this is bbc news, the headlines: the american space agency nasa says it'll go ahead with its launch of a giant new moon rocket next monday. the uncrewed maiden test flight for the artemis one mission will send a small capsule around the moon before it returns to earth with an ocean splash—down. donald trump has asked a federal court to temporarily block the fbi from reviewing the material it seized from his florida home two weeks ago. he's also asked the court to appoint what's called a special master, usually a retired lawyer orjudge, to act as a watchdog. china has introduced emergency measures to save electricity as the country battles the worst droughts in some places in more than half a century. shanghai is switching off its famous waterfront lights, many factories have

been ordered to close, and shops are restricting their normal opening hours. now on bbc news, talking movies: godfather anniversary special. # the first time... 50 years ago, a roberta flack song topped the record charts... # ever i saw yourface... we are today seeing the progress of modern china. ..president nixon made a historic visit to china and in britain, there was a 47—day miners strike. and in the cinema world, there was a momentous event. what many claim is the greatest movie ever

made was launched — a portrait of an italian—american crime family in new york in the 1940s and �*50s. it was, for a time, the highest—grossing film ever made, a blockbuster that was also a work of great art. it was the godfather. i'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse. hello from new york, i'm tom brook and welcome to our talking movies godfather anniversary special. half a century on, we celebrate and reassess the landmark classic, directed by francis ford coppola, starring movie greats marlon brando, al pacino, robert duvall, james caan and diane keaton. forjustice, we must go to don corleone. the opening scene in the godfather takes place in the office of crime boss don vito corleone, played by marlon brando, on the wedding day of his daughter. they beat her like an animal. an undertaker, bonasera, is pleading with corleone to use extralegal means

to punish men who attacked and disfigured his daughter. they're going to suffer, then, as she suffers. it is a scene that signals what is to come — what this iconic film is really all about. some day — and that day may never come — i'll call upon you to do a service for me. the opening scene is very sombre... i until that day... ..it's also very deliberate. ..accept this justice as a gift on my daughter's wedding day. but also, that scene is really important. i i mean, what's the — what are the first. words in the film? i believe in america. i mean, the whole movie's . about the american dream... america has made my fortune. ..and about the corruption of the american dream. i now, she will never be beautiful again. so, right there, that opening scene, in so many ways, - encapsulates everything about the film. - who should i give this job to? this grand three—hour opus was the product of many different talents. robert duvall appeared in the movie as the corleone family lawyer and advisor tom hagen. i have a special practice. i handle one client. today, at the age of 91, he firmly believes the epic

bears the handiwork and stamp of one individual in particular. coppola. francis ford coppola. he's the — he's the beginning of the end of it all. although in the beginning, they were trying to fire him during the first couple of weeks of work. and i was aware, and i guess others were — and i'd gained a lot of respect for him. it was his vision from a to z and they tried to have a standby director, to fire him, in case they fired him, then this guy would take over. but it was coppola's vision and his film—making and his casting that made it all work, i mean, for me — for everybody. the inspiration for the godfather came partly from the bestseller of the same name by american author mario puzo, published three years before the film's release. in an interview decades ago, coppola, who ultimately worked with puzo on the godfather screenplay, revealed he didn't have much initial enthusiasm for the project.

anyone who remembers the original godfather book, it had a lot of sleazy aspects to it that, of course, were cut out for the movie and i didn't like it very much for those reasons and i was very frightened of getting once again co—opted into another project, like, low budget — it was a very inexpensive film and in those days, they wanted young directors because they wanted it cheap, and i did turn it down, actually, once or twice. much of the action in the godfather takes place at this house on longfellow avenue in staten island in new york. it served as the home to the don corleone family. the narrative that unfolds from this house provides audiences with a portrait of an italian—american crime family in the 1940s and �*50s. but it's more than that. it tells a story of one family member's transformation — that of michael, who loses his soul. don't ever take sides with anyone against

the family again. obviously, it's about family, obviously, it's about power but i think it's also, in many ways, a film about the loss of one's self—awareness and the loss of one's identity because, you know, if you look at the character of michael corleone, you know, he starts off the film as the one person in the family who's self—aware, who's really aware of what the family does. that's my family, kay. it's not me. _ and over the course of the film, he loses that self—awareness. don't tell me you're innocent. because it insults my intelligence. it makes me very angry. he no longer has the sense that what the family is doing is wrong. i thought you weren't going to become a man like your father. that's what you told me. my father's no different - than any other powerful man. scoffs. any man who's responsible for other people. _ well, i've always felt that the godfather was really

