THE GODFATHER

WRITTEN BY: Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola in 1973

DIRECTED BY: Francis Ford Coppola

The Trailer (Coppola & Puzo, 1972)

ABOUT THE FILM:

“Widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, this mob drama, based on Mario Puzo’s novel of the same name, focuses on the powerful Italian-American crime family of Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando). When the don’s youngest son, Michael (Al Pacino), reluctantly joins the Mafia, he becomes involved in the inevitable cycle of violence and betrayal. Although Michael tries to maintain a normal relationship with his wife, Kay (Diane Keaton), he is drawn deeper into the family business” (The Godfather, 1972).

In the Godfather, Willis used the lighting most associated with the Gangster genre and it was typically low-key lighting.

BENEFITS OF LOW-KEY LIGHTING:

The benefits of low key lighting is that “it uses shadows and directed pools of light to create atmosphere and suspense. Low key lighting suggests an air of mystery” (Pacific Cinémathèque, 2008). Another benefit, especially in this movie is that the lighting hid their eyes, which left you wondering what was going on in their mysterious and evil minds.

HOW DID THIS LOW-KEY LIGHTING TECHNIQUE CONTRIBUTE TO THE THEME:

This movie is very dark in nature and the low-key lighting that was cast from above, allowed the characters to appear mysterious and unreadable.

HOW WAS THE LIGHTING TECHNIQUE SUITED FOR THE FILM?

Yes, it was a perfect fit and according to Gordon Willis “That technique or that approach to the movie visually just came out of a thought process. And the process, in my mind, was based on evil; it was based on the soul of the picture” (Konow, 2014). His thought was that “it was better not to see their eyes in some scenes. It seemed more appropriate not to see their eyes because of what was going on in their heads at certain moments” (Konow, 2014).

HOW WOULD THE SCENE PLAY OUT IF A DIFFERENT LIGHTING CHOICE WAS MADE?

The entire mood would have changed. I don’t think you would of gotten the same evil and mysterious vibe from Marlon Brando if the shadows were missing and you could see his eyes.