Throughout the film, The Godfather, the majority of the scenes use a low-key lighting design. Low-key lighting is described by Bill Goodykoontz and Christopher Jacobs (2014) as “dark overall” and “marked by extreme use of deep shadows, with very high contrast between the brightest parts of the scene and the darkest parts, which are obscured in shadows” (p. 6.4). This is apparent from the very first scene which shows a man making a request of the Godfather. His face is lit from above with a dim light which casts deep shadows around his eyes and over the lower portion of his face. The background shows nothing but darkness.
This type of lighting instantly conveys the seriousness of the film to the viewer. As the film continues this seriousness is confirmed when we find out that Vito Corleone is the very powerful and ruthless head of a crime family. The darkness and shadows are indicative of the darkness the family is involved in. Happening outside though, in direct contrast to the setting inside, is the wedding celebration. Everything is lit up with bright, natural lighting which implicates the festiveness and lightheartedness of the occasion. The scenes cut back and forth from darkness to light but even in the naturally lit scenes we can see examples of the symbolic darkness such as when a picture is taken of Emilio Barzini and he has someone rip out the film.
As the film progresses, we see Michael, the son who was not supposed to get involved, slowly sink into this darkness. Sollozo, a drug dealer, tries to get the Corleone family involved in a drug deal and, when the Don refuses, it leads to tension between the Five Families. This results in distrust, killings, and the seeking of vengeance. In the end, it results in Michael killing the heads of each of the Five Families in spite of his telling Kate at the beginning of the film that he was not like his family.
The low-key lighting design was a good choice for a movie of this genre and is often used for gangster films as it portrays an atmosphere of harshness and severity. One of the benefits of using this type of lighting is that, due to the darkness and shadows, less effort has to be put into the details of the background. If a different lighting system had been used, the movie might not have had the same effect. If three-point lighting had been used instead, the characters would not have had the sinister looks that were created by using low-key lighting.
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Ruddy, A. (Producer), & Coppola, F. (Director). (1972). The Godfather [Motion Picture]. United States: Alfran Productions.
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