COMPARISON ESSAY – The Godfather Part 1 & Scarface.

Introduction

Both the movies The Godfather and Scarface are some of the very few movies that have changed the movie-making industry in terms of the crime and gangster genre. Not only have they influenced some of today’s movies and even some of today’s cartoons such as Fat Tony in The Simpsons –the famous American animated sitcom, they have also fashioned several quotes or one-liners such as “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse” and the famous “Say hello to my little friend!” in both The Godfather and Scarface respectfully.

The Godfather, a 1972 American gangster film by Francis Ford Coppola, based on Mario Puzo’s novel of the same name. The movie revolves around the Italian American Corleone family, led by Don Vito Corleone who has three sons who are also involved in the “family business” excluding his youngest son – Michael Corleone who chooses not to. The entire movie is about the business in which they are kind and benevolent towards those who respect them (The Corleone family) and are ruthless and merciless to those who are against them. The movie is also about Michael Corleone succeeding his father and him being the next godfather.

The movie Scarface on the other hand is a 1983 American crime drama movie by Brian De Palma. The movie is mainly about Cuban émigrés, Tony Montana and his friend Manny Ray and their rise in the drug trade in Miami. The second half of the movie however shows Tony Montana’s fall from the top and how he not only kills himself in the movie, but kills all those around him as well – both due to the paranoia caused by the drugs he once used for his initial success in the movie. The movie also portrays the business amongst other drug lords.

Similarities

In terms of similarities, there are two points that have peaked my interest in both films. The first point would be, family. Throughout the entire course of both movies, no matter how much bloodshed or violence was carried out, the subject of family would always be given the utmost importance. In the movie The Godfather, family is of paramount importance as it is a “family business” after all. The family would always look out for one another and this can be seen in one of the scenes when Michael is seen protecting his father after his father is bed-ridden due to a failed assassination attempt. He protects his father by moving him into another room and then bluffing a few of Sollozzo’s goons as they visit the hospital to finish the job. This scene is the major turning point in the movie as it eventually influences Michael to join the family business by inspiring his first killing – Virgil Sollozzo and Mark McCluskey at Louis, an Italian American restaurant. The importance of family can also be seen in The Godfather in the beginning when he quotes:

“A man that doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man”

The movie Scarface also places importance in family matters. This can be seen when Tony visits his mother and his sister, Gina after a long time. This takes place after Tony has earned more money than he used to and he can afford to give his sister a necklace and his mother, a thousand dollars. However, everything turns sour when he tells his both his sister and his mother that they no longer have to work anymore as he has established himself as the breadwinner of the family. Tony’s mother then orders him to leave the house, as he is a disgrace to her due to the fact that he had to kill men in order to earn that type of money. Despite his mother driving him out of the house, he still gives his sister the money and tells her to give some of the money to their mother from time to time. This shows how much Tony cares for his mother knowing his mother thinks of him as scum. In terms of similarities, both of these movies do place a lot of importance in family despite their crimes and criminalities.

Another similarity that can be seen in both movies is the theme of respect. Respect comes second in order of importance, right under family. Throughout the course of both movies, the theme of respect is also viewed as status, which in turn portrays the amount of success one has had. The amount of respect one would have in The Godfather would determine one’s importance in the family and the amount of one’s wealth and riches however would determine how much respect one would have in Scarface. In the movie The Godfather, the very first scene of the movie portrays a man, Amerigo Bonasera, who seeks the Godfather for help. He tells the Godfather that his daughter has been beaten up by two young men and wants The Godfather to do “justice” onto them though the Godfather refuses and points out that his daughter is still alive. The Godfather then chastises Bonasera for not wanting his friendship, coming to him on his daughter’s wedding and asking him to kill for money. He then tells him he would carry out “justice” onto the two young men if he were to be friends with him and to address him as “Godfather” – a sign of respect. In the movie Scarface, respect can be seen throughout the entire movie. Over the course of the entire movie, Tony never backs down from arguments (excluding the one he had with his mother as family comes first in importance) and would always fight back. A very good example would be in the first quarter of the movie when he was insulted and called a dishwasher by Omar Suarez. He retaliated and tried to fight back with even though Omar pulled out a gun.

