You, you I like.
In physics Power = Work over Time. The more work, the less time, the more power. Don Corleone stands as the seat of power in the underworld. If the Don says something will happen, it will happen. If the Don wants something done, it gets done. Why? Because people are afraid of him, and they are afraid of him because he is powerful.
This is the tenuous hold Corleone has on power, even at his apex. The Don, like all the powerful, is slave to the conditions needed to keep that power and the illusion of its totality in the eyes of everyone else.
The Don begins as both the most powerful and least powerful. It is the day of his daughter’s wedding and, by the traditions on which his power is anchored, he cannot turn down a request. Supplicants come seeking the Don’s intervention in their problem. The Don uses this as an opportunity to grow his power, asking for favours in return and haggles not on price or difficulty, but on ones commitment to respect and honour the friendship upon which the deal is made.
Shut your mouth!
Later the Don negotiates with the Turk and turns him down. Sonny speaks out of turn counter to the decision of the Don. One small ill timed phrase and the illusion of the Don’s omnipotence is shattered. The enemy has seen the chink in his armour and strikes full force to take advantage of it.
The Don is shot while Sonny is pressured to take the deal his father turned down. The Don lives and Sonny resists. The plan to take down the Corleones fails but they are vulnerable and all the families move in to secure their advantage.
Tit for tat war ensues and escalates with no end in sight. It is only concluded by a show of seemingly mystical power, as all the Corleone enemies are killed simultaneously as Michael christens his nephew and accepts his role as the Godfather.
Like father , like son.
CineSpeak 