Film Review: The Godfather (Restored)
December 27th, 2008 Filed under: Reviews - Film by admin 
Film Review – The Godfather [Restored]
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Paramount
“Possibly the greatest movie ever made.” – Stanley Kubrick
In its glorious 36 year history, The Godfather has been taken apart piece by piece, discussed and analyzed, criticized and praised. Still, Stanley Kubrick summed it up most precisely and in one sentence. He also said that it had a perfect cast. Academy Award, Grammy and Golden Globe nominee and winner, highest grossing film ($245,066,411 worldwide) – all these are outstanding achievements. They are even more notable if you take a look at the amazing history of its making, how different the cast may have been and the immense pressure on Francis Ford Coppola throughout the production.
Being a box-office hit, the original negatives took a lot of abuse in course of three decades and were never a part of preservation program, which only began in the 80′s. According to Francis Ford Coppola on the 25th anniversary screening, “…the picture doesn’t look like I remember it looking. This very, very beautiful photography of (cinematographer) Gordon Willis over the years had faded”. So in 2005, Robert A. Harris began working on the complete restoration, in charge of a meticulous process, gathering bits and pieces from several sources. The original negatives were not enough to be used as a single source, but they also contained shots not to be found anywhere else. It is quite difficult to believe that one of the greatest movies ever made has been treated so carelessly in the past, whether it was about preservation or laboratory work.
The restored version looks fantastic, the colors are rich and the picture is sharp. The emotions of the actors are much more clear. Apart from the shots of New York City and other minor glitches, the picture looks completely up-to-date. A very difficult work has been done indeed – the second part of the restaurant scene was in such a bad shape, that it took months to give it a new look. This is also the only place where significant visual artifacts are visible.
An absolutely stunning restoration work, that not only saved the movie for future generations and provided a better appeal to a modern audience, but also gave everyone a chance to appreciate the masterpiece once again on a wide screen. The modern look symbolizes the fact that this film will never get out of date, though even now the concept proves to be hard to grasp for some people.
The Godfather- Restored runs until January 1/09 Vancity International Film Centre
More about the film’s restoration HERE
By Arceon
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