The Godfather film is ultimately an examination of the roles that family, power, and tradition play in our lives. The Corleone family at the heart of this 1972 crime drama is led by Vito, "the Don Corleone," the all-seeing, all-knowing "Godfather" who protects the family and executes all major business decisions on their behalf. After turning down an offer to invest in a narcotics business with he Tarttaglia family, Vito is subject to a murder attempt and his son Sonny takes over as Don. Vito survives, but is once again subject to attack, and it is only with the intervention of his son Michael that he escapes with his life. Michael seeks revenge on his father's behalf by murdering the drug baron (and his NYPD bodyguard) who is responsible for these assaults against Vito. This actions sets off a chain of events and wars between the major mafia families. Vito's sons scatter across the world in order to take temporary safe haven. In an act that speaks best to the family's deep roots, Michael travels to Sicily and lives out a brief but very romantic relationship with a Sicilian woman--that is until she, too, becomes a casualty of the mafia war.
Eventually Michael returns home and becomes the new Don Corleone. Although Vito has promised the Five Families that he will not avenge the death of Sonny (killed earlier in the film at a tollbooth), Vito dies of a heart attack, and Michael goes against those wishes, putting out a successful hit on each of the other Dons.
Perhaps then the conclusive meaning of The Godfather is simply this: blood runs thicker than water. The power of family will always triumph over the influence of outsiders in the long run, even if short term failures may appear to be permanently devastating. Family is everything in life; they serve as our loved ones, our friends, our confidants, our community, our business partners, and our greatest allies. Although the outside world cannot be trusted, you can always bet on your family.
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