American Cinematographer - July 2022 - 56

A MOVIE UNDER SIEGE
Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather.
Turmoil - and Toplight - on The Godfather
The late Gordon Willis, ASC is so revered for the cinematography he
brought to The Godfather that his work prompted a fellow director of
photography, Tom McDonough, to refer to the film in his memoir as
" the Sistine Chapel of cinematography. "
Although Willis himself clearly recognized that the picture would
forever be regarded as an immortal screen classic, he was reflexively
unpretentious and always accepted such lavish praise with humility.
He was fond of pointing out that Paramount Pictures' initial plans for
the movie - as depicted in The Offer - were relatively modest in
scope, and that the studio " was just looking to make an inexpensive
mob movie. "
However, once Willis signed on to shoot The Godfather - which
was restored and rereleased earlier this year for the film's 50th anniversary,
along with the other two features in the trilogy - he discovered
that the project's 32-year-old director, Francis Ford Coppola, had
more ambitious ideas for the material. Coppola envisioned the saga
of the Corleone clan as an epic take on Shakespeare's King Lear - a
familial drama of operatic proportions that would explore an array of
meaty themes, including loyalty, betrayal, and the corrosive effect of
absolute power.
The director would ultimately achieve many of his grand plans,
but the sweeping scope of his vision complicated the production's
requirements and led him into run-ins with the Paramount brass and
members of his own crew, including Willis. Coppola was nearly fired
on several occasions, but somehow survived the process to produce
a truly great film filled with memorable dialogue and spectacular set
pieces.
While many real-life figures associated with The Godfather have
complained that The Offer takes creative liberties with the story of the
movie's production, Willis always confirmed that shooting the gangster
opus was no picnic. " The movie was full of turmoil, and there were a
56 / JULY 2022
lot of fights and confrontations, " he said. " Francis was under a lot
of pressure from Paramount, because he wasn't really in a position
yet to dictate his own terms. The movie was very difficult in that
respect, because it was hard for him to function, which made it
hard for everyone else to function. The situation was very tenuous
at the management level, and it didn't work very well for anybody.
But to Francis's credit, he never gave up - he hung in there. "
Willis attributed a now-legendary screen test of star Marlon
Brando - whose casting the studio opposed - with providing the
inspiration for the iconic brooding toplight style that the cinematographer
fashioned for The Godfather. Just 47 years old at the
time, Brando transformed himself into an aging mobster by blackening
his hair with shoe polish, applying a fake moustache, cramming
Kleenex tissues into his cheeks, and speaking with a mumble.
His performance was so spectacularly convincing that Paramount
was compelled to relent.
" I remember shooting the tests of Brando, " Willis said. " We put
him at a table, and I used overhead lighting to make his makeup
work. That's how that whole lighting strategy evolved: Sometimes
you make decisions in order to make a particular character or
setting work. In retrospect, you can romanticize your reasons for
doing something, but the bottom line is that I made a decision to
light Marlon in a manner that would define his character. Of course,
I also had to make the whole movie work that way. The choice was,
'Okay, I think this lighting will work really well for him, and it will
work for the movie.' Overhead lighting was not a new idea, but it
was a new idea to extend it for an entire movie, on everyone and
everything. The basis for that approach, though, was to fashion
Marlon into Don Corleone. "
- Stephen Pizzello
FRAME CAPTURE FROM THE GODFATHER COURTESY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES.
American Cinematographer - July 2022

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