There has been some pushback from people offended by our upcoming screening of The Godfather Part II on January 16, 2019. Two local papers have included comments from an Italian heritage group, but what is missing in both (printed versions) is any statement from the one person responsible for the screening. The following is my response to this issue.
With our screening of The Godfather Part II on January 16, we are celebrating the artistry of the film and its director– not the “gangster” lifestyle. I don’t believe in censorship, but the Italic Institute of America is protesting the screening. (Although they are almost forty-five years too late.) We do realize that they want to bring greater awareness and understanding of Italian-Americans, but this can’t be accomplished if censorship is part of their ideology. This is an organization that believes these films should be shown in a museum– not screened for the general public. That’s certainly an interesting viewpoint on a film that won the Oscar for Best Picture, but few people in the film community share it. If you yield to that sensibility, then the next thing you know you’ll have to ban the Marx Brothers because of Chico’s ethnic accent.
Opponents criticize filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola for how his films have altered people’s understanding of Italians. The reality is that Coppola took one small aspect of Italian life and made a movie about it. Does the Italic Institute deny the existence of any criminal organization? Otherwise, if it exists and has a basis in fact, why not make a dramatic film of it? Coppola told his story with such artistry and narrative force that the film made a lasting impression on our culture. True, the Godfather movies are highly romanticized (and in many respects inaccurate) representations of Sicilian Americans, but that’s not all they are. At their center, these films follow the career of a morally complex individual, Michael Corleone. They are a character study and not intended as a statement about an ethnic group. A good friend of mine, Mary, told me that “what interests me about the Godfather movies is how they echo themes of violence and revenge inherent in Italian Renaissance history (and any Italian Americans who suggest that that doesn’t exist as a historical reality need to go back to school). I love the movies because that theme fascinates me. There is a macabre elegance to the Godfather movies that still draws people in.”
Directors like Francis Coppola and Martin Scorsese should be celebrated for elevating the cinematic art form regardless of whether or not you approve of the subject matter. They should not be faulted for the success they had in genres they knew so well. Martin Scorsese is the greatest living filmmaker, but because of Goodfellas– an even more realistic crime film– one wonders if this group would protest that film, too? But in Park Ridge, we present the best of world cinema– not cultural retrospectives designed for diversity. I will say that this spring at the Park Ridge Public Library I’m screening films by other Italian directors like Vittorio De Sica and Federico Fellini– non-gangster films that deal with other aspects of Italian life– but will the Italic Institute promote those screenings to a wider audience? Unlikely, but they’ll organize a campaign against a popular film that the majority of Italians enjoy.
Organized protests on topics such as this should be directed at those who crassly use the Godfather legacy for exploitation. There were music cds called “Mob Hits” and now video games based on The Godfather, and of course countless TV spinoffs, most famously, The Sopranos. Direct your furor towards the publishers and companies who blatantly commercialize The Godfather legacy. To do otherwise, to attack the original source, is an insult to the Italian-Americans who worked on and took pride in the making of the Godfather films.
Protests have the opposite effect on me, and I’m certainly not going to avoid a film that many consider superior to the original. I’d screen The Godfather Part III next season if I thought the film measured up to the previous two. In the event of an on-site protest, what can we expect? I know the Italic Institute has a lot of literature on the subject that gets passed out– I received it in the mail– and they have a detailed listing of every single Italian stereotype since the movies began. These brochures are intended to educate us and make us aware that the Italians on film do not necessarily reflect those in real life. Most people, most Italians, are already aware of this. People who have grown up in Italian neighborhoods, who have seen The Godfather, do not assume their neighbors are all in the mob. This is the 21st century and the majority of citizens have moved on.
The truth is that there are stereotypes of all races and nationalities in many of these classic films we present. Most audiences, however, are mature enough to understand this and not be provoked to civic outrage. But there is a distinct difference here. In the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s, the cinema was filled with blatant stereotypes of Italians, particularly in crime films. With The Godfather films, however, Coppola created characters that had an authenticity– a family that seemed real even if it was merely the invention of writer Mario Puzo and its director. Yes, Coppola depicted an underworld of crime that is not to be admired, but at least he made the Italians who lived in this world something more than just stereotypes.
Unfortunately, some modern films do play to Italian stereotypes. The article in the Park Ridge Herald-Advocate references films like Shark Tale that used mob cliches. In this instance, it was a kids’ movie and it provoked a protest. Coppola, by contrast, wasn’t playing to stereotypes. He was telling an adult story within a framework that had some basis in reality– the reality of organized crime. His characters were never intended to be caricatures. These were multi-dimensional figures living on the outside of society. The crime families were on the outside and operated with their own code and structure, but the Italians as a whole– as a nationality, as a community– were never being insulted in the Godfather films. Godfather Part II is certainly a movie about the immigrant experience, but the film is about one particular immigrant and his negative influence on society.
The local articles expressing concern have cited other important, real-life Italian-Americans who have made noteworthy contributions to American society, which is wonderful. More people should become aware of this history, but we don’t show documentaries at the Pickwick Theatre Classic Film Series. Find a film director who has half the talent of Coppola and who can make a dramatic film of an Italian-American, such as banker A. P. Giannini, and we’ll consider showing it. Perhaps the storytelling artistry of The Godfather Part II might actually inspire future filmmakers to tell their varied stories of the Italian experience in a unique and remarkable way.
The group that is protesting is fixated on story and how that story colors perception. As the one solely responsible for this film being shown, I’m only interested in how that story is told.
Matthew C. Hoffman
Classic Film Programmer
Pickwick Theatre
Addendum: There was no protest on January 16, 2019– and no complaints from anyone who attended. In fact, all the comments supported this screening.
