Godfather I question...

[macfenian]

Ok..I´ve seen this film...well quite a lot of times but there is still one thing in it that puzzles me.

Outside the hospital, after the Don gets shot, Michael and Enzo "the baker" pretend to be bodyguards by putting their hands inside their coats. When a car passes by Enzo gets a bit nervous. He then tries to light a cigarette and the lighter does not work. Michael takes the lighter and lights his cigarette for him and subsequently stares at the lighter for a few seconds...

What is that about? Why does he look at the lighter for so long? By the expression on his face you can tell that he notices something on it. But what?

Anyone have an explanation for this?

BTW..ever noticed how young Al Pacino as Michael Corleone and young J.D Salinger look alike?

[groverat]

[quote]What is that about? Why does he look at the lighter for so long? By the expression on his face you can tell that he notices something on it.<hr></blockquote>

Great scene!!!

I may be doing more explanation than you wanted, but... the fact that Michael is able to light the cigarette is the beginning of his establishment as a mafia power. To this point, he was the "college boy, war hero" who had sworn to stay out of the family business, a business this scene make evident that he is naturally made for.

I think him staring at the lighter was just a way for him to focus on something while he came to terms with the way things were going. I don't think there was anything significant about the lighter itself, just what it indicated at that point in time, that he was perfectly calm while armed gunmen were coming.

Enzo isn't that big a deal in the movie.

[finboy]

He also could be thinking of the lighter that he used to light his cigarettes at the wedding, when he told Kaye that he wasn't going to get into the family business. He was probably thinking of that conversation.

In the book, they explain the significance of some of those kind of things. Godfather is the one movie I can think of that mirrors the book, mainly because Coppola drafted his script from the book and worked out of the text of the book on the set.

There's a terrific web site, too, about this. Search Google for the Godfather website hosted by JGeoff. It's called the "official" one because it was endorsed by Puzo before he died. Excellent reference, and good discussion there too. One of the things they discuss is the use of oranges in the movie. Fun stuff.

[macfenian]

Thanks guys. That makes a lot of sense.

It is indeed a brilliant scene, well built up too. It´s a brilliant film all together.

Thanks for the url too!