The Godfather-1 - An analysis of how the Godfather brilliantly uses parallel editing in it\'s baptism PDF

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An analysis of how the Godfather brilliantly uses parallel editing in it's baptism sequence...

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Moses Nyirakomini Joe Golden THE-200 The Godfather: Parallel Editing The baptism sequence from The Godfather provides so much value to the narrative, proving to be one of the best uses of parallel editing. The christening of Michael Corleone is intercut with the series of hitman murders of the rival mob families. It is meant to insinuate that these events are occurring simultaneously, even though it’s quite unlikely that the murders would be occurring at the exact same time, its an editing technique that is meant to create suspense and shock for this scene in particular. Narratively, this is meant to juxtapose these two line of action, Michael’s situation is meant to be ironic, as he professes to renounce the Devil and his sins we see him order his men to execute the cardinal sin of murder. However, these two lines of action create a sense of resonance as they both symbolize the creation of family. The baptism welcomes a new member into the family of the church as the murders subsequently strengthen the Corleone crime family’s grip on power. Without the utilization of parallel editing, the baptism scene would have brought the pacing of the film to a halt and the series of killings would be missing another layer of suspense. The value of its use increases the pacing and tempo, in turn, making the sequence so much more powerful....