less about gangsters than about power and powerful families and the succession of power and the machiavellian way that real power works in the world and, you know, obviously, i was more interested in those themes, but those themes could apply to a shakespeare play or to any piece that deals, you know — greek drama, even, really, — with those bigger themes, and that's more where i had my intention. the godfather is made at the start of the 1970s. it's a very dark period for america and i think that darkness is reflected in the film. what do you think this is, the army, where you - shoot 'em a mile away? this is the era of vietnam. this is the era of political assassinations. you know how naive you sound? why? _ senators and presidents don't have men killed. i who's being naive, kay? the country's coming out of the '60s and a lot of people are wondering if the american

project can really continue. mr corleone is a manl who insists on hearing bad news immediately. the film really reflects the sense that the characters and the country and their family — which, in many ways, is a microcosm of the country — is heading towards a very dark place. look how they massacred my boy. marlon brando was cast in the pivotal role of don corleone. he had a reputation for being difficult and the studio didn't want him, but coppola prevailed and his performance ended up defining the film. i have a sentimental weakness for our children and i spoil them, as you can see. they talk when they should listen. he was 47 years old when shooting began, at a low point of his career. he did a screen test for the part. he put paper handkerchiefs in his mouth to create the voice he wanted. what is the interest for my family? during filming, he wore this dental plumper, now an exhibit at the museum of the moving image, to make him sound and look different.

how did things ever get so far? i don't know. i mean, coppola said he wanted — he'd get for — either for the part either brando or olivier. olivier wouldn't have been good for that part. but brando, he took certain chances with a certain mouthpiece and so forth, but it worked because he could bring an inner sense of intensity and truth from within himself, you know? within quotation marks for the part, you know? although he read his lines! he put up billboards, he put lines here, he'd read 'em, you know? so, he had his own way of working. when you say he read his lines, he relied on cue cards? was that it? absolutely. not all the time but, like, the scene with, i guess, pacino in the gardens... ..in my lifetime not to be careless.

he'd lean back and look up... women and children can be careless but not men. he had his lines written in a tree. or down here, you know? so, he claimed it he made it, you know, spontaneous but i don't think he needed to do it that way necessarily. but he worked that way and that's fine, you know? brando was brando, you know? i'm michael corleone. this is my father. - the other crucial role to be cast was that of michael, don corleone�*s youngest son. luca brasi held a revolver against halley�*s head. coppola went for al pacino — a relative unknown at the time. the studio wasn't impressed by his acting at first. it was described as "anaemic". why are all these people bothering your father on a day like this? oh, that's because they know. what? — that no sicilian can refuse any request... but ultimately, pacino's performance was mesmerising and ignited his career. i'm with you now. i'm with you. pacino was amazed

he got the role. i thought, "there's no way i'm going to get the part! "you can't" — you know what i mean? they're all these big movie stars out there and i thought "what do they want? "how am i ever going to get that kind of a role?" i don't want it. i'm doing all right. my life's ok. i mean, simple. i play the piano sometimes, i go do theatre, i read, i have — you know, i'm in new york. new york, you get everything. new york feeds you, you know? you don't need anything else. from sequences shot at this house on staten island and elsewhere in new york, and as far away as sicily, the godfather comes together extremely smoothly as a masterful movie. but behind the scenes it was anything but smooth. there was a lot of friction between the director, francis ford coppola, and studio executives on a number of matters. there were fights over budget, location, setting. at one point there was even an insurrection about among coppola's own crew, that they wanted him

replaced as director. so it was just a fight around everything. some of the other families won't sit still for all—out war! then they hand me sollozzo! my father wouldn't want to hear this, this is business not personal. but robert duvall remembers that in the midst of all the mayhem, coppola managed to remain a steady hand, working well with the actors. the thing that was good about coppola, he didn't say you had to do it, like certain old—time directors. he wanted to see what you brought to the table. and what you brought to the table, he would watch and then... he would go with it if he thought it was valid. so, you know, he had respect for actors without, you know, being totally arbitrary. they shot sonny on the causeway, he's dead. when i had to reveal the news of sonny's death,

that's a thing i do remember. coppola said, "do you want to do another take?" i said yeah, and then i think he got what he wanted. he's not one of the directors that does 25 takes. you know, if he gets it in the beginning, that's it with coppola. he's not one to beat a dying horse, you know. but it was a wonderful experience. one issue facing the creators of the godfather came from the italian—american community which subsequently embraced the film but initially was concerned that this movie would display them all as a bunch of mafia hoodlums. at first the italian—american civil rights league, led byjoe colombo, who was reputedly also the head of one of the five families of new york, they were trying to stamp out what was perceived as stereotyping of italian americans in popular culture, and the godfather, of course, became at the forefront of that campaign.

