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GodFather & Scarface - Chairs

Tavia Millward
Aug 22, 2016
4 min read

Say hello to my little... chair!

I know what you thinking. WTF! Does chairs have to do with Godfather & Scarface. It has come to my attention that I’m obsessed with furniture or objects in films.

A good chair tells us a lot about the character who sits in it. The director’s vision and also the good eye for detail and the style the art director brings forth can make a plain chair seem quite interesting. A chair can tells us a lot about the character’s state of mind.

For instance, The Godfather and Scarface is about men that has acquired immense power through inheritance and or drug money. In these two films not only do we see these men sit in a chair most of the time but the lead characters are played by Al Pacino.

The Godfather

Michael Corleone is the Don of the Corleone mobster family. His father dies and so does the older the brother, Sunny. Fredo the second eldest is overlooked for being a hopeless brother and resulting in Michael becoming the patriarch of the family. Michael never truly wanted this power but through constant need of always wanting to approve his father he goes through with it. Throughout the trilogy he never really sits straight ahead in the chair, it is very subtle and may seem as though he appears to be facing straight ahead.

Just look closely.

He sits a bit uncomfortably because he never truly wanted to be the Don, he had other plans in his life. As his power builds up especially in Part III he hardly sits down at all, when he does he is slightly hunched over really showing his age. Even the chair that they used in the father’s office in the opening scene (Part I) was a simple pitch black chair and shows the Don Vito Corleone played by the brilliant Marlon Brando, a man from humble beginnings from a small town in Italy.

However, The Don’s chair is not the chair I’m truly interested in even though I so badly want to sit in it.

Fredo has the best seat in the house.

Fredo chair is an example of how a chair is an extension for a situation. Fredo, being older than Michael becomes frustrated with Michael. Every time he tries to get up and confront his brother who is standing opposite him, somehow his chair causes him to struggle from getting up. Fredo becomes angered when Michael speaks about how he has taken of him. Fredo, feels it is wrong for his younger brother to be taking care of him. Every time Fredo moves and is about to speak to his younger brother, the chair somehow makes him look weaker and even more hopeless. His points come across as petty and helpless.

Hence, a chair is a good tool to enhance your character's emotions.

Scarface on the other hand.

I have to say thumbs up to the art director for picking the right chair for Tony Montana.

A Cuban immigrant obsessed with the American dream takes over a drug cartel in Miami while succumbing to greed. Once he has acquired all his riches such as getting the coke-head girl of his dreams. He becomes obsessed power and wealth. This is portrayed through how sits in the chair, always sitting skew, one arm over the back of the chair. He has power but we don’t really see him as a respected a powerful man instead he is a vain man with a black leather chair and a pure gold edges. The way he sits in the chair really shows this man has no respect and is not brought up in wealth.

As they say in The Great Gatsby - He comes from New Money.

I really love that chair in Scarface. It told me so much about the character than what was actually said.

Chairs make people look and feel all sorts of things. Dr Evil in Austin Powers enjoys joysticks and remote controlling his chair. This makes it a bit comedic and also shows his not just an evil man but a rich man.

Recliner chairs make people look lazy and poor just like Mr Lebowski in The Big Lebowski. Some are just for show and are not really for comfortable sitting like Agent Jay in Men In Black when sits down along with other hopeful candidates to fill in a form to become an agent for secret organisation. Other chairs are for intimidation and to show power such as the Iron Throne in Game of Thrones. Some people think the chair is ugly looking others believe by sitting on it they will have great power. Either way everyone wants the Iron Throne.

That is one damn goooood chair. Thumbs up to art department and G.R.R Martin as well.

Keep this in mind when filming that even a simple chair can say a lot about a character through how they sit on it and how it looks. Always remember film is a visual medium.