The
Godfather
(The Coppola Restoration) [Blu-ray]
(Francis Ford Coppola, 1972,
1974, 1990)
Individually compared to SD-DVD:
Review by Leonard Norwitz
Studio:
Theatrical: Paramount Pictures
Blu-ray: Paramount Home Entertainment
Disc:
Region: A
Runtime: 2:57:09, 3:22:06, 2:50:15
Size: 50 GB X 3, 25 GB X 1
Case: Expanded Amaray Blu-ray case
Release Date: September 30th, 2008
Video:
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Resolution: 1080p
Video codec: VC-1
Audio:
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:
English SDH, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, none
Extras:
• Commentary by Director Coppola for each film
Disc 4
• The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't (29:46
in HD!)
• Emulsional Rescue (19:05
in HD!)
• When Shooting Stopped (14:18
in HD!)
• Godfather World (11:19
in HD!)
• Godfather on the Red Carpet (04:03
in HD!)
• Four Short Films on The Godfather (07:20
in HD!)
The Score Card
The Movie : 10/10/7
How does one begin to talk about one (or two) of the
most admired and influential films of all time? Between
the first two Oscar winning Godfather movies –
the first, in 1972 and Part II in 1974 – we have
a picture of America for the first half of the twentieth
century that is so compelling, many people imagine there
was little else of importance that actually happened in
this country that didn't happen in The Godfather.
It all begins with the line: I believe in America,
spoken not by one of the main characters, but by an
undertaker – and the rest is cinema history. For some
nine hours over three movies, we find ourselves
concerned with the rise and fall of a first generation
Sicilian-American family and their children, and their
children's children.
Given what had preceded it, I don't see how anyone could
have seen this coming. Francis Coppola was an important
writer before he became a director worth taking note of.
Up to 1972, he had directed three feature films: most
recently the truly dreadful Finian's Rainbow.
His other credits, however, were impressive: He wrote
This Property is Condemned and Patton (for
which he won an Oscar), and co-produced American
Graffiti (1973). The story of how he sold The
Godfather to Paramount, whilst going overbudget down
to the wire is the stuff of film drama itself (and is
included as a bonus feature on this
Blu-ray
set.)
Yes, the movie was based on a very popular best-seller,
and it had Mario Puzo's name right up there above the
title. But a three-hour movie that begins with a
four-hour wedding! Unheard of! (Michael Cimino
certainly took notice for his 1979 Deer Hunter.)
Very risky. OK, so the movie will have Marlon Brando.
But who's this Al Pacino, whose only recognizable film
credit thus far was Panic in Needle Park (which
no one saw anyway)? And you say he's playing the lead?
What about Brando? He's going to be what! And who are
all these other actors in big coats? And Diane Keaton?
She had previously done only a little TV and had a part
in Lovers and Other Strangers? OK, James Caan
was familiar face, but hadn't a single important feature
film to his credit.
Cinematographer Gordon Willis had only been shooting
features for two years, though Klute certainly
demonstrated promise. Nino Rota was probably the most
seasoned player in this drama, already having scored
Romeo & Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew and
any number Fellini movies (Zero Oscars to date, by the
way – and to the Academy's undying embarrassment, they
voted to give the Oscar to Charlie Chaplin's 1952
Limelight. This is The Godfather for God's
sake! - for my money, this and his work for Part 2
(which did earn the statue) combine to make it one of
the best film score ever written, right up there with
Gone With the Wind, Ben-Hur, Lawrence of Arabia and
Now, Voyager.) Anna Hill Johnstone was an astute
choice for costume design (Baby Doll, A Face
in the Crowd, Splendor in the Grass,
Fail
Safe) – this is someone who knows what America looks
like. As did Francis, who was able to impart his vision
to a huge cast in two successive, gigantic movies. . .
which brings us to The Godfather: Part III.
There was simply no way Francis Ford Coppola was going
to meet expectations. For one thing, his remarkable
character base had either been killed off by the end of
Part II or by natural forces: Richard Castellano
(Clemenza) Michael Gazzo (Frankie Pentangeli), Abe
Vigoda (Tessio), James Caan (Sonny), John Cazale (Fredo),
Richard Conte (Barzini), Al Lettieri (Sollozzo), Gastone
Moschin (Fanucci), Sterling Hayden (McCluskey), Robert
Duvall (Tom Hagan), Robert De Niro and Brando (Vito).
