The Family Business

The Godfather (1972) follows the Corleone family as power transfers from patriarch Vito (Marlon Brando) to son Michael (Al Pacino), who transforms from a decorated war hero who rejected the family business into its most ruthless leader. The transformation is cinema's greatest negative character arc.

Coppola frames organized crime as a dark mirror of American capitalism — both systems reward ruthlessness, punish weakness, and treat people as assets. The Corleones conduct violence with the same corporate detachment that legitimate businesses use to destroy competitors.