family, Don Vito Corleone, often called ôthe Donö or ôGodfatherö by those close to him, is a product of a Horatio Alger immigrant experience. The book recounts how he came to America at a young age with little goods or power and worked his way up to a powerful position as an illicit businessman with multiple financial interests. While the movie does not inform viewers of this, it nonetheless presents the Don and his family as humble people with strong ties to their old-country Italian roots. The movie opens on a scene of Amerigo Bonasero plaintively describing to the Don how the American legal system has failed him and his daughter. His daughter had been beaten by two men who were then basically set free after a farce of a court proceeding. The close-up of Amerigo's face against a dark background creates the effect of a soliloquy, like that of an actor opening a play on a dark stage. This intense focus informs viewers how central Amerigo's message is to the theme of the story to come.
The following part of the scene, which cuts to the Don in his office facin
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