I'm sorry, but as much as I admire Eli Wallach, he was
just not enough to fill so many shoes. Andy Garcia was
no match for the memory of Pacino's Michael. Pacino
himself seemed to be under the spell of his
characterization of Big Boy Caprice, made the same
year. Joe Mantegna – too little, too late. Talia Shire
and Diane Keaton were still on board, though I liked
Keaton less than previously. The move to focus the
attention on the Vatican always struck me as a bit much,
though I understand the sense of the Corleone family's
desire to expand. Even with Puzo and Coppola on the
script, the magic had worn off by now, and America was
no longer the eye in the storm. So, as you can see, I
never thought Sofia was the problem. Far from it. And
on this, my third viewing, I still don't.
Image :
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
captures were ripped directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.
Godfather : 4~5/7
Godfather Part II : 6/8
Godfather Part III : 9/9
By the time I received my review copy, there was already
a reaction on the Net to the Coppola Restoration. Some
felt that it was not so much a restoration as simply a
brightening, and even charged Coppola, Willis and others
with caving into criticism that the film was too dark –
not in terms of dramatic tone, but picture quality.
Others compared the Blu-ray to the Restoration as
projected in 2K at the Ross Theatre on the Warner lot
and declared it to be exactly similar. By the way, it
is curious that it's called the Coppola Restoration
since, so it appears in the featurette, his only
contribution was to ask Steven Spielberg, in his then
new relationship with Paramount, that it be done.
So the question naturally occurred to me: What exactly
should we be criticizing here? What should be the
province of our review – or any review? I knew that
whatever memory I had of the original theatrical
presentation some 35 years ago had been replaced by
time, various video incarnations and my own imagination.
(It was reassuring to hear Francis admit to the same.) I
also had the experience of seeing other restorations
that seemed to me to be at odds with the intent of the
drama. In any case, who am I to say what evil lurks in
the minds of men – or what color or exposure was
intended?
So I decided that before launching into any of the
restorations, I would first watch the 19-minute
featurette on the whys and wherefores. This turned out
to be something of a revelation for me, historically and
artistically. The first thing I learned was that the
original camera negative (we're talking about the 1972
Godfather) was so overused, it had become
useless. Second, that Willis shot the movie
deliberately so that the only way to print it was the
way he shot it, with none of the usual compensations for
exposure latitude, resulting in an unusually thin
negative which was one of the reasons it fared so
badly. Third, that Willis used no on-camera
filtration.
I repeat, Willis shot without filters. He expected that
the golden tone that we associate with the movie would
be applied in the processing. But since the negative
was no longer viable, and surviving prints were not in
terrific shape, it was not entirely clear what the color
scheme should actually look like. Willis was consulted
for the restoration, but he was not directly involved.
According to the featurette, Willis stated that he
expected "4 points of yellow plus 1 point of red" over
normal. So when we look at the restoration and it
appears to us reddish, it may be that this in comparison
to what we are used to, which might have been more like
10 points yellow + 1 point red. Truth is that it's been
so long since I have worked with color filters on
negative film that I really can't say with any
confidence what 4+1 should come out to given any scene.
For my part, the new color palette took some getting
used to, but I eventually tumbled to it.
As for brightness, in some parts of the first movie –
less so, I think, of the second – Willis, we are told,
was going for a look of old Anscochrome which results in
something like old home movies – which is very much what
Connie's wedding looks like in the restoration: almost
amateurishly overexposed. The videos we have seen up to
now have added a considerable amount of yellow to what
was essentially a seriously overexposed negative, so
that it appears to have more image content than the
restoration – which, in a way, it does – but it's not,
so the restorers would argue, what Willis shot, or
wanted.
Back to the restoration: So what was needed was a
worldwide casting call for any exiting prints or parts
of prints for all three movies – the most in need of
work were the first two, especially The Godfather.
The redoubtable Robert Harris supervised a multi-stage
restoration process that eventually made its way into
4K. When you see what the restoration team had to work
with I think you will be aghast; and when you see what
their work looked like in its various stages I am
equally certain you will be astonished; and as for the
final result: appreciative, if not satisfied.
CLICK EACH
BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
The Godfather
The Godfather Part II
SD (original) TOP vs. Blu-ray BOTTOM
SD (original) TOP vs. Blu-ray BOTTOM
The Godfather Part III
The Trilogy
Ignoring the usual improvements in resolution and range
of color that come with high definition, it turns out
that the trilogy has been reconsidered as a whole. The
4 points of yellow plus 1 point of red filtration has
been applied to all three movies, resulting in a color
palette shift from golden yellow (applied in various
proportions in previous video transfers) to golden red.
In Godfather Part III, that shift is dramatic in
some places, as in the opening scene in the church where
Michael receives his award. The first Godfather
has the most radical alterations in relative
brightness. Curiously, it's not the darker scenes that
are brighter, it's the ones in bright sun, most notably,
as just observed, Connie's wedding. It is not the case,
for example, in the scenes in Sicily where Michael is in
exile.
