The Godfather - Baptism/Murder Scene - Parallel action - Cut shots - Montage

As the baptism's happening there are many shots cutting back and forth that depict gangsters going about their daily lives and also shows us the double life Micheal will lead as head of the family (The Godfather). This type of editing (Continuous action) continues throughout the movie to show how the action is a major part of this movie and of the life of the Godfather. Another editing style is the Parallel action, (The Godfather II used more parallel action, The Godfather uses more continuous action editing). The most famous use of parallel action is in this baptism scene.
Montage, (a rapid succession of images that links different scenes) is the most dramatic form of the parallel editing. It is used many times in the Godfather trilogy, most famously in this baptism scene.
As Connie and Carlo’s son is baptized, the film cuts to images showing the murders of the heads of the five Mafia families, murders that Michael (now the Godfather) has ordered. The use of montage implies that the murders and the baptism occur at the same time, and the juxtaposition of the calm, peaceful, and religious church ceremony and the frantic, violent murders gives each an unexpected new meaning.
The vast irony between the different scenes is striking. During this baptism ceremony, the godparents (Michael) must respond to questions such as "Do you reject the glamour of evil?" and "Do you reject Satan and all his works?" by saying "I do." Michael’s sincere "I do’s" and denouncement of Satan, cement his position as godfather to Connie’s baby, but the murders he ordered form a ceremony of their own from which Michael emerges as a Godfather of an entirely different sort.
This montage / parallel shots captures the nature of Michael’s new life, as Godfather, he will be in charge of two very different families. But at the same time the montage signals Michael’s full accession to the title of Godfather, it also shows how he will differ from his father's role of Godfather. By carrying out such violent acts during his nephew’s baptism, just as he is declaring his belief in God and denouncing Satan, Michael spoils the service and brings violence into the family. Michael’s deceit, his ability to lie, and his ruthlessness are all highlighted by this dramatic sequence of images. But also apparent is his willingness to allow violence into the home, something Vito would have prevented.

Apocalypse Now

**At the height of the Vietnam war, experienced soldier and covert operative Captain Benjamin Willard withdraws from a drunken and disheveled state to accept his most daring and secretive mission yet. His objective is to travel down the Nyung river by boat and assassinate a Green Beret Colonel named Kurtz who has gone insane deep within the Jungle, and leads his men and a local tribe as a god on illegal guerrilla missions into enemy territory. As Willard and the crew of a Navy PR boat unaware of his objective embark on their journey from the security of civilization into the untamed depths of the jungle, Willard confronts not only the same horrors and hypocrisy that pushed the level headed Colonel Kurtz over the edge into an abyss if insanity, but the primal violence of human nature and the darkness of his own heart.**

The Godfather

**Regarded as one of the best American films ever by the American Film Institute, Fancis Ford Coppola's epic masterpiece features Marlon Brando in his Oscar-Winning role as the patriarch of the Corleone family. The Godfather is a violent and chilling portrait of the Sicilian family's struggle to stay in power in a post-war American corruption, deceit and betrayal. Coppola begins his legendary trilogy, masterfully balancing the story of the Corleone's family life and the ugly crime bussiness in which they are engaged. Based on Mario Puzo's best-selling novel and featuring career-making performance by Al Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall, this searing and brilliant film garnered ten Academy Award nominations, and won three including Best Picture of 1972**

The Converstaion - Thriller

**Francis Ford Coppola's provoking mystery-drama explores the morality of privacy and stars Gene Hackman as Harry Caul, expert surveillance man. A routine wire-tapping job turns into a nightmare as Harry hears something disturbing in his recording of a young couple in a park. He begins to worry about what the tape may be used for and becomes invovled in a maze of secrecy and murder. Set in San Francisco, the film also features Cindy Williams, Harrison Ford and Federic Forrest. Nominated for Best Picture of 1974, The Conversation was made between The Godfather and The Godfather Part Two**

~Francis Ford Coppola

Coppola was born in Detroit, Michigan on April 7, 1939. His father, Carmine, was a concert flautist who played with Arturo Toscanini's NBC Symphony Orchestra. His mother, Italia, was an actress who at one time had appeared in films. Coppola's younger sister Talia would later follow in her mother's footsteps into the world of film acting, changing her name to Talia Shire and starring in the film Rocky alongside Silvester Stallone. A few years after his birth, Coppola and his family moved to the suburbs around New York City, where he would spend most of his childhood.
All the Coppola children were driven to succeed in show business and the arts. Leading by example was Coppola's father, who had achieved success as a musician for hire but longed to compose scores of his own. Francis seemed the least likely to redeem his father's promise, however. He was an awkward, myopic (short sightedness) child who did poorly at school. At age nine, he was stricken with polio (an acute viral disease, usually affecting children and young adults, caused by any of three polioviruses, characterized by inflammation of the motor neurons of the brain stem and spinal cord, and resulting in a motor paralysis, followed by muscular atrophy and often permanent deformities). The illness forced him into bed for a year, a period during which he played with puppets, watched television, and became lost in an inner fantasy world. After his recovery, he began to make movies with an eight millimeter camera and a tape recorder.

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~Movies Francis Ford Coppola Has Directed

Movies he has directed are:
- Tetro (2009)
- Youth with youth (2007)
- Supernova (2000/1)
- The Rainmaker (1997)
- Jack (1996)
- Dracula (1992)
- Making `Bram Stoker`s Dracula' (1992)
- Godfather Part 3 (1990)
- New York series (1989)
- Tucker: The man and his dreams (1980)
- Gardens of stone (1987)
- Peggy Sue got married (1986)
- Captain EO (1986)
- The cotton club (1984)
- Rumble Fish (1983)
- The Outsiders (1983)
- One from the heart (1982)
- Apocalypse Now (1979)
- Godfather Part 2 (1974)
- The conversation (1974)
- The Godfather (1972)
- The rainpeople (1969)
- Finian's rainbow (1968)
-You're a big bot now (1966)
- Dementia (1963)
- The terror (1963)
- Tonight for sure (1962)
- The bellboy and the playgirls (1962)
- Nebo zouyot (1960)

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000338/