Once you’ve signed up for the Art&Film emails with Ronald (whether online or when you go to your first Cine/Club this Friday), you will receive emails the week of the film. For example, this Friday the 26th, Cine/Club will be showing The Godfather I & II. Basic information will be at the top, along with information on the film(s) and director at the bottom.

Links to trailers: The Godfather I, The Godfather II.

FRIDAY AUGUST 26: Cine/Club: Randall MuseumPLEASE NOTE: Due to the length of the film we are starting early. Refreshments at 5:00, film starts promptly at 5:30. You can show up late, but you may miss the first of the film.CARTOON Coppola’s THE GODFATHER, Parts I & II (1972-74, USA) We begin with five hours of film that set a new standard for American filmmaking in the 1970’s. A long evening, but one that will keep you glued to the screen. What begins as the chronicle of an Italian Mafia family struggling to hold onto power becomes a social epic about the very American values of success, honor and family loyalty and how they can distort and destroy lives. These films are a cultural touchtone, referenced in academic roundtables and TV satires. Come see what all the fuss is about. WHY WE CHOSE THIS FILM: The Godfather films spawned generations of copycats, but this series, rather than glamorize the thrills of mafia life, dig down deep inside the myths and show the great toll that organized crime can have on a family. The story is strong, but what brings these films to life are some of the strongest, most memorable performances many of the great actors of the era: Pacino, De Niro, Brando, Caan, Duval, Diane Keaton, et al. They also etch periods of American history—the 40’s and 50’s—with great attention to social detail: from clothes and cars to dialogue and social structures. These mobsters take part in the same dysfunctional family outings that everyone else did; the wedding parties, baby’s baptisms, family arguments, funerals, and the materialist gains as they rise to power reflect the preoccupations of the capitalist middle class during that period. Part Two pairs the story of corruption and the tragic toll that hypocrisy and violence bring to the family with flashbacks to the original Godfather’s rise from grocery boy to Mafioso. ABOUT THE DIRECTOR Francis Ford Coppola is one the most important American directors of the 70’s—and these two films (along with Apocalypse Now) are considered his masterpieces. He is among the first generation of directors spawned by American film schools at NYU, UCLA and USC (Lucas and Scorcese are others). In the 60’s he began as one of schlock producer Roger Corman’s wonder boys, rising through the ranks to the point where he had enough clout to make these films. His zenith as a filmmaker climaxed with the epic undertaking of the Vietnam War film, Apocalypse Now. Though he continues to produce and direct films to this day, his critical reputation rests with his films of the 1970’s.