Contents
Few films are quoted as often in discussions of power as “The Godfather.” That is not because of the violence but because of the question that runs through it: what does authority rest on? In 1972, Francis Ford Coppola adapted Mario Puzo’s novel for the screen. Marlon Brando plays Vito Corleone, Al Pacino his son Michael. The film is a study of Niccolò Machiavelli’s Chapter 17 – and of the Principle of Fear and Love.
The wedding and the requests
Situation
The film opens on the wedding day of Vito’s daughter Connie. While the celebration goes on outside, Vito receives petitioners in his study. An undertaker asks Vito to avenge his daughter. Vito reproaches him for never having come as a friend, only when he needed something. Then he grants the request, in exchange for the promise of a future favor.
Link to the principle
Vito’s power does not rest on naked fear. It rests on a web of favors, loyalty and respect. People come to him because he helps. They stay because they know he does not forget disloyalty. Machiavelli calls this the ideal case: loved and feared at the same time.
The threat in the background
Situation
A Hollywood producer refuses to give Vito’s godson, a singer, a role in a film. Vito’s adviser Tom Hagen travels to California and negotiates politely. The producer refuses. The next morning, he finds the head of his prized racehorse in his bed. The singer gets the role.
Link to the principle
Here the film shows the other side. Behind the care stands the threat, and it is credible. Those who don’t love Vito are meant to fear him. At the same time, the film makes clear the price of this order: it works only because violence is possible at any moment. This is not a guide but a warning.
No to the drug trade
Situation
The drug dealer Sollozzo asks Vito for protection and political connections for the heroin trade. Vito refuses. His friends in politics and the courts would drop him if he dealt in drugs. Shortly afterward, he is gunned down in the street and survives, badly wounded.
Link to the principle
Vito knows that his power depends on consent, including the consent of those who protect him. Machiavelli warns that a prince must do nothing that makes him hated. Vito avoids exactly that. He passes up a lucrative business so as not to destroy his standing.
Michael: fear without love
Situation
Michael, who at first wanted nothing to do with the family business, gradually takes over the leadership after the attack. In the end, while he stands as godfather at his nephew’s baptism, he has the heads of the rival families killed. He lies to his wife, Kay. In the final shot, the door closes between her and him.
Link to the principle
Michael is more successful than his father, but lonelier. He has learned Machiavelli’s second sentence, that fear is safer than love, and forgotten the first, that both would be best. The sequels show where this leads: to power without trust.
What you should not adopt
Situation
“The Godfather” is a film about a criminal organization. Murder, extortion and bribery are its subject matter.
Link to the principle
What can be transferred is not the method but the insight. Authority holds when it combines care and limits. When only the limit remains, in the end only fear remains.
Key takeaways
Key lessons
- Build loyalty through genuine help, not just through control.
- Make sure your limits are credible, but not arbitrary.
- Pass up gains that would destroy your standing.
- Check whether the people around you still trust you or only fear you.
- Take the insight from films, not the method.
Summary
“The Godfather” shows two answers to Machiavelli’s question. Vito Corleone combines care and fear and avoids everything that would make him hated. Michael ends up relying on fear alone and gains power but loses his family. The film is not a guide but a warning that shows what authority without love looks like.
Sources
- Mario Puzo: The Godfather. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons 1969.
- The Godfather (U.S. 1972), directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
- Niccolò Machiavelli: Der Fürst (in German). Translated by Philipp Rippel. Stuttgart: Reclam 1986, Chapters 17 and 19.
