The Godfather Part 2

            In the Godfather Part 2, Copella continues to use the same filming techniques and symbols as he previously used in the Godfather Part 1. These techniques include the level of the camera that the film is filmed, the lighting of illuminating the Don, and the technique of slowly panning in and out of scenes. Some symbols that he chose to continually use include filming scenes through doors, showing the difference between the private and public lives of the Corleones, the sanguinello oranges representing a future death, and the hero’s journey of Michael’s father Don Vito Corleone through flashbacks. Because the class has only seen the first half of the movie, we are unaware of the further events. 

           One example of the sanguinello oranges representing a future death includes when Vito gives Fanucci 100$, Fanucci proceeds to get an orange.

           Throughout the film, the scenes continuously switch from Michael’s time, to a flashback of his father Vito Corleone. Not only did Michael follow the Hero’s Journey by Joseph Cambell, but his father did also. Michael is following the path of his father, which led him to becoming the Don in The Godfather Part 1. 

            An example of the camera level the film is being filmed at. As Mrs Shepard recently said, when the Corleone’s house was being shot, the camera angle made the audience feel as they are being apart of the scene, making the audience react to the gun shots. 

           Comparing Michael Corleone from the beginning of Part 1, to this point during Part 2, Michael is a different person. As said in my speech on the Hero's Journey, Michael's end to his civilian life is the beginning of his new life, making him a completely different person. He started off as someone who came back from the army and at this point he is the head of his family. His personality has changed along with the clothes he wears. In the photo of Michael to the left, he is in a suit with a serious expression on his face. In the photo of MIchael to the right, he is relaxed at Connie Corleone's wedding wearing to wear his army uniform. 

Symbolism- Trains

During the scene of when Michael Corleone looks for the gun that was hidden behind the toilet, the sound of a train passing is present. It starts off soft, however once he reaches for the gun, the sound slowly crescendos. The sound slowly decrescendos when he leaves the bathroom, and slowly headed towards the table with Sollozzo and McCluskey. The sound of the train revisits the scene when Sollozzo starts to speak to Michael, right before Michael decides to shoot Sollozzo and McCluskey. 

The sound of a train is representing the one way path Michael is taking if he decides to shoot both McCluskey and Sollozzo. If Michael kills them, he is moving from a place to another place like a train, however in this particular scene, from not being apart of the Mafia, to being apart of the Mafia. 

Michael’s order was to come out of the bathroom and start shooting McCluskey and Sollozzo right away. However, Michael goes to sit down back at the table. It seems he is thinking about whether he is going through with joining the Mafia or not. I agree with Alison’s idea of the train symbolizing Michael’s heartbeat. When he was looking for the gun and right before he shot Sollozzo and McCluskey, his heartbeat is getting faster and stronger, and right before he shoots them, his heartbeat is faster and stronger again.

Oranges- The Godfather

              In The Godfather, both the color orange, and the fruit have been appearing in many scenes. The color orange and the fruit are foreshadowing a death: There was one scene with Jack Woltz and a bowl of oranges. A couple scenes later, Jack Woltz wakes up with his dead horse’s head by his legs. Another example of the oranges foreshadowing in The Godfather is the scene where Don Vito Corleone was shot 5 times. That same scene, Don Vito Corleone bought some oranges. Third example of oranges foreshadowing death is near the beginning of the movie. Paulie Gatta gives oranges to Clemenza in a juice. Scenes later, Paulie was killed in a car. 

              Mr. McGuigan has said “twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern”. There are three situations above showing the fruit oranges or the color foreshadows death, making it a pattern. 

             Why did Francis Ford Coppola choose oranges to foreshadow death? The oranges that foreshadow death in The Godfather resemble sanguinello oranges. These types of oranges are considered “blood oranges” because the color on the inside of the orange is a dark red. 

              The fruit and the color orange have showed up many times so far during this movie, making me believe there may be more appearing of these oranges which will foreshadow more death. 

The Scarlet Woman

In The Godfather, in many scenes, Kay Adams wears a scarlet colored dress or clothing. Because she has worn this color more than two times, it makes it a pattern rather than a coincidence. Because of this pattern, it gives me an idea that Kay Adams is the Scarlet Woman in The Godfather. 