the league wanted it to be stopped. but al ruddy, the producer, met with the league and joe colombo and it turned out that they, according to ruddy, only wanted one thing and that was no mention of the word mafia in the film. it had only been mentioned at one point in the screenplay. and so al ruddy agreed that that would be taken out. and for that one simple deletion, a world of cooperation opened. and some reputedly connected individuals were allegedly cast in the film. the godfather is memorable for its violence, some of it highly choreographed. what about the violence in the godfather? were there discussions about that? well, i think it's well choreographed. some of the stuff today, some of the violence is very indulged. but there was a reason for it in the godfather.

coppola knew how to handle that well. the studio reportedly wanted the film to be more violent to make the picture more sellable at the box office rather than just have an artistic sensibility which they feared coppola might deliver. the godfather is in many ways a classic new york movie, and francis ford coppola made ample use of locations around the city, capturing the period detail. much of the shooting was done down here in lower manhattan in different areas of little italy. i think it's a really important new york film because in some ways it traces the important spots for, certainly in terms of organised crime, but america in the 'iios in new york, where you've got little italy that features prominently there, and you've got staten island

where the opening wedding sequence was shot. i'm from staten island and i was always brought up with references to the godfather having been filmed there. staten island is also a prominent location in terms of the history of organised crime and the sort of, the passage of italian—american settlements over time. they don't say if he's dead or alive. new york's landmark radio city music hall is featured in the godfather. michael and kay, played respectively by al pacino and diane keaton, are seen leaving the music hall and learning of the news that don corleone has been shot in little italy. is he all right? we don't know yet. diane keaton is one of very few women in any significant role in the godfather, it's a very male story, an incredibly patriarchal crime family. the movie has been accused of being misogynistic, even holding back the progress of women in the film industry. emma jones has been

investigating. hello? daughters, lovers, wives, mothers. what's the matter? i can't hear you. some go without a first name, like mama corleone. in the ultra masculine world of the godfather, what place do its women have? you just told me to make you dinner. apart from in the kitchen or the bedroom. watching it as a woman there is always the sense of, what are the female characters? there are some, but who are they, and are they really as fleshed out as the male characters in the film? and the answer is no. the answer is no. is it true? — don't ask me about my business. no... enough! diane keaton played kay, the american graduate who marries michael corleone. it was keaton�*s breakthrough acting role. kay, for all herfaults in the film, as a character is more progressive, she does ask questions.

what was that? that's an accident, . but nobody was hurt. she does challenge the world to some extent. and i think it's interesting because you see the mafia and the world through her eyes. at the beginning we are at the same point of view as her, we are the outsider curious about this world and want to know more about it. my father helped him with his career. he did? how? . that is one of the strong points of the film but it's unfortunate, they could have done a lot more with the character. how long have you been back? i think she is often presented as this sort of lovesick, weeping, distressed women who is just in love with michael. what do you want with me, after all this time without even calling or writing. i don't think that she has to be a main character in this film, if you are going to reboot the godfather that is what you should do, that is what should happen. in the world outside the godfather in 1972, there were waves of feminist protests seeking equality. a year later, roe v wade

granted abortion rights to women in the us. times have changed. in the godfather, set in 1945, it is a rigidly patriarchal system. i hate you! don corleone�*s daughter connie, played by talia shire, is fleshed out as a character by the horrific depiction of domestic abuse she suffers. michael corleone�*s sicilian first wife apollonia is filmed topless on her wedding night. the actress, simonetta stefanelli, was a teenager at the time. she is topless, you know, he is not. there is no male nudity at all. and, you know, it's like, previously in the film you have seen her basically being bartered over. she has very few lines, very little opportunity to give any kind of character. i think the actress herself described her role as, "i met him, i married him,

idied." that's it. connie is the daughter of a don, she would, she has some power. she would have experienced some power growing up, and yet is quite helpless. what's the matter? it was my fault! she's another character that is squandered in my view. the film was hugely successful so a lot of studio execs would have looked at that film and thought, "fantastic, let's replicate that." and i think the 1970s was the age of the male anti—hero. i saw in your eyes, and i saw in the way you carried yourself, that you're not a happy person. that was a period where you have robert de niro in taxi driver, there were a lot of misogynistic men whose characters were explored. that's not to say that i don't think the godfather should exist at all, i think it is a great film, ijust want otherfilms, i'm sure feminists at the time felt completely destroyed by the cinema, the popular cinema at the time.

