``The Godfather'' love theme. What are Francis Ford Coppola's thoughts, exploring its roots?

“The Godfather” synopsis

1947. The wedding of his youngest daughter Connie (Talia Shire) is held at the mansion of mafia boss Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando). It was a grand wedding attended by hundreds of people, including members of the Corleone family and members of the mafia organization known as the "Family." In the mansion's study with the blinds drawn, Vito, wearing a tuxedo with a blood-red rose stuck in his right chest, listened to the pleas of a visiting friend. He used his love, power, and intelligence to fully inform those who depended on him. That was his duty and dignity as The Godfather(godfather). Sollozzo (Al Lettieri), a drug dealer who is under the influence of his rival Bruno Tattaglia (Tony Giorgio), approaches him with a deal. Vito politely refuses, but eventually Sollozzo hatches an assassination plan... Michael (Al Pacino), who returns from World War II, feels intense resentment and anger at his father's assassination attempt, and throws himself into the mafia society...

Index

• A famous song in the history of film music was reused from another movie! ?
• What role did the "love theme" play in "The Godfather"?
• Sicily, the “hometown of the Corleone family” envisioned by Coppola

A famous song in the history of film music was reused from another movie! ?

The music for the movie "The Godfather" is by the famous Italian composer Nino Rota. His pen version of ``The Godfather 's Love Theme'' is better known and loved around the world than any of the melodies that resulted from his collaboration with master artist Federico Fellini, which is Rota's signature work.

The very impressive phrase, talaritararilatararalilo (it may sound different to different people, but it sounds like this to me) was adopted by Italian music horns (honks that play melody) and was used by Japanese motorcycle gangs. It is also often used as a joke. It's a super famous song that you won't be able to say you've never heard unless you're a newborn baby.

Even in Sicily, the birthplace of the Mafia, ``The Godfather Love Theme'' is played all over the island as if it were the national anthem. In particular, the musicians and street performers who frequent tourist spots almost always play this song. Of course, the idea was to please tourists who come from all over the world with the image of ``Sicily = Mafia = movie ``The The Godfather,'' but this song was originally composed in a place that had nothing to do with ``The The Godfather.'' Moreover, I was surprised because the song had no connection to Sicily.

"The Godfather" Copyright (C) 1974 by Paramount Pictures and The Coppola Company. All Rights Reserved. Restoration Copyright (C) 2007 by Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved. TM, (R) & Copyright (C) 2014 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

In fact, Rota used the same melody in the 1958 Italian comedy film Fortunella , long before The Godfather. However, it is set to a cheerful up-tempo that is different from "The Godfather." In other words, ``The Godfather Love Theme'' is a remake that uses the same melody over and over again (a similar case is Akira Ifukube's `` Godzilla '' theme song, but I'll leave that discussion aside as a side note).

Furthermore, ``The Godfather Love Theme'' is made up of the repetition of two simple patterns, one of which is the melody used in the aforementioned ``Fortunella,'' and the other is taken from a folk song. I'm trying to find out if this folk song originates from Sicily, but I'm not sure. (However, if you listen to a number of Sicilian folk songs, you will notice that many of them have melodies similar to the "The Godfather Waltz" that plays at the beginning of the movie.)