MovieChat Forums > The Godfather Part II (1974) Discussion > Goof in the first 3 minutes is distracti...

Goof in the first 3 minutes is distracting

posted a year ago by Heisenberg (6460)
17 replies | jump to latest

Just rewatched it, found this stupid goof.
So they open with such an "authentic" recreation of the godfather's origins, in Sicily, they speak in dialect, costumes, etc...
Then we find Paolo. There is the main shot of the whole sequence:
the godfather's mother kneels desperate to find her young son killed, his corpse lying on the rocks of a dry Sicilian river...
Only, she hugs him and his hand, in the foreground, MOVES.
WTF.

Couldn't they reshoot it till the actor played the corpse appropriately, without flinching when the other actor touches him?

Nobody noticed it? Nobody looked at the dailies? Nobody thought "this is a huge production, we are shooting a masterpiece here, let's reshoot this shot till it looks right"?
It's a 20 seconds take at most, how difficult could it be to shoot it again properly?

This ruined the whole following 3hours 15minutes for me.

[–] christomacin (4565) a year ago

This ruined the whole following 3hours 15minutes for me.

Give me a break.

[–] [deleted] a year ago

Corpses sometimes twitch. FTFY.

[–] Heisenberg (6460) a year ago

Especially when they are still alive.

[–] ak47wong (484) 4 months ago

To be honest I never noticed this until I read it on the IMDb Goofs page. Most people would be watching the Paolo's mother, not his hand. The goof I found more distracting is in the first 1 minute of Casino: that exploding dummy is the crappiest special effect ever and takes me out of the movie every time.

[–] Heisenberg (6460) 4 months ago

Yes that's true, but at least there is a reason for that: in Casino it's an action sequence and a difficult one to shoot, they probably did it and could do it only once. Also Scorsese is not exactly the greatest stunt director.

This one in the GF instead is a mundane shot that would take nothing or very little to reshoot, even after everything is wrapped up and they notice it in post.

[–] ak47wong (484) 4 months ago

Noticing it in post would be WAY too late. The actors and crew have all finished and moved on to other things. They're not sending them all back to Sicily for one tiny mistake. The only opportunity to reshoot it would have been right then and there. Most likely not a single soul noticed this goof until the movie was released on VHS and people had the chance to watch it over and over again.

[–] Heisenberg (6460) 4 months ago

That's a huge production.
You really think they would not be able to organize some pickups to fix a glaring mistake????
Of a 10 seconds shot with no stars in it?????
What do you think they do in Hollywood?
They could fix it even now if they want.

[–] ak47wong (484) 4 months ago

What do I think they do in Hollywood? I think they're running a business. And I don't think they would spend tens or hundreds of thousand dollars to fix what frankly ISN'T a massive mistake in the context of the film.

[–] Heisenberg (6460) 4 months ago

Reshooting that shot would take a second unit and a bunch of extras for half a day.
For movies that cost 50 to 100 million like this, that is not even a question. No producer worth half a shit would think like you on a top production.

And they are making art, not trying to save money like this on what ends on the screen.

[–] ak47wong (484) 4 months ago

No producer worth half a shit would think like you on a top production.

And yet, they did.

[–] newts (186) 4 months ago

I'm mentally still at the part where the assassination attempt in the beginning makes no sense.

[–] Heisenberg (6460) 4 months ago

How so?

[–] newts (186) 4 months ago

Well the age old discussion about how the assassines died. Were they dead all along? Sounds unlikely. Silently killed? Unlikely

[–] Tabbycat (810) 10 days ago

Google “Missing Tile Syndrome” and find a way to get happier.

[–] Heisenberg (6460) 10 days ago

Why?
Is being "happier" to you more important than being right?

Like I said, it's a goof that could have taken little to fix. Why not fixing it makes you happier?

[–] Tabbycat (810) 3 days ago

‘Is being "happier" to you more important than being right?‘

Yes.

Strangely, because I am known for stressing the importance of being right.

[–] Heisenberg (6460) 3 days ago

Stressing is the key word there.