Pacino looks particularly good, I think, in the scene where he, Caan, Duvall and the others plot the murders in the resturant. The hair looks good, the shirt, tie, jacket, slacks. Robert Duvall also looks fine, often in grey. Envious of my daughter, who is off to Sicily at the end of the month.
He certainly doesn't look so good later on in the movie. More like a rather intense young rabbi.
Perhaps that is the point - the need for the head of the family to look as austere as possible? A man in black (bringing to mind John Harvey's book), the Family as the corporation, also the Catholic ideas, how do these influence the manner in which il Padrone would perceive himself and be perceived by others? On the other hand, what we know about the sartorial preferences of the mafiosi must have been influenced by Hollywood film industry. Hell, even the real-life mafiosi lifted the style from the movies (life imitating art and the rest of the cliches).
Would a real-life gangster/mafioso try to dress (or rather, not try at all) like an average citizen at a certain point in history ... or would they engage in sartorial conspicious consumption? Perhaps both, depending on the circumstances. On the other hand, I was severely disappointed by the outfits of the "enterpreneurs" in Gomorra Interesting subject, even tho I'm afraid I'm just rambling here.
Interesting initial point; never thought of it in those terms. I think you might be right.
The old style gangsters were known for their tailoring and Al Capone as an example, adored music and had his own box at the opera. Whereas, the teflon don was known for his cheap taste in polyester suits, at least early in his career. And the Krays dressed well.
With the crime syndicates in the US, it is interesting that the Italian mafioso were not the biggest or most successful criminal organisations and yet, Hollywood would have us believe this. Certain crime syndicates were most happy with the Godfather films.
When it comes to gangsters, although its very easy to glamourise the lifestyle, we should not forget that they are an aspect of fascism. A friend of mine's wife is Italian and her parents own restuarants in the Northern part of Italy and they have to pay protection money - a couple of grand a month to the local mafia.
"In Sicily women are more dangerous than shotguns".
Pacino is great in that film - I love the bit when it all kicks off and whilst Sonny is holding a council of war with his soldiers, Johnny Five Angels merrily teaches Michael how to make pasta sauce.
Food in ganster films, always very important......
Sausage, egg and chips in 'Get Carter'...
I liked Pacino best when he was living down the road from me with David Bowie, Michael Caine, Jimmy Hill, Mick and Keith and Mrs Huggett.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y42yl_N_DQ&feature=related
Michael Caine. Bleedin' 'ell... bleedin', bleedin' 'ell... The overwhelming number of naff films that spring instantly to mind...
"and buddading! Blood all over ya nice ivy league suit!" Sonny to Michael.
Hows about Tom in his Seersucker suit in part II, blue oxford and knitted tie. He's the German Irish that you ought to watch in The Godfather, some quite nice clothes on him.
Duvall, in many ways, is the best thing in the series.
I have absolutely no interest in the Mafia BTW and loathe these silly new British gangster flicks with the likes of Ray Winstone etc. 'The Godfather', however, contains many minor pleasures, often to do with Brando's character. The ending - the shutting out of womanhood - is unfortunate if inevitable. Shame that the excellent Sterling Hayden disappeared so quickly, and that Michael seems to get over the murder of his first wife with such aplomb.
You can really see Connery going through the motions by the time of 'You Only Live Twice', and the appalling 'Diamonds Are Forever' set the tone for what was to come. I stopped going to see Moore after 'The Spy Who Loved Me'. Never bothered with Brosnan or the latest bod. 'Dr. No' is still the best IMO: wild graphics, fairly interesting music and Jack Lord - cooler than Connery by a mile.
He's just the American man, what did you expect? I like Connery's sound, but I can imagine that for you it's like Bavarian sounds to me...
Caine's one of my favourite actors - Alfie, Sleuth (the original one), the Black Windmill, Get Carter, Mona Lisa, etc. he's obviously limited by not doing other accents, but in the right role i think he's perfect. and he's a worthy pairing for Olivier in Sleuth, which says something i think
not sure i care if actors are in bad films - they have to keep working! and often the original script and proposal (which is what they accept) can be very different to the finished product - blame the director, producer or studio! never been that impressed with Sean Connery after the early Bonds, but i did think The Hill was excellent when i saw it 10 or 15 years ago.
Cage, Stiller, Carrey, etc are pretty awful, although Carrey is enjoyable in A Serious of Unfortunate Events.
Mafia stuff is mostly boring, including a lot of the Godfather Trilogy, and all that crap about families and so on. Mafia guys being killed is fun though, i like the restaurant assassination etc in Black Caesar, or Ghost Dog which puts a good spin on the whole thing
Duvall wanted too much money to appear in G III, true. He was supposed to figure in the plot as Michael's adversary. The money thing goes for Brando who was supposed to make an appearance at the end of part II, as well.