''Father of the Godfathers'' ( it, Corleone) is a 1978 Italian crime film directed by

Pasquale Squitieri Pasquale Squitieri (27 November 1938 – 18 February 2017) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Naples, Squitieri graduated in law, then was briefly involved in stage, as author ("''La battaglia''") and even a ...

. It stars

Claudia Cardinale Claude Joséphine Rose "Claudia" Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938) is an Italian actress. She has starred in some of the most iconic European films of the 1960s and 1970s, acting in Italian, French, and English. Born and raised in La Goulette, a ...

, Giuliano Gemma and Tony Kendall and is set in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

in the 1950s. Gemma was awarded 1979 Best Actor at the

Montréal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Internat ...

for his role.

Cast

Production

''Father of the Godfathers'' was inspired by

Orazio Barrese Orazio is a male given name of Italian origin, derived from the Latin name ( ''nomen'') Horatius, from the Roman gens (clan) Horatia. People so named include: *Orazio Alfani (c. 1510–1583), Italian painter *Orazio Antinori (1811–1882), Itali ...

's book ''I complici, Gli anni dell'antimafia''. The book was the story of the Mafia boss

Luciano Liggio Luciano Leggio (; 6 January 1925 – 15 November 1993) was an Italian criminal and leading figure of the Sicilian Mafia. He was the head of the Corleonesi, the Mafia faction that originated in the town of Corleone. He is universally known with th ...

. After the release of Squitieri's previous film '' I Am the Law'',

Mario Cecchi Gori Mario Cecchi Gori (; 21 March 1920, in Florence – 5 November 1993, in Rome) was an Italian film producer and owner of companies. He produced over 200 films, notably with Damiano Damiani, Dino Risi (''The Easy Life'', ''I Mostri'') and Ettore Scol ...

approached him to make an adaptation. Barrese and Squitieri were friends, but later stated that "I don't consider ''Father of the Godfathers'' as one of my best works, it's definitely inferior to ''I Am the Law''."

Release

''Father of the Godfathers'' was distributed theatrically in Italy by Cineriz on 4 November 1978. Film historian and critic Roberto Curti stated that the film was a huge commercial success in Italy, grossing 2,304,300,190

Italian lire The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...

Reception

From a contemporary review, film critic Lino Micciche wrote that the film "is harmed by the multiplicity of tones, rhythms and styles, which foul up the results in both directions it aims at, therefore the film oscillates ..between popular ballad and turgid comic book, historical recreation and inquiry, the Western genre and committed cinema, echoing from time to time Germi and Rosi, Petri and Damiani .."

Notes

References

External links

* 1978 films Films directed by Pasquale Squitieri Films about the Sicilian Mafia Films set in the 1950s Italian crime films 1970s Italian-language films Films scored by Ennio Morricone 1970s Italian films {{1970s-Italy-film-stub