And especially given the second attempt on Vito at the hospital, Sonny's temper leads to an all-out mob war. With the don convalescing, Sonny becomes acting don. Once Corleone refuses Sollozzo, what happens? Sollozzo plots his revenge, starting with killing Brasi and his attempted murder of Don Vito. Rather, it's that the turning-point events begin with Corleone's refusal of Solozzo's proposition. This doesn't mean that everything pre-Sollozzo is unimportant at all. The real conflicts and points-of-no-return begin when Sollozzo steps in. But even Tom Hagen's trip out to Woltz and the infamous scene involving Khartoum is more about establishing the world of these characters rather than advancing the plot, at least IMHO. And you get some backstory on how loyal and violent Luca Brasi is. (E.g., he's unwilling to kill those who merely assaulted Bonasera's daughter.) You see revealing details, like Barzini directing his men to destroy the camera of someone who took his picture. Don Vito is a criminal and violent, but he also seeks proportionality in his responses.
For example, the wedding at the very beginning does a good job of establishing the world in which the characters inhabit. Let me elaborate a bit on the distinctions I have in mind. But if you focus on those events, actions, and decisions that amount to a crossing of the Rubicon, then you might narrow the scope to something more focused.
#The godfather 1 plot movie#
A recapitulation of all the plot points, especially in a movie almost three hours long, may be beside the point. With that thought in mind, ask yourself more specifically what the no-turning-back points are in the movie. There's no chance to "go back home again" when you no longer have a home. In Star Wars, for example, one of the obvious such moments is when Luke discovers his aunt and uncle have been killed. One thought: I remember reading somewhere, probably from Film Crit HULK, that a good working definition of a movie's act would be a point after which characters can't return to the status quo prior to having taken that action/made that decision/some external action having happened. NOTE TO THOSE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN THIS FILM: SPOILERS THROUGHOUT