The Godfather, Parts I and II, are at their deepest level a brilliant revelation of the family, how it worked through the generations, and how it now falls apart. In Part I Coppola and his actors create a real, living, breathing world. Coppola presents his world with what Pauline Kael calls an open camera; everything is shown, the detail is absolutely convincing, and it is convincing because the viewer is allowed to take it all in naturally, without comment by the director. Watching the movie, you know that this is how life is. The director reveals, he does not preach.

Coppola reveals a family, in that first grand scene of Part I, engaged in the most familial of rituals, a daughter's wedding. The scene is a picture of tradition, and not merely Italian tradition, but the tradition of the West. The man of respect in the community gathers...