Robert De Niro's Waiting- Talking Italian

[poliphilo]

The Great American novel is actually a movie- and it's title is The Godfather Trilogy

The first movie is very, very good. If it has a fault, it's that the central character doesn't quite come into focus.  it should be Al Pacino's movie, but Marlon Brando steals it. You could argue that Brando's  mannered performance knocks the film a little off balance, but it's hugely  enjoyable, so who cares?

The second movie is note perfect. Pacino comes into his own. De Niro plays Brando better than Brando does. And lets not forget John Cazale  who makes something wonderful out of poor, sidelined Fredo. It's probably the deepest, most Shakespearian film ever to be made on a Hollywood blockbuster budget. 

The third movie isn't nearly as bad as people say. It's the most ambitious of the three- and maybe that's why  it wobbles.  The script isn't good enough. "This Pope has powerful enemies;  We may not be in time to save him." Yeah right!  But it's got some great set-pieces and if it's unbelievable, so was the (true) story of Vatican skullduggery on which it's based. 

They're three very different films. Will Hollywood ever again bring itself to make an epic as intelligent and morally complex as this? Probably not.

Comments

[ibid.livejournal.com]

The Godfather is almost unique IMHO in being better on the book on which it was based. Puzo is not a great writer

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I think Puzo's limitations become very clear in the third film. He raises all these big issues about guilt and redemption and can't really think of anything very interesting to say about them.

[ibid.livejournal.com]

The first film is basically based on the book, though the book is more final. The second film had Puzo's imput but I don't know about the third. He was certainly never sole scriptwriter so it might have turned out to be a Godfather pastiche

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

He's credited as co-writer (with Coppola) of Godfather III.

Mind you, Hollywood writing credits aren't worth the celluloid they're printed on.