The classic movie The Godfather arrived in cinemas 40 years ago this month-and changed the course of film history.
The film was adapted from Mario Puzo’s 1969 book of the same name, which became an immediate best seller. Set after World War II, it tells the story of the Corleone crime family, in New York, and how power transfers from the title character, patriarch Vito Corleone, to his youngest son, Michael.
Paramount Pictures bought the rights to the book shortly after its publication and eventually hired a then-unknown director named Francis Ford Coppola to helm the project.
Coppola and Puzo collaborated on the screenplay. However, the director’s relationship with Paramount wasn’t as harmonious during filming. Coppola attempted to give the film a more epic look, which the studio felt would just be a waste of money since it envisioned a low budget film.
Paramount’s biggest complaint about Coppola, however, was in his casting decisions. He wanted Marlon Brando to play Vito, but Brando had developed a reputation for being difficult by the 1970s and few studios wanted to hire him. Paramount also disliked Coppola’s choice of Al Pacino for Michael. Pacino was unknown at that point and the studio wanted an established star to play Michael, such as Robert Redford or Ryan O’Neal.
Coppola, however, stood his ground and stood to lose everything if the film failed. However, The Godfather proved to have the opposite impact. It made Coppola a legend and re-established Brando as a star. It also made stars of basically everyone else who acted in the movie, including Pacino. James Caan, Robert Duvall and John Cazale were rightfully acclaimed for their performances as Brando’s other sons, as were Talia Shire (Coppola’s sister) as his daughter, and Diane Keaton as Michael’s wife.
The film also had memorable music composed by Nino Rota and Coppola’s father, Carmine. It also had several lines of dialogue which became famous. These include “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse” and “Leave the gun, take the cannoli.”
The film would go on to win Oscars for Best Picture, Screenplay and Actor for Brando (who famously refused the honor to protest the treatment of Native Americans in the movies). Its success led to two sequels, both of which focused on Michael as the new head of the family. The first sequel, The Godfather Part II (1974), also won the Oscar for Best Picture, as well as five other Oscars. Some say that it is superior to the first film. The Godfather Part III (1990) is not as highly regarded as its two predecessors, but it did have its moments.
More important, however, is that The Godfather became the yardstick by which all films about the mafia have been measured. Without it, we may never have seen Goodfellas (1990) or even the TV series The Sopranos. It has also been brought up in comparison with other types of films. For instance, I once read an article which called The Deer Hunter (1978), “The Godfather of war films.”
If that’s not a lasting legacy, I don’t know what is. Watching the film is truly an offer you can’t refuse.

　　近日，據外媒報道，為了紀念影史經典杰作《教父》公映40周年，美國著名電影院連鎖企業Cinemark將于3月1日晚在旗下55家影院放映《教父》，《教父2》則在4月19日晚放映。此次放映的兩部《教父》是經過數字技術修復，畫面音效進行了升級的版本，放映活動僅安排一晚上的時間。
　　大導演弗朗西斯·福特·科波拉在1972年推出的《教父》是名垂美國乃至世界電影史的不朽杰作，以沉郁冷靜的風格講述了一段頗具浪漫主義色彩的黑幫史詩，被很多影迷奉為最偉大的黑幫電影，曾經長期雄踞著名電影網站IMDB TOP250排行榜第一的位置。在愛情電影《電子情書》中，梅格·瑞恩曾問湯姆·漢克斯“為什么男人都喜歡看《教父》”，漢克斯回答“因為《教父》是男人的圣經”。
　　在《教父》勇奪包括最佳影片、最佳男主角、最佳改編劇本3項奧斯卡大獎后，1974年問世的《教父2》保持了《教父》的高水準，又將奧斯卡最佳影片、最佳導演等6項大獎收入囊中，成為好萊塢歷史上最成功的續集電影之一。此外，阿爾·帕西諾、羅伯特·德尼羅等當時的年輕演員也正是通過《教父》系列邁上了成為傳奇影星的道路。