I was looking at films like Salvatore Giuliano, or the way the Sicilian mafiosi spoke in Rosi’s film—it had a very high, grand quality that appealed to me. I liked the way they spoke, the way they tried to speak, and I wanted to represent the Corleone family, and particularly Michael, with that same sort of Shakespearean quality.
I was looking at films like Salvatore Giuliano, or the way the Sicilian mafiosi spoke in Rosi's film—it had a very high, grand quality that appealed to me. I wanted to represent the Corleone family, and particularly Michael, with that same sort of Shakespearean quality.
— Francis Ford Coppola · The Criterion Collection: Francis Ford Coppola and The Godfather: Part III