Mafioso Mentality

At the beginning of the film Michael Corleone returns from war to a doubtful future and attends a family wedding. It becomes evident from the very beginning that Michael does not want to follow the steps of his family and embark on a Mafioso lifestyle. We are given the feeling that Don Vito Corleone respects his son’s will not to pursue such a lifestyle even though each of his other sons are predominantly involved in the family "business" and for this reason alone it can be construed that he is Don Vito’s beloved son and the one in which he takes the most interest. Despite Michaels apparent wishes not to become occupied with the family "business" it is obvious that he cannot ignore his feelings of loyalty and devotion to them or his natural ability to take a role of responsibility and mantle within the family.

Don Vito Corleone is an aging godfather/patriarch who is the head of the Corleone crime family in the New York boroughs. The opening of the film is located at a family wedding, the one in which we see Michael return after the war, and in this scene we see just how far the Dons power extends; from a regular worker in the neighbourhood, to an immensely popular and famous singer, to his friends in politics, all are links of his who are ready to ask favours of him due to his high stature and ability to provide gangland justice in return for them to offer their respect to him and repay such favours. As the film progresses it becomes evident that times are changing, and to many of the younger people working in the crime business, Don Corleone's ideas are becoming obsolete. The Don believes the new trend in the business of dealing and supplying drugs is dangerous and above all extremely immoral compared to his other business interests. He also for sees that families dealing with drugs would eventually end up self-destroying and that drugs are in a completely different league to his other interests and deals involving alcohol and gambling.

The baptism scene near the end of “The Godfather” comes because of Vitos death and is extremely relevant in portraying and confirming how embroiled Michael has become and it concludes his transformation from that of the youngest son wanting nothing to do with the family lifestyle to the ruthless head of the crime family he has become, a fate he secretly despised previously. The scene is highly significant and climatic because it employs a number of techniques that make it so dramatic. The scene is also so significant and climatic as a number of plot elements are resolved. During the scene cross-cut editing is used intensively to emphasize simultaneous events in a way that is not seen anywhere else in the film.

As Michael declares his faith, cross cutting continues and we witness the assassins draw ever closer to their victims. During this entire scene the sound of what is going on in the ceremony is played over all cross cuts and this includes the sound of the baby crying, perhaps symbolic of the imminent danger that is drawing close to the planned victims viewed in the cross cuts. The priest then asks Michael “Do you renounce Satan” as he replies “I Do” the scene cross cuts to the first murder where Clemenza kills two people in the lift. The dialogue between Michael and the Priest continues throughout the sequence while cutting back and forth between close-ups of Michael, and then people being killed. Michaels reaction is very important here as he knows what is going on elsewhere in the city on his behalf and even with this knowledge his face remains emotionless and blank showing he feels no kind of sorrow for what is going on and we now establish all his values have been lost to the lifestyle he has become hardened to. In one cross cut shot a man falls down a flight of stairs after being shot, perhaps symbolising the downfall of the power shared by the other families and the turn over of power and control to Michael.

During the course of the film Michael degenerates from an ashamed member of a notorious crime family he wants nothing to do with in a business sense to a ruthless, cold blooded and emotionless head of the family he was once so ashamed of and reluctant to mix with. By the end of the Baptism scene Michaels complete transformation has been concluded and the young Michael first seen at the beginning of the film is a distant memory by the time he has been engulfed by power and following his family’s values despite the vast amounts of corruption and dishonesty that has come with following such values that in the first instance of the film he would not have considered being involved or associated with.

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