Differences

There are several differences that can be noted between The Godfather and Scarface. The first point would be the character Al Pacino plays. There is a vast difference between the character the character Al Pacino plays in The Godfather and the character he plays in Scarface. In the movie The Godfather, Al Pacino plays Michael Corleone, the son of Don Vito Corleone (also known as the Godfather). The character Michael is seen as a cool, calm and collected man who inherits the family business in the end. There is a scene in the movie when Michael kills Sollozzo and McCluskey by shooting both of them in the head after failing to negotiate with them. After killing them in a restaurant full (or semi-full) of people, he walks out quickly and drops the gun on the spot. He showed no emotion whatsoever throughout the entire meeting and showed no emotion after killing the two men. There are several scenes throughout the movie in which he is instigated yet he never truly yells at the top of his voice (not until Godfather Part 2 that is). Also, Michael is either seen to be wearing a suit or a tuxedo – enhancing his coolness no matter what the situation. However, in the movie Scarface, Al Pacino plays the total opposite as to what Michael Corleone is in The Godfather. Throughout the entire movie Scarface, Tony Montana is portrayed as a character that never backs down from a fight and is the one that is always instigating fights. Over the course of the entire film, Tony is seen to be shouting, screaming and cursing excessively at almost everyone. A very notable and famous scene is when he begins the killing spree by shouting the line:

“Say hello to my little friend!!!”

As he pulls out an M16 with a grenade launcher and shoots it at the door of his office that is surrounded by Sosa’s men. As the rampage continues, he is shot a considerable amount of times and is still standing due to the cocaine fueling his rage. In contrast to Michael in The Godfather, Tony is seen to be wearing casual clothes most of the time and only suits when he became successful. If one would notice, Michael also combs his hair all the way back neatly and Tony would just leave his hair in a mess – something that enhances the coolness and rebel character in both Michael and Tony respectfully.

Another difference would be the soundtrack between both movies. In the movie The Godfather, the main song would be Speak Softly Love, a slow song that is of Italian origin. This song has a traditional touch to it with the beginning of the song starting slowly, having a loud and powerful middle and a slow ending. The song beautifully follows the movie itself as the beginning is calm and relaxed – just like how the entire Corleone family is before the assassination attempt on Don Vito – the godfather. The middle part of the song though portrays the struggle between the different families and how the godfather loses his son – Santino Corleone. The ending part of the song however is comparable to Michael Corleone taking over the family business as it portrays hope for the family. Conversely, in the movie Scarface, the songs are more easily related to disco and pop in the 1970’s. Its fast-paced and hear-pumping music are in tune with the time the film Scarface was shot. Throughout the entire movie, there are scenes in which Tony and his business partners are seen in discos, the music in the soundtrack follows that theme and because of that – it is fast-paced (just like the movie). The lyrics of the song “Push It To The Limit” portray how one lives life full of risks – just like how Tony does by earning money illegally and how one can achieve anything by literally pushing it to the limit. All in all, I think the soundtrack for both movies were beautifully crafted to suit both movies as both movies would not have achieved as much as they did today if it weren’t for the background music to enhance the screenplay by the actors in both films.

Conclusion

Both The Godfather and Scarface are outstanding movies that topped charts all over the world due to its explicit violence. However, it takes one to notice the little details that make up both movies. Both directors ensured that both these movies have not just incorporated drugs, sex and violence into its script, yet a storyline that made the drugs, sex and violence make sense. The fact that family values and respect was incorporated into both movies sort of influenced the audience and made them believe and feel what the protagonists (Michael Corleone & Tony Montana) felt. Overall, I believe that if it were not for these two influential movies, many writers and directors of our present time would suffer from the lack of inspiration and some of the great movies today would not even have been possible at all.