Godfather

I have now watched The Godfather. I was surprised to find that all of the famous stuff happens in the first half hour, so I basically had no idea what the rest of the plot was.

I feel, now that I've seen it once, I would need to watch it all the way through again to begin to understand it. It has a fuckton of characters, to the point where stuff was happening at the end that I'm sure was supposed to be momentous but I honestly had no idea who any of those people were. I went and read the synopsis on wikipedia to find out. Also, now that I know the conclusion, I'm sure there are subtleties in the acting that I would pick up on in a rewatch.

But I don't really want to watch it again. It is ponderously long. And it is boy howdy violent. Not on a scale with Goodfellas, but this is still a mafia movie. ( spoilers )

Being the Star Wars fan that I am, I have long known of George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola's friendship. Having never seen a Coppola film, I always figured the two were about on par. One created Star Wars, the other Godfather. But now that I've seen it...as much as I love Star Wars and I doubt I can even rewatch Godfather...Godfather is kind of genius. Star Wars is not. Lucas wins for technical achievement and building an empire around special effects and merchandising, but...Coppola actually made a complex and subtle (and ponderously long) film.

I think I will rent Godfather Part II now, though I truly know nothing at all about what happens in that film and I'm a little nervous. So, uh, if there are any big shocking surprises I need to brace myself for...feel free to spoil me in the comments.