Question 1: The American dream or nightmare?a) The Godfather is the story of an immigrant family trying to obtain a better life in America. In the early 20th century, America was highly touted as a land of opportunity and immigrants embarked on new and hopefully improved lives. Vito runs a very successful business, although it is not legal, he has established a better life for himself and his family. As we see in the first 20 minutes of the film, Vito can afford to pay for a lavish wedding for his daughter, although at the same time we see the contrast of the dark side of his business. Vito's hopes were to one day become legitimist in his way of doing business, and although he never achieved this, he did manage to provide a financially secure life for his family. For these reasons, I believe that Vito has achieved, to some extent, the American dream. However, it can also be said that by taking over, Michael had ruined his father's success by continuing the "family business" in an increasingly unethical and illegitimate manner. Because of the way Michael conducted his business, unlike his father, he and his family were constantly put in danger due to his aggressive way of controlling his business. b) The scene opens with just the sound of voices, specifically the voice is Italian-American. , dim lighting and the camera slowly pans away, creating tension for the audience. As an audience, we are presented with this scene in which we can only assume that some sort of illegal activity is taking place. The opening scene thematically introduces the rest of the film. “I believe in America. America made my fortune. And I raised my daughter the American way. I gave him freedom but taught him never to dishonor his family. She...... middle of paper ......(Michael and Priest 114) The scene cuts to show Michael's hitmen murdering five different individuals. The way the camera is positioned and uses medium shots and medium close-ups is identical both when the men are murdered and when the camera returns to Michael. Part of the scene where this happens is the rival lying down and getting a massage. The camera has a close-up and the viewer can almost see the bullet going into the man's eye. The end of the scene ends with the conclusion that Michael is now the new godfather of the Corleone family. This is a masterpiece of a scene in my opinion. An interesting observation about this scene is that it's not just about good versus evil. Just like at the beginning of the film, we see the use of La Bella Figura, where the dirty work is done behind closed doors and the perceived personal image is always positive..