16 + GUIDE - British Film Institute

contains two lengthy contemporary reviews of GODFATHER I and II from Partisan Review and
Commentary.
COWIE, Peter
The Godfather book.
Faber and Faber, 1997. viii-xiii, 257p. illus. index.
Although lacking a detailed textual analysis, this volume is a fascinating trawl through the
production process of the three GODFATHER films, and does feature chapters on the themes
of family, the misuse of power and the films’ main characters. Particularly interesting is the
account of Coppola’s shaping of Puzo’s novel into “a drama of five acts and fifty scenes” as
well as the production’s brushes with the real Mafia.
COWIE, Peter
Coppola (revised edition).
Faber and Faber, 1998. 308p. [16] plates. filmog. index.
Widely considered the definitive biography of Coppola, this revised edition features detailed
chapters on all three GODFATHER films. While celebrating I and II Cowie, like many other
critics, believes the trilogy ends “not with a bang but with a whimper” (p.251).
GARDNER, Gerald and GARDNER, Harriet Modell
The Godfather movies: a pictorial history.
Wings Books, 1993. 191p. illus.
“Leave the gun. Take the canolis.” “Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes”. If you need refreshing
on your favourite GODFATHER quotes, want to know how many hugs, kisses and squeezes
occur in THE GODFATHER (16, apparently) or require a Corleone crime family tree to work out
who’s who, then this lightweight but surprisingly informative book is for you. Nice pictures,
too.
MALYSZKO, William
The Godfather.
York Press, 2001. 87p. bibliog. filmog.
Part of the “Ultimate Film Guides” series specifically designed for GCSE and A-Level
students, this is an excellent primer with clear and concise chapters on the film’s background,
narrative and form, style and contexts. Malyszko briefly introduces some of the most
important topics of film studies (such as the auteur theory, genre and the “invisible style” of
Classical Hollywood Cinema) and some of the key theoreticians (for example, Aristotle’s
ideas about the narrative structure of tragedy, the binary oppositions of Levi-Strauss and
Vogler’s work on myth), mapping THE GODFATHER onto these various analytical models.
ZUKER, Joel S.
Francis Ford Coppola: a guide to references and resources.
G.K. Hall, 1984. 241p. bibliog. filmog. indexes.
Although too early to feature material about the final part of the trilogy, this is a very useful
guide to the plethora of (mostly) journalistic and academic writing on GODFATHER I and II,
including brief description of contents. Also features synopses and detailed credits.
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