The Godfather, widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time and often called the best gangster movie ever made, is being shown on BBC2 tonight at 10pm. More than five decades after its debut, the film continues to attract a devoted following and can be watched on TV for free.
A landmark of crime cinema
The film features Marlon Brando in one of his most iconic performances while also propelling Al Pacino to Hollywood stardom. It remains the benchmark for crime and gangster cinema to this day. The story follows the Corleone crime family and serves as the opening chapter of a trilogy directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
Adapted from Mario Puzo's novel of the same name, the mafia masterpiece focuses on the Italian-American gang led by Don Vito Corleone and his youngest son Michael, played by Pacino. Diane Keaton plays Michael's devoted yet troubled wife.
Awards and critical acclaim
The film swept the 1972 awards season, claiming three Oscars for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, with Brando also winning Best Actor. It received seven Golden Globe nominations and triumphed in the categories of Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor (Brando), Best Original Score, and Best Picture.
One Reddit user described it as the “best film of all time.” A Rotten Tomatoes writer, Steven, said: “Now half a century old, Francis Ford Coppola's revered New Hollywood masterpiece has one of the best-known final shots in film history - but it almost had a much more Catholic ending.”
Fan and critic praise
One fan said: "Coppola was able to take a trashy pulp novel and turn it into something close to Shakespeare; a sweeping, epic tale of family, crime, corruption and the Immigrant experience in America."
A second reviewer added: "The Godfather works like a masterfully conducted orchestra, whose immaculate symphony is a meticulously crafted and extraordinarily integral thread in the fabric of cinema history."
A third said: "The Godfather is the most memorable, most influential, most quoted, most beloved, most discussed, most imitated, most revered and most entertaining American movie ever made." A fourth added: "It is a gangster film without any of the pity and hatred we might feel towards such aliens in our midst, because it recognises that in all of us there is the ignition towards power and criminality. For all its graphic violence, the movie was—unlike the novel it was based on—no mere exercise in popcorn sensationalism; it was emotionally complex, tragic, melancholy, definitely for grownups."
The Godfather airs on BBC2 at 10pm, with Parts II and III following on Monday and Tuesday evening on the same channel.
