By 1945, he is the Godfather. His daughter is married in a garden while his men sing and his enemies watch. He refuses to enter the narcotics trade, because drugs, he knows, will unravel the very world he built.
The most famous montage in cinema is also its most damning: a child’s soul offered for power. the godfather trilogy: 1901-1980
Coppola understood that power is a liturgy. Baptisms, weddings, communions, funerals—the rituals are all there, but the grace is absent. Michael prays in Latin, but he speaks in lies. He kneels before a cardinal, but he rises as a king. By 1945, he is the Godfather