The Godfather
The Godfather is the story of a Mafia family. It follows the rise of Michael Corleone within the family. Michael was once a war hero and did not want to be involved in the family business. When his father is shot though, Michael takes revenge on the people who did it and becomes a part of the Mafia lifestyle. When his older brother is murdered, Michael ascends to become the boss of the family, and proves to be more ruthless than his father and brother combined. The scene that I am analyzing is one where Michael is becoming his nephew's godfather at his baptism.The Godfather is a traditionally edited movie. This particular scene however uses Eisenstein's method of montage editing. Francis Ford Coppola uses hard cutting in order to show a stark contrast in the main character Michael Corleone. The scene begins with a shot of Michael's godson. In the Catholic religion,
In Hegel's dialectic, Michael is the synthesis, a twisted mix of good and evil. It is used to show the mix of good and evil in him. The voice of the priest is heard giving the ceremony as the assassins prepare to kill. The scene cuts back to Michael and the priest asks Michael if he rejects Satan and all his works. The newly baptized baby is without sin, and Michael is his guardian into life. The scene cuts back to the assassins. The murders represent the evil man he has become. He contrasts religion and murder in order to show the complexity of Michael. The baptism and the baby represent good, which he was in the beginning of the movie. Michael replies yes and the scene cuts to the assassins, on Michael's orders, killing his enemies. He claims to reject Satan yet he commits the worst sin. At the moment of its baptism, it is the most pure thing on earth; it has no sin. Coppola uses this montage in order to give the audience an insight into Michael.
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