There is an intense debate among the movie buffs including both fans and critics regarding the categorization of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather as gangster flick or a family drama. Instead of taking sides, it’s better to say that the film reaches such a pinnacle point that it goes far beyond these trivial issues to reach a rare sublime peak of film art.

One the most unique features about the film is the fact that it carefully sweeps away all the glitz of the conventional gangster flicks and derives the strength from ingredients which are far more rooted into the notion of a gangster text. Hence, the film becomes an epic dealing with vicious clannish sense of allegiance, lethal neighborhood clashes and brutal retribution to equal every injury. The film builds on a notion of familiarity of an American domestic life instead of glamorization of fast paced action sequences and off shoot instances of violence.

The plot of the film follows the Corleone family saga involved in a kind of mafia war with the ‘five families’ of New York, Jersey and Brooklyn while constantly engaged in an endeavor of legitimizing the family business. What follows is a brilliant insight into the history of the New World and a raging argument about the notion of identity in a ‘foreign’ land. Despite the ingenious color photography, the sharp editing pattern and the haunting background score, the acting performances by a stellar cast with Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall and the rest emerges as the clear winner.