Nearly all interiors are richer, more substantial. The
blacks in such scenes are, if anything, blacker –
certainly more solidly, less apologetically so. As to
that, I did not observe any untoward attempts to apply
noise reduction. This is most important, as the
original film – and, apparently, the intent – was that
grain (not noise) be apparent. Much the same could be
said for contrast, i.e., exposure latitude, which is
more dramatic – even to the point of overblowing the
light end of the spectrum, while crushing the dark end.
As we progress through the trilogy, these two tendencies
become less evident. Godfather III, by
comparison, looks quite modern – much of it we would
consider demonstration quality.
Some random notes on the separate movies:
The Godfather
I always thought that the SD brought the music in too
soon – not that I remembered otherwise from seeing it in
the theatre – just that it was wrong to bring in the
theme over the main Paramount logo. I thought it should
come in over black – and so it does in the Restoration.
Godfather Part II
The street festival and murder of Fanucci by Vito,
ending in a fireworks display that foreshadows the
counterpoint of church and death of many, if not all, of
the multiple murders in each of the films, is bloody
awesome. The scene grows, visually and aurally (in
either the mono or the new 5.1 mix) as it never has
before. The climax is breathtaking. (I'm still looking
for mine.)
This movie provides, in close proximity, pairs of
examples of the restoration about color and brightness
that informs their thinking throughout: Note the
dramatic color and lighting changes in chapter 28,
especially at Hyman Roth's arrival at the airport. The
BRD restoration wants to make it clear that the key
lighting comes from hand held media auxiliaries; the SD
"naturalizes" the lighting so that nothing is blown out,
yet permits the background the background to get
correspondingly dark. A moment later we see an upward
pan across the lawn to the Tahoe house. Recently fallen
autumn leaves are still with us in the BRD, whereas in
the SD the leaves already grey dead. The various
assassinations are yet to happen. Which color do you
think the leaves should be?
Godfather III
Despite its being much more recent, Godfather III
is no less altered for the restoration. Scene after
scene has a body, a presence, a validity that does not
exist in the previous SD. Sofia likes pulling her hair
away from her face. You will, too.
Audio & Music : All bumped to a more deft TrueHD
track and sounding just that much more wonderful with
greater depth and clarity. I'd say that the vast
majority of speaker activity is in the fronts but some
scenes give the rear, and bass response, a good going
over. Gary mentions the helicopter ambush in
Godfather III as being very aggressive - it sure is
- almost
overly so. The score, indelibly vested into the lore of
film, appropriately sounds better than ever before with
a lilting urgency and undemonstrative elegance. This new
track was definitely part of my appreciation of the
Blu-ray.
Operations : As the feature discs are bare of
supplements (excepting the commentaries) and have no
superfluous adverts - the only delay in firing up the
film is your machine's ability to load each huge file
(all over 45 Gig). No fuss, or muss and I was very happy to
see the
Blu-ray
commercials and trailer promotions vetoed - sleep'in
with the fishes as it were.
Extras : 10
All of the previous extra features have been brought
over to the Blu-ray box set: Coppola's commentaries
appear on each of the three feature discs, while the
remaining bonus features, plus a handful of new useful
and entertaining extras (in HD, no less), all reside on
the fourth disc. A few comments, then, about the new
features. I've already addressed the matter of the
restoration itself (its being in HD was a nice touch),
which leaves five others. Of these, The Masterpiece
That Almost Wasn't is essential history, beginning
with how and why Zoetrope came into being in the context
of a failing movie industry. It's a good companion
piece, though very different in tone and method, to
Hearts of Darkness, the documentary about the
similarly fated Apocalypse Now. Godfather
World looks at the influence of the Godfather
films on popular culture from The Sopranos to
cannoli. The more sober featurette, When Shooting
Stopped concentrates on the editing aspects of
post-production for the three Godfather films.
Then there is the delightful Godfather on the Red
Carpet, a short something or other made up of brief
comments from various people in the film business as
they stand in line to see the movie. Four Short
Films on The Godfather reveals what really happened
to Clemenza (I'm sure you'll want to know), and some
funny bits of reverential humor, including taking heads
putting in their two cents about which of the first two
films is the better.
Recommendation : 10
If you base your requirements on the most agreeable
presentation of Connie's wedding, you're going to be one
unhappy camper. If you come to this
Blu-ray
with an
open mind, you are likely to be suitably impressed. My
advice: review the restoration featurette first. I
just watched these films in large screen front
projection. What can I say: It took me back, and then
some. Can there be a better recommendation? Warmly and
Highly.
Leonard Norwitz
September 17th, 1408
Individually compared to SD-DVD:
|