Sample Movie Review: The Godfather
The Godfather is considered one of the best movies ever made. There are many good reasons why. The story, acting, photography, and art direction all contribute to make a better story.
The story is much more than just about criminals. It is about the American dream. The Corleone family came to the United States like millions of other immigrants expecting to find new opportunities. Instead, the harsh reality is that the only jobs available to immigrants were extremely low paying, with no rights to protect them from abuse. The only way for immigrants to gain political power and better themselves was through crime. This is the main theme of the story-the American dream is an illusion. The Corleone family appear to be good, patriotic Americans, but in realty they are murderers and drug lords.
The acting in the film strives for just that. The Corleones are all about family, like millions of other immigrants, and they are hiding their criminal activity under a veil of normalcy. Marlon Brando acts like a king, not a low life criminal. Al Pacino puts on the greatest front, appearing to be a war hero and marrying an American girl. Every scene shows where the Corleones are in public, they are normal, whether shopping or at a wedding. In private, behind closed doors, they are planning drug deals and murders.
Photography contributes to the film in much the same way. All the scenes inside the Corleone house are very stark, with very high contrast bright and dark lighting, because they are talking about death and crime. Whenever the Corleone family is in public, the scenes are very bright, just as in everyday life. It's as if the Corleones live in two different worlds, their public and private ones.
The art direction of the movie brings the time period to life. The setting is New York after WWII, but the movie was made in 1972. The art director made the movie look like an old photograph you would find in a family album. The colors of the movie are all beige, brown, and green, that all have a vintage faded look. The clothes and the cars, the neon signs, nearly everything perfectly looks like an old newspaper.
In short, this movie is timeless. I can watch it again and again and always find something new in it. Like any great work of art, it is both entertaining and shows us something true about ourselves as human beings.