Watching the baptism montage in The Godfather (1972) is like watching a knight in shining armor looking into the mirror, only to see a monster returning his gaze. There couldn’t have been a better way to sum up Michael Corleone’s (Al Pacino) fall from grace than this sequence of contrasting images: the baptism and the carnage.The baptism: solemn, peaceful atmosphere. Sacred organ tunes. Michael, or Uncle Mikey, holding his baby nephew as his spiritual godfather, guiding him onto his righteous path, vowing to protect him.The carnage: Multiple mob bosses and heads of crime families being violently assassinated in broad daylight—on Michael’s directive. As these images intercut with each other, we see Michael’s real-time metamorphosis from a golden boy and war hero into the monster he once claimed he would never become.The genius of this montage lies in the fact that, aside from advancing the plot, it splits open the story’s protagonist, his soul, and shows us how he is going to exist in duality from now on: a loving, protective family man and a cold, calculating criminal.Michael’s JourneyMichael’s character arc is one of the most studied ones in cinema. His journey from an outsider who rejected his family’s criminal legacy to someone who became its beating heart is a great example of character transformation.The GentlemanMichael once reassured his anxious girlfriend, Kay (Diane Keaton), saying, “That’s my family, Kay. That’s not me.” By saying this, he distanced himself from everything that his family stood for. Kay believed him. We believed him....
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Monday, 27 October