The Godfather, The Shawshank Redemption, and Star Wars are the most popular movies in history. Citizen Kane is #1 on the American Film Institute 100 list. Why aren’t they on the list?
The Godfather Movies
I like the Godfather movies’ look: the people in Italy/the Italian landscape; the authentic late-1940’s U.S. But these movies fall victim to the “justified revenge” syndrome. That’s when the protagonists perform brutal, heinous acts of violence which are made acceptable in the audience’s mind by the fact that the “other people” did bad things to the protagonists’ family.
(This is the mentality which enables war. Wars are fought because “the enemy” has done hideous things.)
To be sure there are always people who will, if given the chance, kill us or take our possessions and make us their slaves, but killing should never be done casually. It should be done with a huge, serious sadness that things have come to this…. I didn’t find any genuine sadness – except, perhaps, a bit in the old Vito (Don Corleone), in Part 1….
The Godfather movies glorify violence: they show – in beautiful technicolor — people acting violently without a heavy heart, without real sadness. And, actually, sadly, I suspect that, for many viewers, one of the movies’ main attractions is the bloody technicolor violence itself….
In my review of Schindler’s List (see above) I say: “I’m not sure that it’s the job of movies to tell us what is “right”; it’s their job to show us what individual people experience and feel.“ In my estimation, the Godfather movies do not show genuine feeling. They show indifference / exaggerated rage / fake sorrow. Not genuine feeling.
The Shawshank Redemption . [#1 on IMDB with a rating of 9.3.] A very good plot. A good movie; not a great movie. The narration {by “Red” (Morgan Freeman)} is a definite plus. The feel-good ending seems too neat; the characters’ feelings, superficial. It’s a fantasy. Fantasies entertain, but don’t reach the depths of truthful movies….
Star Wars, 1st and 2nd (Episodes IV and V). Visually interesting. Technically brilliant. Not much genuine feeling. See The Godfather, above, in regard to war….
Citizen Kane . I’ve watched this Orson Welles movie at least four times, trying to understand what critics, whom I otherwise respect, see in it. I’ve failed…..
Visually interesting, technically innovative.
Chock-full of Charles Foster Kane.
Much clever (but stilted) dialog.
Some genuine feeling, but it’s bitterness, pettiness, anger. I need at least a little real love (or passion) (or tenderness)…. None here.