not sure that my lack of appeal for the gangster genre has been wiped away, but these two films have certainly given me a taste of what I’ve been missing out on by not stepping over to the bad side once in a while! With these two superb films behind me, there remain only 10 more Oscar-winning Best Pictures for me to see so that I can complete my 2020 film viewing goal!
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