Help! I'm a Film Journalist, But I've Never Watched This Film...

Help! I’m a Film Journalist, But I’ve Never Watched This Film:

Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy.

*Breathes a sigh of relief*

It feels somewhat controversial to have never watched this when you write about film. The question I am most often met with is WHY? Followed quite quickly by HOW? Well, I’ll tell you just that.

The first thing to note is that I’m a ’99 baby. The very first movie I remember watching in the cinema is The Polar Express. I watched this Christmas movie in 3D with my older sister and vividly remember reaching out to touch what I thought was falling snow, but was actually a bald man’s head. Perhaps that’s why I can’t remember going to the cinema again until Hairspray was released in July 2007. I went with friends, and we devoured a pack of Minstrels in between desperately trying to learn the lyrics to ‘I Can Hear the Bells’ and ‘Welcome to the 60s’, while awestruck by John Travolta’s epic shimmy in “You Can’t Stop the Beat”.

God, cinema was good back then. I suppose my point here is that I grew up watching youthful movies at the cinema. Think about it. Is a 7-year-old really going to choose to watch an ancient film like The Godfather, when the likes of Over the Hedge is sizzling in the cinema? I think not.

Throughout my teenage years, I watched new releases in the cinema, including LOL, Kick-Ass, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Bridesmaids, and Easy A. Though these movies aren’t in the same category as The Godfather, they were fun films and serve as a reminder of a carefree time in my life. I think at this time, the only trilogy I had watched was The Hangover, a true cinematic classic. By 2013’s standards.

For The Godfather’s 50th anniversary in 2022, The Hollywood Reporter wrote an article on the ways that Coppola’s ‘masterpiece’ Mafia movies have infiltrated popular culture since their release. It’s been referenced various times in The Simpsons, including a scene where Bart gets pelted with snowballs, mimicking Sonny Corleone’s violent demise. Mel Brooks‘ 1993 Robin Hood: Men in Tights has a character, Don Giovanni, a carbon copy of Marlon Brando‘s character, Vito Corleone. The television series Seinfeld even dedicated an entire episode to references to the film. (Season 5, episode 5, ‘The Bris’, for anyone interested).

Despite the film’s position in cinematic popular culture, Coppola’s classic trilogy was never at the forefront of my minds. My parents introduced me to plenty of 70s classics, including Jaws, The Sting, Annie Hall, All the President’s Men, Alien, and Grease. Watching these films confirmed my love for film, outside of the Disney/Pixar realm. I just didn’t know quite how many more films there were for me to love.

Now in my late 20s, I have had the joy of broadening my independent cinematic horizons away from family and housemates. I have slowly made my way through films that long lingered on my ‘classic’ watchlist: Butch Cassidy, 12 Angry Men, Casablanca. In 2023, The Godfather finally made it to my list, but almost 3 years later, I still haven’t crossed it off that list.

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So, why is this? Well, the second thing to note is that our access to film looks pretty different today from how it looked in the ’70s. When The Godfather was released in 1972, you bought a ticket to the cinema to watch it. That was the only way you could watch films. There might have been an occasional television rerun, but not for a recent release. DVDs weren’t around until 1995, and streaming has only become mainstream in recent years.

In 2022, the film returned to cinemas globally to celebrate its 50th anniversary. By 2022, streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+ and Amazon Prime coexisted with cinemas. So, if you didn’t want to watch Coppola’s classic on the big screen, you could probably find it on one of those platforms instead, and watch it in the comfort of your bedroom.

Whether we like it or not, we live in a world that is dominated by streaming. This is no bad thing – it certainly makes accessing film and television a lot easier than twenty years ago. I was in my late teens when streaming really took off. Naturally, I binged The Vampire Diaries and Pretty Little Liars, and would watch every rom-com on offer. (Honourable shout-out to Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston for carrying rom-coms in the 2010s).

However, I now find myself less inclined to stream films because I get distracted by external stimuli. It might be my phone, my dog, the rain, or a motorcyclist revving its engine right outside my house. I can concentrate for a full episode of Shrinking, but anything longer than that, my brain loses focus.

You need to consider the length of these films, too. The Godfather trilogy is long. Like, 9 hours long. I feel I owe it to myself and to Coppola to watch it in full with no distractions. And where is the best place to watch a film with no distractions? The cinema! It forces you to lock into the film’s world, with only the noise of people fumbling around their popcorn bowls or slurping their drinks to bring you back to reality.

I suppose this is an ode to cinema and a plea that we find a balance between cinemas and streaming going forward. It’s also an ode to The Godfather, despite knowing very little about the movies. It’s not Coppola’s fault – the intrigue is absolutely there. I’ve been hooked on interest alone over the last few years. I’ve even watched the trailers on YouTube. I just haven’t been able to pledge my focus yet.

If cinemas in London decide to screen The Godfather trilogy so I can finally watch it as intended, call me. Either that, or I’ll try to catch a 100th anniversary special when I’m in my 70s. Who knows where we’ll be watching movies then. Maybe on the moon.