The Godfather 'Ruddy'

The film ‘the Godfather’ belongs to the American gangster genre. This however is quite hard to see in the first two minutes of the film. I figured this out because around the time the film was set there was a lot of trouble with the Italian mafia in America. In the first two minutes an Italian man is speaking about America being his paradise in what seems to be a dark office which has connotations of the mafia but it also sets the scene and tells us where this is all happening. The man speaks about going to the police but they did nothing so he has come to the mob boss. This suggests to us that it is illegal which almost confirms the fact that it is a gangster film due to the connotations this gives us. Also the stock characters and stock location informs us of the genre. The man asking for help is dressed very smart with an American Italian accent. Also he is sitting talking to another very smartly dressed man sitting down behind a large desk. The location is a very dark office which gives us the connotations that what goes on is illegal and bad. Also because it is an office it could suggest to us that it is organised crime because it is very civilised and smart. This is how I allocated this film to this genre. So in the first two minutes the generic expectations are almost completely fulfilled. It is easy to see that this film is an American gangster because the text conforms to the characteristics of this genre because everything is very typical of a gangster film with the stock characters and stock locations and it has no other connotations leading to any other genres.
The use of mise en scene in the opening two minutes adds character to each person in the scene. For example a man is standing in a very dark, fancy office talking to somebody sitting down behind the desk. This connotes that this man could possibly be in trouble and is asking for help. The darkness in the office suggests to us that the help that he is asking for could possibly be bad or illegal. Also we know that the character sitting down is the superior because the man who is standing up has a desperate and scared facial expression which implies that he could be in trouble with this man if he says the wrong thing and that the man sitting down could have a bad reputation.
There is only really one camera shot in the first two minutes of the film which is a MCU to start off with but the camera slowly tracks out so we can just see the back of the other mans head which connotes that he may want to keep his identity secret from some people. So the camera tracks out very slowly from an MCU to a MS so we can still see his hand gestures and it also allows us to see some hand gestures that the man behind the desk makes.
At the very beginning there is music playing which is non diegetic and is edited into the sequence after the filming has been done. The music is very typical Italian and it has strong connotations of violence and crime because of its pitch and the notes which are used. This anchors the titles and then the main title ’the Godfather’ very well. Once the titles have been there is only diegetic sound which is mostly the man talking. This anchors the images very well though because it makes us focus on what is being said so we can understand that what he is asking for is bad.
We can learn about the same from the characters non verbal dialogue and the verbal dialogue. This is because the dialogue has been structured in such a way so that we immediately think that the man speaking is the inferior character, also we learn that what
Jack Clark

he wants is illegal and bad. Through the non verbal dialogue we learn roughly the same thing. The man speaking has a scared look on his face and he is clearly holding in a lot of emotion suggesting that he needs help. The man behind the desk however looks calm and so we think that he is the superior. Also he waves his hand and an associate o his gives the other man a drink suggesting that this man is in control. This is emphatic to the fact that he is the boss. The director also uses a reddish wash over the film to make it feel warmer. This is used also to get the viewers on the gangsters side even though they are bad. The red wash is used to connote violence as well because of the representation of blood.
The narrative is a clear linear narrative and we as an audience are positioned at the beginning of the narrative. You can tell this because there are no flashbacks and because what happens in the first two minutes is clearly the start of a story and not half way through. The characters in this seem alienated from society because they are able to do illegal things and be successful so it is obvious that they do not obey the law and that they believe that they are above it. Also the man asking for help was declined help by the police so this could mean that society may not accept these foreigners immigrating over. The main themes in this sequence are help and business. The man behind the desk is willing to help this man but only if he gets something in return to help his gangster business. Tension is created by the man describing how his daughter had been beaten by two boys who tried to take advantage of her. It is then maintained very well by using the slow tracking out and by only focusing on the man speaking. This is why there is no music because it creates a better enigma because it seems more raw to the audience. This adds and maintains tension very well and it is very simple to do.
The social group represented is slightly older Italian immigrants, and although that they are bad people and break laws the audience is put on their side. They are shown to be very powerfull and also are portrayed very traditionally. We are made to believe that they are the goodies in this film. Their role is represented to us as moral heroes and it shows them keeping to moral code even if it means they have to break the law. Their lifestyle is shown to be slightly different to a typical Americans because the are perhaps foreign. The ideological discourse reinforces the traditional roles on men and women. For example it is the men doing the jobs and in the opening sequence we do not see the women because their traditional role in society would not allow them to be involved in the work with men. The text also challenges some values and beliefs. For example they are breaking the law but it is shown as justice to the viewers. It is in a way representing the story of stealing to feed a starving family but on a larger scale.
The target audience for this film is young adults through to middle aged white and maybe Italian males. This is because men find the gangster genre much more entertaining than women due to the violence and law breaking. Also due to this violence and law breaking younger people will by law not be allowed to watch this. The preferred reading of the text is that the gangster is the leader of a large gang and that he will do favours for people as long as he gets something in return. Also it could be that foreigners are not treated as well as other citizens and that life is a lot harder for them. The opening sequence is meant to give us an insight to the life and jobs of the gang boss. The aberrant meaning could be that this gang boss is an assassin and could be trying to uphold justice in the city.
I read this text completely different to somebody who is from that time when the gang culture was going on because they may have experienced it and they could relate to what is going on. I am completely naive to this culture however and do not think anything of it.