Italian American Literature and Film
 
Prof. Fabio Girelli-Carasi

LECTURE 9
SUMMER 2018
 

 THE GODFATHER 

Novel: Mario Puzo

Film: Francis Ford Coppola

I hope you started reading The Godfather.   It is not complex but it is long. On the other hand, it does down very easily and you can go through it very quickly.

 

THE IDEOLOGY OF The Godfather

 

THE GODFATHER   quotations

 

"Every man has but one destiny" [sorry I can't find the page]

p. 284-5: "He paused. None of the others spoke."

p. 290: "We are all men who have refused to be fools..."

p. 362-3: "The trouble is all that damn trash in the movies......"

 

Speech to BOSSES: 284/285  BOOK V-CHAPTER 20

" I want to thank you all for coming" he said." I consider it a service done to me personally and I am in debt of each and every one of you."

=============================

 Rationalizing criminal behavior: if I don't do it, someone else will: 287/288:  BOOK V-CHAPTER 20

"The Don of Los Angeles, Frank Falcone, spoke to answer: "There is no way of stopping our people from going into that business. They go in on their own and they get in trouble. There is too much money to resist."

=====================

290 WE REFUSED TO BE FOOLS, PUPPETS  BOOK V- CHAPTER 20

"Let me say that we must always look to our interests. We are all men who have refused to be fools, who have refused to be puppets dancing on a string pulled by men on high."
========================

IDEOLOGY: pag 362, Michael to Kay.  (Hubris)    BOOK VII-CHAPTER 25

"The trouble is all that damn trash in the movies and the newspapers" Michael said.

========================
TOTALLY DELUSIONAL, because the truth is that... HAGEN TO KAY  441 -442  BOOK IX-CHAPTER 32

"Kay had made the mistake of trying to be cruelly flippant, a role that which she was not suited. 'Did Michael send you up here to threaten me?' she asked."

 

 

The failed integration of Italian Americans

 


GOD and FATHER

Justice and Protection

 

 

THE GODFATHER AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

 

 

THE GODFATHER AS EVIL

 ;

 

 

ASSIGNMENT July 11

FILENAME:  your-last-name.july11

Email subject: assignment July 11
TASK 1      

READING   THE GODFATHER by Mario Puzo

SKIP THE CHAPTER  with Dr. Jules Segal's episodes in LAS VEGAS. Puzo's obsession with size is disturbing.

 

 

SCREENING  THE GODFATHER PART 1  Dir. Francis Ford Coppola.

The film is  available online from several streaming services. Make sure you get the PART 1 edition (original) not the re-cut "director's cut" or chapter 1 of the "trilogy." (The film was re-released several times with different editing.)
TASK 2     QUIZ  The Godfather (book)

Download the file HERE.

Rename the file:  your-last-name.quiz.july11.A
Separate attachment. Send with the assignment
TASK 3     

QUIZ  The Godfather (film)

Download the file HERE.

Rename the file:  your-last-name.quiz.july11.B
Separate attachment. Send with the assignment.


TASK 4     

Summarize the argument of the Video Lecture on "failed integration."

ANSWER:

What kind of information would you need to express an informed opinion -- either agree or disagree - about the argument I presented? Please, understand that I am not asking you to agree or disagree, I am asking if you are in a position to hold an opinion, and what kind of information you would need to be able to formulate one
TASK 4        UPCOMING (still in the uploading phase) 

Don Corleone as Evil  (video lecture)

Based on film only, is this a tenable thesis? Do not repeat my argument: here you can express your opinion whether this interpretation does have merit, and whether you agree with it.

 
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