The Restaurant Scene- The Godfather

Probably the most effective part of the scene is illustrated in how there are no subtitles when the two men are speaking Italian. Coppola intentionally keeps the mystery, because he feels that the audience should pay more attention to the body language and hand gestures the two men make. It leaves the audience's imaginations to do the work, and they have to infer what is being said in this important meeting. After watching the scene the second time, I picked up on a few words that helped me get the basic idea of the conversation; however, I could not understand the whole thing. At this point my imagination was left to the translation. We also realize that Michael is not very comfortable speaking Italian. This shows the audience how, up until now, he has not been involved in the family "business". This scene in the restaurant is his first real hit, and it is also his sort of "induction" into the family. In this scene, Michael goes from being the little brother in the family to a respected, valuable member.

The Restaurant Scene

In my opinion, the most suspenseful moments were the ones where you were so sure in your mind you knew what was coming next because it is so self explanatory, but then you ended up being wrong. So instead of watching everything play out as planned, you were constantly debating in your mind how they were gonna go about it. For example, when Mikey went to the bathroom to find the gun, he starts to panic because he can't find it. In my head, Im thinking "Oh no, it's not there" and I quickly play through what I think the stories gonna turn out like in my head. However, moments later he finds it, and that makes me nervous because now I'm not sure what's coming next.

The Godfather

I found the restaurant scene to be very suspenseful. It made me so nervous because I was unsure if Mikey was going to go through with the plan and if everything was going to work out like it was planned. When they started to talk in Italian, it made me suspicious as to what they were saying, and that scene also helped build the suspense. It was interesting how unsure Mikey seemed about talking in Italian, but then again he was just about to commit a murder, so he was probably pretty nervous anyways. The part when Mikey went to the bathroom to get the gun was so nerve wrecking. At first I thought he wasn't able to find the gun, which made me even more nervous. The whole set up of the scene in a little town, in a deserted restaurant, also made the scene more suspenseful. However, Mikey did play the murder very cool and hasn't gotten caught...yet.

The Godfather

So, what do you think about the movie so far?  Any questions?  What do you like about it?  What is confusing?  How do you see it fitting in with any of our summer reading? 

Oscar Wilde and Dorian Gray

So, what do you think about the biography of Oscar Wilde?  Does it give you some insight into our novel?

Out of all three required summer reading books I read this summer, I enjoyed Grendel the most because of the thoughts he had and the progression of his “evil side”.  Grendel was also my favorite character, because out of all the characters I read about, Grendel was the only one I sympathized with. The Picture of Dorian Gray had the most “action”; therefore, it was my favorite plot.  The Screwtape Letters and Grendel had a less traditional plot and instead focused more on the development of a character or the development of evil.  In my opinion, Grendel had the best setting and atmosphere because of the eerie and whimsical nature of the book.  The portrait of Dorian Gray that changed the more evil Dorian became was the most developed and obvious symbol that illustrated the horrible effects of sin.  I found all of the books fascinating because in all of my readings at Woodward, none of them have really had the purpose of displaying evil.  I am not saying all of them have had happy endings, but I believe the ideas of a tragedy are different than the ideas of a book that is “evil”.  However, I did not care for The Screwtape Letters, because I never got into C.S. Lewis’ style and language.  Other than some of the profound language in The Screwtape Letters, the thing that confused me the most was the relevance of the dragon in Grendel.  The dragon was the only character that I did not understand fully.  When it comes to being “emotionally involved” with a book, I related to Grendel’s character the most.  His confusion about his identity, the uncertainty of why he does certain things and his struggle to understand his place in the world is relatable to my own life in ways.  I can sympathize with the struggle to find who you are as a person and where you belong in the cycle of things. 

The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight was amazing. Christopher Nolan is a genius. I am not sure how to discuss it without giving anything away :) therefore coach crook you need to go see it now so then we can discuss it!