There are many different definitions of The Scarlet Woman: There is the definition of a prostitute, a saint, someone with bad morals, or a seducer who harms the protagonist. We are unaware at this point of the movie that she will harm the protagonist, Michael Corleone, however we do know they have a somewhat close relationship when Michael does not have to deal with the family business. As the movie progresses, us, the audience, will be able to identify whether Kay Adams is the scarlet woman or not. 

Characterization of Michael Corleone + The Hero's Journey

In The Godfather, Michael Corleone so far follows The Hero’s Journey. The first step in The Hero’s Journey is Stage 1, the departure. In Stage 1, “the hero is called to adventure, although he is reluctant to accept”. In the beginning The Godfather, Michael is talking to Kay Adams about the family business, where he says “That’s my family Kay, that’s not me”. His intention was not to be involved with the family business, however once his father was shot, he starts to get involved with “Stage 2: Initiation: The hero crosses a threshold into a new, more dangerous world, gaining a more mature perspective”. 

Michael Corleone is a very confident man, especially when he is talking to Sonny on the phone in the hospital letting Sonny know that no one is in the hospital. Michael tells Sonny “I won’t panic”. The scene where Michael and the baker, Enzo, are standing outside the hospital, Enzo is really scared and nervous, which is showed through his shaking hands when he tries to light his cigaret. However Michael is calm, and shows through lighting Enzo’s cigaret for him. 

The scene in the hospital with Don Vito Corleone and Michael Corleone, Michael kisses his father’s hand and says “I’m with you now”. The kiss symbolizes Michael giving his father his loyalty in the mafia business. 

The next stage for Michael is “Stage 3: The Road of Trials: The hero is given a supernatural aid, endures tests of strength, resourcefulness, and endurance”. The test of strength and endurance is next when Michael plans to shoot Clemenza and McCluskey. 

Filming Techniques

            In Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, he decides to use many filming techniques; two of them including having background actors cut in front of the camera and the slow zoom in towards a character’s face. 

The first technique used makes the audience feel as they apart of this scene of the movie. One technique that Coppola used while directing The Godfather is to have background characters quickly pass in front of the camera fast enough so the audience doesn't get distracted, but for the audience to feel as they are in the scene. During the wedding reception, Michael Corleone was having a conversation with his girlfriend, Kay, about the Corleone's family business. While the audience is watching this scene, they may notice some background actors passing in front of and behind the conversation. From the audience's perspective, the passing of characters makes the scene much more realistic and convinces the audience they are apart of the scene, listening to the conversation. 

            The second technique that Francis Ford Coppola includes is the technique of zooming in closely to the characters’ faces. During the scene when Jack Woltz wakes up with blood all over his hands and legs and finds his horse's head in his bed, the director slowly zooms to Jack Woltz, which builds suspense as to what may happen next. Because of the slow zooming camerawork, audience members may also feel that they are  slowly walking towards Jack Woltz. 

           With the technique of zooming in closely and slowly into the characters, Francis Ford Coppola makes the scene much more suspenseful ,which sets the mood and uncertainty for this scene. 

Doors

The definition of “door” is “a hinged, sliding, or revolving barrier at the entrance to a building, room, or vehicle, or in the framework of a cupboard” (Wordreference). 

In The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola uses doors as a motif and for foreshadowing. There are many scenes that are filmed through doors; they show the public and private events through an open or closed door. There are many scenes in The Godfather that are filmed through an open door. The way the scene is filmed makes the audience feel as they are a part of the scene. 

With an open door, the scene becomes public, where other characters could perhaps be involved. With a closed door, it becomes a private scene limited to the people who are in the room. One scene in The Godfather that shows this is when Michael Corleone is told that his father, Don Vito Corleone, was shot. He rushed to the phone booth and closes the door on Kay, showing a private scene between him and someone on the other end of the phone. Where his family life is concerned, the scene becomes private and excludes Kay. 

In The Godfather, doors are also used for foreshadowing. During one scene of The Godfather, the camera passes a door with a fish on it. The reason for the focus on fish on the door  is to represent that Don Vito Corleone was shot and was meant to “sleep with the fish”. Later on in the movie, Sollozzo sent a fish with a bullet proof vest to the Corleones, symbolizing how they tried to kill Don Vito Corleone to get him “to sleep with the fish.”