10 Best Movie Character Introductions Of All Time
4. Vito Corleone (The Godfather)
The Godfather, one of the greatest movies ever made, begins with a man pleading for the thugs who brutalised his daughter to be brought to justice. He's making his case to an unseen figure, who slowly looms into view as the camera pans back.
The justice the speaker is seeking is not dispensed by courts or the police, and the man he's addressing is Marlon Brando's Vito Corleone, a heavyset man in a suit, who wastes no time showing the audience everything they need to know.
Brando's screen presence and naturalistic delivery soon reveals that this is a powerful man who demands respect, the kind of guy who could kill a man simply by giving an order, and is capable of granting the kind of favours nobody else can.
Shot and framed to perfection, his introduction scene is charged and atmospheric, and sets the tone for the movie to come. The Godfather is as much about honour and integrity, as it is a tale of crime and bloodshed.