On a personal note, I love The Godfather Part I. Considering the lofty position it has on almost every “Greatest Movie”list out there, I’m clearly not alone.

 

I’m an action/drama writer myself and this may be the finest action/drama film ever created. So….yeah. For a very long movie, the pacing is phenomenal. I have never found it to run slow.

 

That’s a nice job.

 

While it is not unusual for the Protagonist to leave the location of the first act for a new one in the second, as Michael does leave for Italy after he commits the assassinations. But it is unusual for the Protagonist to then return to the original location in the third act. But in this movie, it all makes sense. Michael’s attempt to not become the Godfather, and his inevitable conclusion that he must become the Godfather, makes the story seamless where others that attempt the same juxtaposition of location totally fail.

 

But for writers the number one lesson that you take from The Godfather is….

 

THEME

 

What does the term theme mean in screenwriting? There are a lot of different definitions given, some more high falutin’ than others. But to me everything we do is about the audience experience — both the initial readers’ when you try to market your manuscript — and the viewing audiences’ experience when watching the produced film.

 

So to me theme is what the audience takes home with them that isn’t the plot. It’s the exploration that the writer delves into – to examine a subject or a concept as the characters move about the plot. A script without theme is usually considered thin by the intellectual class. Not every movie is or should be made for intellectuals, but at the same time, you want your audience emotionally engaged while watching your film, and then intellectually engaged when talking about it with friends, family, and colleagues afterwards. And usually movies that have deep themes that are prevalent in the movie are the ones that spur the most discussion and debate.

 

You would expect the film considered by many to be the best film ever made (Along with Citizen Kane and Vertigo, as the other prevailing arguments.) to be rich in theme.

 

There may, in fact, be no film that is richer in this particular category.

 

The Godfather’s theme of Family or “Blood is Thicker Than Water” is poignant throughout the film. Every single major plot point happens because of the theme of family, and all of the major activities of the film happen either around or during family events. Here is the breakdown and you’ll see what I mean.

 

• The film starts at a family wedding where the Godfather, Vito Corleone, cannot refuse a request.

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• Michael tells Kay at the wedding that he doesn’t want to be like his family, after telling her a confidential story about a murder his father committed.

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• Tom, the family lawyer, was taken in by the Godfather, after Sonny found him homeless on the streets as an orphan without a family.

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• To ensure that Johnny gets the movie role, they murder the producer’s horse that was supposed to be used to breed a new family of winning race horses.

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• Michael and Kay are holiday shopping for members of the family when Kay spots the newspaper where they learn that Vito has been shot.

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• Michael leaves for Italy after starting a war between the Five Families.

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• While in Italy, Michael meets Apollonia after he decides to walk to the Corleone territory, his family namesake.

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• Michael attempts to start a new family by marrying Apollonia.

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• The Five Families set up Sonny for assassination by having his pregnant sister Connie’s husband beat her. She contacts Sonny, which causes him to leave the safety of the Corleone home without bodyguards due to his intense rage.

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• Michael returns to New York upon the news of Sonny’s death and the accidental murder of Appolonia, the death of his intended new family in Italy.

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• At the meeting of the heads of the Five Families Vito agrees to the other cartels’ demands regarding the cocaine trade as long as Michael is allowed to come home safely. He swears on “the souls of my grandchildren” that he will not be the first person to break the peace, which is what softens the opposing dons, especially Don Tattaglia, and a truce is made.

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• When Michael arrives in New York, the first thing he does is propose marriage to Kay and tell her he wants children. At the time he surprised her by appearing out of the blue to propose to her, she was surrounded by children she was escorting from inside a school.

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• The next time we see Kay and Michael together, they have a son. Michael has finally started his family. He is also ready to take over as head of the family business — he becomes the new Godfather.

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• Vito Corleone dies of a heart attack while playing with his grandson.

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• Michael warns Fredo to never go against the family again, after Michael’s confrontation in Las Vegas with Mo Green.

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• Michael’s final blitz assault on all of his enemies and rivals occurs during the baptism of Michael’s goddaughter.

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• In the last scene, with Kay, Michael reverses himself from his first scene in the movie. Then, he broke confidentiality and told her the absolute truth about the family. Now, in the final scene, he lies to her in order to protect the integrity of the family. He is now the Godfather.

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• All of the traditional family holidays/celebrations: Wedding, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and a Baptism occur during major plot points

 

The theme is so prevalent that it is impossible not to notice it. And yet, it does not ever interrupt the flow of the story, the character growth, the tone or structure of the movie. You don’t get the feeling of someone standing on a soapbox yelling the theme at you, and you never get the feeling that theme is battling against story for dominance. It does exactly what theme is supposed to – it deepens the movie, baked in the way that sugar is baked into a cake. After eating a slice of delicious cake you never say “Wow, that was some good sugar they put in there.” Yet, you instinctively know that the sugar is a key ingredient to the success of the cake. And that is what theme, done well, is meant to be. It is an integral component of the movie, yet it supplements and works in perfect cohesion with the plot. In a quality manuscript plot and theme don’t fight, just as eggs and sugar don’t fight while you bake a cake.

 

I personally believe that there is no greater example of theme to be found in the history of movies than The Godfather, Part I.

 

Learn to use theme wisely and your manuscript will be much stronger, deeper, and more profound. It will feel more important than thinner one-dimensional scripts.