Dementia 13 (1963)

Irish mansion, morbid ceremony, family secrets, ax murderer, big reveal, roll credits.

While working with Roger Corman on The Young Racers, a very young Francis Ford Coppola somehow convinced him to finance his own film. He used existing sets and locations, enlisted film school friends, wrote a script, finagled additional funding, and filmed during down times. The title was inspired by Hitchcock’s Psycho, but there was already a 1955 film named Dementia, so he added the number 13. You know, because 13 is unlucky.

Coppola borrowed a few actors from The Young Racers but the only recognizable face is William Campbell. He had a long film and TV career, but to me he will always be General Trelane, retired. The film’s two pretty blonds each have a sexy sexy scene (by 1963 standards) calling back to Coppola’s earlier work on nudie cuties.

A close look at this film may reveal clues of a director that would be one of the all time greatest for an eight year stretch, but without the insight of hindsight I doubt even an educated viewer could pick that out. It is at times clumsy, some of the acting is quite poor, and the story is really a mess. It feels as if a few interesting elements were awkwardly tied together into a narrative. It’s worth noting that his previous directing experience was creating additional scenes to somehow save The Terror. Coppola learned a great many things during the process, but the importance of budget and time may have been the best lesson.

Dementia 13 is a watchable and mostly interesting film, if only because of the director. But it is by no means a good or important film. There are flaws the viewer must overlook, but at least it’s brief. AMRU 2.5.

“Especially an American girl. You can tell she's been raised on promises.”

 

The Godfather: Part II

Part II continues where The Godfather left off. The Corleone crime family has moved to Las Vegas and Michael (Al Pacino) has to deal with problems, professional and personal. He is the target of a hit and must find out who was behind it. While this is going on, we learn the origin story of father Vito (Robert De Niro) in flashbacks. He comes to America as a boy and tries to be a good man by standing up to thugs and bullies.

It had been a couple years since I saw the original and it wouldn’t do to watch the sequel without rewatching it. The original completely holds up to a second viewing and the story makes more sense to me. What seemed like a series of events proved to be carefully connected. I would guess rewatching the sequel would have the same effect.

Like the original, Part II looks wonderful. The tone, the colors, the cinematography, the score were absolutely on point. I found the comparison between Vito as a young man to what Michael has become very interesting. When compared to the first, it is a worthy successor and a must watch. However, it does not quite have the same gravitas, and at almost a half hour longer, it dragged a bit.

I feel Vito’s backstory could have been separated out as its own 90 minute film. That would keep the principle story to around two hours. The problem with that is how well the two stories compliment each other. I thought the film’s structure was dictated by the book but apparently most of the screenplay is original.

Don’t think I’m saying that Part II not a great film in its own right. It is. But the first was more impactful, and the scenes and lines people remember are from it. This is a continuation of the same story, isn’t quite as compelling, and longer. It’s tough to be compared to IMDb’s number 2 film. AMRU 4.

The Godfather (1972)

Well, you see, there’s this family. And they are in business. No, not the Mafia. We don’t use the M word here. Let’s just say they take care of their friends and take care of their enemies. It doesn’t make sense for me to summarize the story as I was the last person on earth past 30 to have seen The Godfather. Goomba mobsters whacking each other? Didn’t interest me.

The Godfather takes place over many years, from the end of World War II into the 1950’s. It covers many events and does not have a consistent central character. It illustrates how characters change over time, and sometimes fail to change. It launched (or solidified) the careers of a great many actors like James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, and of course Al Pacino. Even 50 year old and victim of 2016 Abe Vigoda. But mostly it turned director Francis Ford Coppola into a directorial force to be reckoned with. He would go on to direct Part II, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, then a whole pile of shit.

Simonetta Stefanelli plays Michael’s first wife and has a delightful nude scene, if you’re into that sort of thing. If IMDb is to be believed, she was 17 when the film was released. If her scenes were done four months prior, she wouldn’t have been that. Ah, the benefits of shooting in Italy. Hey, look, there's old friend Sterling Hayden! Once again proving he's not afraid to take acting chances. The baby being baptized at the end was director daughter Sofia Coppola, who would prove to be a far better director than actress.

Make no mistake: these are not good people. They are not heroes by any measure, even if some will see them as such. But neither are their victims. It's bad on bad and one cannot feel sorry for any of the deaths. There is no pristine protagonist to rally around and you shouldn't try to find one.

At just under three hours with no singular storyline, The Godfather does not lag, never fails to keep you enthralled. I was totally wrong to ignore it for so long. It is one of those films that everyone says is great, and that is because it is great. Solid cast, great acting, great script, great cinematography, and incredible storytelling. It has crept into popular culture in so many ways, and it forever changed the genre and film making as a whole. I will never doubt a film recommendation from my wife ever again. AMRU 5.

"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."