fronts audiences with the idea that familial loyalty can be used to justify moral wrongdoing. Given the power of the idea of family, it asks audiences to consider who or what should rightfully count as family. This will be evidenced in my article through an analysis of four key scenes in the films: The Wedding, The Hospital, The Assassin, and The Garden. The Wedding The film opens in Don Vito Corleone’s office on the day of his daughter’s wedding. Its first iconic lines are delivered by a minor character, Amerigo Bonasera: “I believe in America” (00:00:51). America, however, has not repaid his faith. He tells the Don, the head of a Sicilian crime family in Long Island, New York, that the legal system has failed to punish the two “non-Italian men” who assaulted his daughter. He must therefore appeal to unofficial channels, pleading with Don Vito Corleone to enact his kind of justice. The film opens with a moral quandary: should the Don order murder in retribution for a wrong done to Amerigo Bonasera’s daughter. For the Don, the answer hinges on a simple question: Is Bonasera family enough? Don Corleone initially denies Bonasera’s request, stating that Bonasera never invites him over for coffee, that he doesn’t treat him like a friend, and that “[he doesn’t] even think to call [him] godfather” (00:04:59). Don Corleone follows by telling Bonasera, “If you’d have come to me in friendship, then the scum that ruined your daughter would be suffering this very day” (00:05:4900:05:54). Desperate, Bonasera offers to pay any amount of money. Again, Vito declines. Not until Bonasera bends down, kisses his hand and calls him godfather does Vito Corleone agrees to exact revenge on his behalf. The manner of Don Corleone’s insistence that Bonasera prove his loyalty as part of the transaction – Vito’s refusal of money should not be taken to suggest that Bonasera is not in his debt – blurs the lines between family and business in the film's first scene. Who counts as family is also open to interpretation: Vito insists on being called godfather, a familial term that does not necessarily imply a blood relation. Bonasera’s desperation is also telling of the film’s historical setting: WWII-era America. Bonasera’s treatment by law enforcement suggests the anti-Italian sentiment many immigrants experienced. Vincent Canby, who reviewed The Godfather in the year of its release, remarks on the circumstances that prompted the Italian community to turn to alternative support structures than were provided by the government: “Everyone not a Sicilian or now a Corleone is a potential threat” and so they band together (Canby). For Canby, “There is a sense of love and honor . . . no matter how bizarre” in their isolation. I agree that the film is sympathetic towards the plight of Italian Americans of the era, but in my interpretation it also makes a larger point. As the camera zooms out and viewers are able to take in the rest of the room, it becomes clear that Don Vito Corleone is the only person wearing 65
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