Metrograph

In one of the all-time miracles of filmmaking alchemy, Coppola took Mario Puzo’s pulpy page-turner about a Mafia dynasty and—with a little help from an ensemble cast including Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, John Cazale, and James Caan, DP Gordon Willis’s beautifully burnished cinematography, Nino Rota’s darkly seductive score, and Walter Murch’s contributions as “Post-Production Consultant” (in fact doing rather more than that implies, contributing in no small way to the film’s Academy Award nomination for Best Sound)—spun it into the cinematic gold standard for screen depictions of the world of organized crime. An American epic of assimilation and corruption and also a sublimely sensuous viewing experience, leaving the viewer with a craving for red sauce after the credits roll.

Distributor: Paramount