Faith in Film — The Godfather

"The Godfather" is a unique, complex, and challenging film. It was Best Picture in 1972, and deservedly so. It is a wonderfully made film with great performance, excellent technique, and a story of some depth. It's also a story about broken people that can serve as an example and warning to people of faith.

I believe the central lesson that can be extracted from the film is a warning about the nature of temptation. I believe the film shows how the central character — Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) — was caught in between two worlds. He saw the path he wanted to go down, which is somewhat represented by his relationship with Kay (Diane Keaton). Then there was the path he felt pulled towards which was his family business. He felt that pull, in part, because of his great love for and loyalty to his father (Marlon Brando).

It's an interesting dynamic that Michael's father cared for him so much and loved him so much that he didn't want Michael to be a part of the family business. But Michael's love and devotion to his father and the ideals of family that his father modeled for him led Michael to abandon his plans and join the family business due to a belief that was the only way to protect and honor his father. That great dynamic tension helps inform the drama in "The Godfather."

It is interesting to watch the change in Michael as well. At the outset of the film you can tell he has deep respect for his father and knows of the family business, but he considers himself apart from that world. He is an honest, loving man in a lot of ways. But the more he gives into the temptation that leads him down a dark path, the harder he becomes as a person.

There is plenty of religious imagery in "The Godfather," and it is intentional. It is my feeling that the author, Mario Puzo, put the religion in there the way he did because he saw hypocrisy in Christians and has a distain for that aspect of religion. The Catholic iconography is both easy to replicate and fitting given the culture of the world in "The Godfather."

I think the film also presents a cautionary tale for those that would give in to temptation as a means of achieving all they seek. Michael's story is not a happy one. He gives into temptation and becomes hard and commits deplorable acts, including at times destroying the family he sought to protect. In the end, Michael ends up bitter and alone, having destroyed the family that he sought to build up by following the path into the family business. This is an example of a great lie of the evil one, who would have you believe that we can achieve all we seek by giving into temptation. Rather, we need to "clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ" as Paul notes in Romans 13:14.

In the book of Micah we are offered a great plan for how we are to conduct ourselves as Christians. Micah 6:8 says, "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Michael Corleone had a choice between two paths and he took the easy way out, giving into temptation that led him down a path to destruction. My prayer is that we are able to make a better choice.