Product reviews

The Godfather

In 1969, THE GODFATHER began the American public's fascination with the Mafia. This Italian-American epic, featuring patriarch Don Vito Corleone, explores the brutal, lavish lifestyles of New York City's mob bosses: the struggles for power, the respect for family, love, and loyalty, and the consequences of life built around murder, corruption, and revenge. While its heady mixture of sex, violence, and "family" values assured it a place atop the bestseller lists, it achieved longevity through its treatment of mobsters as something more than abstract monsters--as complex characters with hopes, dreams, and fears, but who also just happen to be ruthless killers. It inspired countless homages, tributes, knock-offs, and imitations across all forms of popular media. Television shows like THE SOPRANOS and movies like GOODFELLAS would never have been conceived without it. THE GODFATHER was made into a hugely successful, Oscar-winning film in 1972.