Saturday, October 22, 2005
The Godfather Saga
Network: TNT
Airtime: Varies
Intoxicant: The big green one - White Widow
Meal: Linguine with Carbonara, San Francisco style Sourdough bread
Discussion:
Discussion of the individual merits of Godfather, Godfather II and Godfather III will have to come later. This entry focuses on the Gofather Saga - a pastiche of the Godfather pieces sewn together and including the deleted scenes from the DVD collection.
I love this version. Clearly not the same compelling and suspenseful movies that Godfather or even Godfather II are, but it shows how carefully and completely the story is told, beginning with Vito Andolini (later to become Don Corleone) as a child in Sicily. The story line itself is compelling and many of the scenes include important subplots in the actual novel that had to be left out - probably for time considerations.
I miss the scenes that are in this version that are not in the regular movies. The extra scenes are included in the dvd collection as "bonus features" that have to be played one by one. There are many great flashback scenes that did not make it in (but are on the DVD) and it is so nice to watch them, in order, in this tv movie.
The entire saga takes several hours - more because of commercials. Typically it is run around the holidays, when it seems that people have the tv on for several hours. The Saga itself is a great primer for the movies - offering great back story.
The selected intoxicant will wear off after the first few hours of the movie - it is ok because most of the first few hours are subtitled. You can enjoy the language and the visual impressions rolling over you.
The first time I saw The Godfather in the theatre it was in re-release for the 25th anniversary. Even though I had seen parts of the story before and certainly heard about it, watching the film on the big screen caught me up in a way that few films do. Highly reccomended.
Tivo it, tape it - d0 whatever - you won't be sorry. This movie takes bad guys and makes them so human that you can't help but like and even root for them - Scorcese does a great job with this in Goodfellas as well.
Airtime: Varies
Intoxicant: The big green one - White Widow
Meal: Linguine with Carbonara, San Francisco style Sourdough bread
Discussion:
Discussion of the individual merits of Godfather, Godfather II and Godfather III will have to come later. This entry focuses on the Gofather Saga - a pastiche of the Godfather pieces sewn together and including the deleted scenes from the DVD collection.
I love this version. Clearly not the same compelling and suspenseful movies that Godfather or even Godfather II are, but it shows how carefully and completely the story is told, beginning with Vito Andolini (later to become Don Corleone) as a child in Sicily. The story line itself is compelling and many of the scenes include important subplots in the actual novel that had to be left out - probably for time considerations.
I miss the scenes that are in this version that are not in the regular movies. The extra scenes are included in the dvd collection as "bonus features" that have to be played one by one. There are many great flashback scenes that did not make it in (but are on the DVD) and it is so nice to watch them, in order, in this tv movie.
The entire saga takes several hours - more because of commercials. Typically it is run around the holidays, when it seems that people have the tv on for several hours. The Saga itself is a great primer for the movies - offering great back story.
The selected intoxicant will wear off after the first few hours of the movie - it is ok because most of the first few hours are subtitled. You can enjoy the language and the visual impressions rolling over you.
The first time I saw The Godfather in the theatre it was in re-release for the 25th anniversary. Even though I had seen parts of the story before and certainly heard about it, watching the film on the big screen caught me up in a way that few films do. Highly reccomended.
Tivo it, tape it - d0 whatever - you won't be sorry. This movie takes bad guys and makes them so human that you can't help but like and even root for them - Scorcese does a great job with this in Goodfellas as well.
