Delivered at The Many Manifestations of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Series, 12th – 14th July 2023, Taormina, Sicily.

Film and television representing organised crime have been a staple of American entertainment since the release of Little Caesar. The genre can also be said to have remained largely the same since. Critics have long sought to understand the “repetitive patternings” which define the Mafia film – an underdog struggling to maintain his grip on power – and continue to shape modern crime dramas.

Several critics have suggested reasons why this archetype remains so compelling. Thomas Schatz argues that audiences remain drawn to the internal conflicts embodied by the mafioso: desire and duty; savagery and morality; individuality and the common good. While Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy follows this formula, it also exceeds it, focusing on how the pressures of legacy shape the lives of descendants.

Throughout The Godfather legacies are constructed and unmade. Photos are retaken at Connie’s wedding to include the distant Michael. McCluskey’s reputation is posthumously ruined. Coppola’s portrayal of anxieties over family and legacy – themes uniquely relatable to its diasporic US audience – has left its own legacy, influencing later portrayals of the mob family. This paper will examine how Coppola has shaped television’s Golden Age.