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The Godfather remains one of the most acclaimed and celebrated crime dramas ever made. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and released in 1972, the film chronicles the transfer of power from aging mob boss Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) to his reluctant son, Michael (Al Pacino). The Godfather reviews were glowing and the film was a commercial success, not only launching Pacino to stardom, but spawning two immediate sequels.

The Godfather features a handful of iconic scenes that have stood the test of time, including several that are shockingly violent. Though the film couldn't be characterized as an action movie, a number of graphic shootouts and slayings play out over the course of Michael's rise to power, including the attempted assassination of Vito, Michael's killing of corrupt police captain Mark McCluskey (Sterling Hayden) and drug baron Sollozzo (Al Lettieri), and the brutal slaying of James Caan's Sonny Corleone.

Former Mobster...

There are two types of Al Pacino performances. The first is the kind that announced him as an acting virtuoso in the 1970s. They're fully inhabited, imbued with a coiled intensity, and forever on the verge of crescendoing to rage or, on rare occasions (most movingly in Jerry Schatzberg's "Scarecrow"), joy. This is Pacino at his very best: restless, yet modulated. When he blows his top in "Dog Day Afternoon," screaming "Attica" at the cops posted outside the bank he's attempting to rob, the moment is earned. He's given us keen insight into the mental machinery that drives Sonny, and has us cheering along with the crowd, even though we're still not sure why he's been driven to such dead-end desperation.

The second type is the grotesque self-parody that's been grist for impressionists — none better than Bill Hader — and soundboard prank callers since he stole Denzel Washington's Oscar...

One of the strangest unresolved storylines from The Godfather franchise is why Michael never sought revenge on Fabrizio, the man who killed his first wife Apollonia. A key subplot in the original Godfather sees Michael (Al Pacino) gunning down drug baron Sollozzo in retaliation for an attempt on his father Vito's life. He then flees to Sicily, where he falls in love with Simonetta Stefanelli's Apollonia. Tragically, she's later killed in a car bomb planted by Michael's bodyguard Fabrizio (Angelo Infanti), who betrayed him to his enemies. While Michael gets revenge on those who ordered the hit, Fabrizio is never seen again.

This might seem like a strange oversight, but both Godfather and Godfather Part 2 did in fact feature scenes where Michael gained his revenge. A deleted scene from the first movie revealed that Fabrizo owned a pizzeria in New York. During the climactic massacre of the Five Families,...

Franceso Rosi's warm, thoughtful tale sees a family gathering observe grievous modern problems -- after so much violence in Italian politics people are still looking for humanistic solutions. Philippe Noiret heads a great cast (with Charles Vanel) in this mellow reflection on 'the things of life.' Three Brothers Region B Blu-ray + Pal DVD Arrow Academy (UK) 1981 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 111 min. / Street Date April 4, 2016 / Tre fratelli / Available from Amazon UK  Starring Philippe Noiret, Michele Placido, Vittorio Mezzogiorno, Charles Vanel, Andréa Ferréol, Maddalena Crippa, Rosaria Tafuri, Marta Zoffoli, Simonetta Stefanelli. Cinematography Pasqualino De Santis Editor Ruggero Mastroianni Original Music Piero Piccioni Written by Tonino Guerra, Francesco Rosi from the book by A. Platonov Produced by Antonio Macri, Giorgio Nocella Directed by Francesco Rosi

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

So few of Francesco Rosi's films were released in the United States that until Criterion's disc of Salvatore Giuliano my only image of...

It's impossible not to notice Italian actress Violante Placido. She possesses the kind of stunning beauty that makes men forget their names, particularly if she's showing off her considerable natural gifts in a movie like "The American."

After her scene-stealing performance opposite George Clooney, it's no wonder Hollywood came calling again to offer her a sexy role in the action sequel "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance." Placido plays the kind of fiercely protective mother who would gladly put a bullet in you if it meant saving her kid. With her alluring charm and acting pedigree, Placido should be a household name in no time.

Age: 35

Hometown: Rome, Italy

What She's Done: Placido started acting as a teenager in her native Italy, appearing in more than 30 film and television projects there. She made her Hollywood movie debut playing an Italian prostitute whom George Clooney's character employs and then falls for...

The censors reveal how many F-words you can say to an under-12 film fan, and Anne Hathaway's colleagues scour London for a vegan cake

How Many F's in that?

"Let's take a break from violence and move on to sex," is perhaps not something you hear every day but it's a common segue at the British Board of Film Classification. Last week, the censors took me through a fascinating year in cuts, including taming Jennifer Lopez's instant orgasm in The Back-up Plan and Sly Stallone grimly twisting a knife in a rebel soldier's throat in The Expendables. There was some mild glue-sniffing in Joan Jett memoir The Runaways that had to go (the censors deemed this a pity, "as it provided nice period detail"), yet the cartoon violence in Kick-Ass was deemed Ok for a 15 certificate, even though it involved a pre-teen girl slicing off legs and using the C-word.