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

Sicily, the “hometown of the Corleone family” envisioned by Coppola

There is a real village called "Corleone" on the island of Sicily, and in "The Godfather" it is set as the hometown of Vito Corleone. However, none of the ``The Godfather'' trilogy was filmed in Corleone Village. Coppola and his crew loved the area around Taormina, a resort town in eastern Sicily, and filmed in Taormina and the nearby villages of Savoca and Forza d'Agro. Unlike the village of Corleone, which is inland and surrounded by mountains, it is a scenic area with a view of the Mediterranean Sea in the distance.

Since it's a movie, it's natural to choose a location that "stands out" visually, and even if the "Corleone Village" depicted in "The Godfather" is a fictional story is different from the actual Corleone Village, it's especially problematic. There isn't. However, it is interesting to note that Coppola had a strong attachment to the area around Taormina, which he decided was ``our Corleone village.'' The house where Vito Corleone was born, which appears in `` The Godfather Part III ,'' is proof of this commitment.

Vito Corleone's birthplace (filming location). It is located in Forza d'Agro, a village on the outskirts of Taormina, one of Sicily's most popular resorts. Photography: Akira Murayama

In ``PART III,'' Michael tries to repair his relationship with his estranged wife, Kay, and invites her to Sicily, where he becomes her driver and shows her around the island. At that time, he takes a stroll through the village of Corleone (in the movie) and takes him to the house where his father, Vito, was born. Location filming took place in the aforementioned village, Forza d'Agro, where a house in a narrow alley serves as the birthplace of Vito Corleone.

This house first appears in ``The Godfather Part III,'' but it was actually filmed as Vito's family home in both ``The Godfather'' and `` The Godfather Part II .'' However, the scene was cut from the final edited version.

As you can see when you visit Forza d'Agro, there isn't anything special about "Vito's birthplace" (although there are tiles with pictures of scenes from "PART III" printed on them to serve as a landmark for fans coming to visit). is attached). To put it bluntly, if the scenery was similar, it would have been possible to make it look like it no matter where it was taken. Despite this, Coppola continued to use the same location as ``Vito's birthplace'' for 18 years, from ``The Godfather'' to ``PART III.''

Schiavi Castle is the filming location for Don Tomasino's mansion, which appears in all of the trilogy. The driveway in the foreground is where Apollonia died in the explosion. Photography: Akira Murayama

The true reason for Coppola's obsession with the house is unknown. However, whether it appeared on screen or not, Coppola continued to photograph the same area in Sicily as "Corleone Village." In other words, this means that in Coppola's mind, there was clearly an image of a ``Corleone village'' that fit perfectly into the worldview of ``The Godfather.'' It was a place of bitter and sweet memories, and I'm sure the song ``The Godfather Love Theme'' was playing there.

Text: Akira Murayama

Born in 1971. Writes articles for magazines, newspapers, movie sites, etc. Representative of “ShortCuts,” a review site for distribution-based works.

Watch now

View work information

“The Godfather PART I <Digital Restored Version>”

Blu-ray: 2,381 yen + tax / DVD: 1,429 yen + tax

Publisher: NBCUniversal Entertainment

*Information as of November 2018.

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 .