perhaps coppola's lens on italian and american women living in 1940s new york, a domestic world where they existed to please, may have been fairly accurate. but the 1940s was also an era of spirited heroines on screen and fleshing these women out into fully dimensional characters was also an opportunity missed. this new york crime family epic has stood the test of time because of its strong story, performances and cinematography. it is brilliant cinema. there wasn't enough time, michael. there wasn't enough time. we'll get there, pop. we'll get there. 50 years after its launch, it's clear that in many ways the godfather has very much left its mark on popular culture, particularly with the way in which mobsters are portrayed. a man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man. whether it be in the popular american crime drama tv

series the sopranos... someday soon you're gonna have family of your own. and if you're lucky, you'll remember the little moments. ..or in director martin scorsese's celebrated new york gangster film, goodfellas. i do think the godfather change the way the mafia was portrayed in films. after the godfather, gangsters were seen as almost noble. they were seen as quiet, calculating, certainly intense, but not the kind of cartoonish eye—rolling villains that you would have seen before. so that brings this special godfather anniversary edition of talking movies to a close. we hope you've enjoyed the show. please remember you can always reach us online at bbc.com/talkingmovies. and you can find us on twitter. from me, tom brook, and the rest of the talking movies

team here in new york, it's goodbye as we leave you with a clip from what is perhaps one of the best movies ever made. # this heart i bring you. # i have but one heart to share with you. # i have but one dream, that i can cling to. # you are the one dream i pray comes true.# hello.

it will stay quite unsettled, there will be showers towards western areas, which means the best sunshine will be concentrated further east. always plenty of cloud, it will feel warmer everywhere but it will feel quite humid as well especially in the south. the weather front we have seen so far today has stretched in from the atlantic across northern england, heavy downpours, thickening cloud elsewhere. the front eventually goes into the north sea overnight tonight, but still some eastern coastal showers. elsewhere mostly dry with some clever spells, very mild and moist air pushing into devon and cornwall, so some coastal fog tomorrow morning. very murky conditions here. a very mild night. quite muggy. temperatures no lower than the mid—teens celsius. starting

tomorrow, most of us between weather systems, tomorrow, most of us between weathersystems, but tomorrow, most of us between weather systems, but we have a feature running towards western coastal areas of scotland, which will move east through the day, introducing showers into eastern scotland, replacing the sunny spells in the morning. thickening cloud towards western in wales where we could see showers into the afternoon, thickening cloud and rather misty foggy conditions across the south—west. the best sunshine, 26—27 in the south, norfolk and lincolnshire. overnight on tuesday into wednesday, some heavy downpours of rain pushing east out of northern ireland, into western scotland and clearing northwards through the afternoon. drier conditions developing, the winds will ease down and a cold front sinking southwards and eastwards, but fizzling out as it goes. much fresher conditions across the north and west, look at the contrast in the temperature

map. the south and east, still warm and humid with highs of 29 celsius. on thursday, the weather front still pushing south and east, introducing cloud into east anglia, no rain, but we could see showers in western areas of scotland. thursday temperatures, the heat and humidity hanging on towards the far south—east of england, but already cooler across eastern coastal areas, should be mostly dry with sunshine, fairly pleasant for many. in thursday night some heavy thundery downpours possibly, welcome rain across east anglia and the south—east, but still lots of uncertainty regarding this, the details are likely to change. but as we head into friday and saturday, we start to see some fresher conditions just about everywhere. temperatures across the capital cities into the weekend. the weekend looks mostly dry, with quite a bit of sunshine around. high pressure towards the west,

which starts to migrate further east, which will draw down more of a north—easterly wind through the weekend, and into the start of next week. still the start of next week. still the chance of showers across parts of scotland and towards eastern coastal areas of england, being driven inland on the north—easterly wind. it will feel a little cooler but mostly dry with some sunny spells.

marin, cof welcome to bbc news — i'm simon pusey. our top stories... three, two, one... mission to the moon — nasa gives the go—ahead for its latest test flight — artemis will launch next monday. we are go for launch, which is absolutely outstanding. this day has been a long time coming. lawyers for donald trump take legal action following the raid on his florida home — claiming it was an attempt to stop him running for office. when the lights go out — shanghai's skyline is cast into darkness — as china's severe drought leads to a power shortage. and return of the liberator — brazil's first emperor arrives to celebrate its bicentennial, or at least part of him does!