Godfather Christmas: A Look at the True Film of the Holiday Season
Recommendations
This was an interesting Challenge, but I think I chose the right film.
I will admit that I did seek some outside help for this Challenge as the deadline approached. In my own mind, I thought about ‘A Christmas Story,’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ (the Alistair Sim version), ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’ (a true work of art), or even ‘Scrooged’ (saw that in the theatre and I loved Bill Murray's smartass comments at the end). And then I thought about some other films that I consider Christmas Adjacent: ‘Die Hard;' ‘Lethal Weapon’ (just admit it); ‘Home Alone’ (one person taking on a bunch of criminals; I sense a theme here). The last one was the one my mother and stepfather suggested I write about, but it did not feel right. None of them felt right.
The only one that felt right was…'The Godfather'.
Yes, the movie that includes ‘nostalgic rewatches’ under the ‘not technically a Christmas movie’ category - your own words, Peliplat - is the story of a crime family dealing with challenges and changes in their world after World War Two.
And its key moment takes place during the season when we are all decking those halls and having ourselves a merry little…well, you know.
No, I have not lost my mind. I watch the movies every Christmas season. Oh, yes, the movies. I have noticed that some stations have aired both Part One and Two with supplemental material and let us see the full story of the Corleone family as the orphan Vito Andolini (soon to be a Corleone - played by Marlon Brando) survives a violent childhood, arrives in America, and becomes compelled to become a criminal in order to survive in circumstances that would have destroyed anyone with a different moral compass…like his very clean cut, youngest son, Michael (Al Pacino).
Ah, Michael. I thought of him as this article developed in my mind. Remember that he comes home as a war hero, just in time for his sister's wedding and the biggest challenge to his father's story. Please remember: the Second World War is over; the USA has become one of the strongest (maybe the strongest?) nation on the planet; prosperity and a comfortable life seems to be in the hands of a huge baby-booming population (see what I did there?); there should be no shadows on the horizon.
And yet, as we may almost forget, these people are criminals…and there is no pause on the activities they engage in.
It is sad that the last time we truly see Michael happy is when he is walking out of a theatre with Kay (played wonderfully and cautiously by the late Diane Keaton). They have just watched ‘The Bells of St. Mary,’ as innocent a movie as you can imagine. They laugh, tell jokes and kiss…and then discover that his father may have been shot to death over a deal that did not take place. He slowly separates from the love of his life when taking a phone call (the phone booth), at dinner (the framing of the dinner scene is off because we expect them to be closer than ever now), and he returns to a home filled with Christmas decorations and sadness.
I can relate to all of these moments, and the ones to come because I do not associate this season with anything but the pain of realizing that you are at the end of something, and you will have to take on certain responsibilities that you may not be ready for…and doesn't that remind you of a particular character who moves through three films and loses more and more in each one?
I won't give a full breakdown of the film, except to say that it is no accident to me that the key twist in the film - the denouement (look that up) - takes place when we speak of peace, joy, and goodwill on Earth. ‘The Godfather’ is the ugly truth of the season that we do not want to face: we are all too human and must settle ourselves to that difficult fact, no matter what the spirits of the time demand.
Happy Holidays?
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