All The Oranges In The Godfather Ranked By How Much We'd Eat Them

July 15, 2022 1:54 PM

I've thought a lot about the film over these years, as has anyone else with even a passing interest in film theory, which means I've also fallen down the rabbit hole of, "What's with all the oranges?"
posted by Etrigan (26 comments total)

It's thought that one of the first rackets run by the Sicilian Mafia was lemons.
posted by credulous at 2:07 PM on July 15, 2022 [4 favorites]

In my Intro to Film Studies course, I remember asking my prof, "What's with all the oranges in The Godfather?"
I don't remember his answer, other than that oranges seem to be generally associated with death or imminent death. Not always, but often. Which seems about right.
posted by Dr. Wu at 2:07 PM on July 15, 2022 [2 favorites]

While it's been a long time since I checked this, I think it's every time, actually--that is, if you see the color orange in a scene, violence or death is about to ensue, but not the converse.
posted by praemunire at 2:12 PM on July 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

That mini produce market where Don Corleone was shopping before he got shot looks great, but the ones on Woltz's table look so perfect, they've gotta be capo di regime.

The explanation I remember hearing from someone related to the filming (it could have been Puzo or even Coppola in one of the billion interviews they've done on the movie), they just thought the brightness of the oranges looked good when setting up scenes. This makes sense to me, since there was so much 70's brown in the movie, orange will really pop in contrast. And if I recall correctly, wasn't its filming process fairly advanced at the time, purported to provide richer, more naturalistic colors than were typically available? If so, it'd make sense they'd try to find some nice bright colors to show off.
posted by skewed at 2:41 PM on July 15, 2022 [2 favorites]

My neighbor would get into his third martini and then routinely launch into his oranges totally mean death! speech and I thought this was pretty much canon by now.
posted by JoeZydeco at 2:55 PM on July 15, 2022 [4 favorites]

Orange you glad this isn’t a potato post?
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 2:58 PM on July 15, 2022 [72 favorites]

I thought it was orange that M Night Shyamalan used in Sixth Sense to indicate death or something was about to happen, but on googling it was in fact red.
posted by sapere aude at 3:32 PM on July 15, 2022

Mind the oranges, Marlon.
posted by biffa at 3:48 PM on July 15, 2022 [3 favorites]

I think Jack Woltz's dining room oranges were probably the best. That orange was the greatest piece of fruit he’s ever had, and he’s had ‘em all over the world.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 4:21 PM on July 15, 2022 [6 favorites]

Sicilian Blood Orange peel makes a better monster mouth.

I think it reminds him of home.
posted by clavdivs at 4:36 PM on July 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

from bean plating to navel listing
posted by NoThisIsPatrick at 5:21 PM on July 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

True film scholar ignores the artistry of a brilliant film and focus on click-bait crap.
posted by Ideefixe at 5:51 PM on July 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

It's just a color thing. Fits the pallet, but brings in bright notes. It's not complicated.
posted by metametamind at 5:54 PM on July 15, 2022

It's just a color thing. Fits the pallet, but brings in bright notes. It's not complicated.

It’s actually complicated. Or at least, it is deliberate. Consider how the colour of Kay Corleone’s clothing is an expression of her spirit throughout the series , for example.

Everything you can see in these movies was put there deliberately by a master of the craft. If you want to understand that craft, or even fully appreciate the movies, brushing that off is a mistake.
posted by mhoye at 6:21 PM on July 15, 2022 [10 favorites]

I saw The Godfather on the big screen recently when the restored was in theaters for its 50th anniversary. It looks amazing.

I've seen the movie so many times I don't really need to watch it. This time I looked at things in the backgrounds or on the edges instead of the central action. I noticed two things:

1. Woltz has an Oscar on a nightstand across his bedroom.
2. Sandra Corleone and Theresa Hagen both look almost more Irish than Italian to me, so it's less odd that Michael also marries a non-Italian(-looking) woman.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:25 PM on July 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Point: What Does This Movie Mean? — The Godfather’s Oranges

It’s a well-known fact that oranges represent mortal danger in The Godfather world. Vito Corleone buys oranges just before he is ambushed, and a cascade of oranges spills onto the sidewalk as he is shot. At the end of the first film, he cuts up an orange minutes before his death. Sonny Corleone passes a large billboard advertising orange juice just before being gunned down at a tollbooth. Every scene showing a mafia conference has oranges in it somewhere. Every mafia figure is shown handling an orange at some point — usually just before a violent scene. And at the end of it all, in the last scene of the last Godfather movie, Michael Corleone drops an orange at the moment of death. None of this is a revelation.

But … why oranges? Why not strawberries, or persimmons, or bananas?

Counterpoint: Why The Oranges In The Godfather Mean More Than You Think

"For [production designer] Dean Tavoularis," Lebo wrote, "oranges were simply another carefully chosen compliment to otherwise somberly dressed sets. 'We knew this film wasn't going to be about bright colors, and oranges make a nice contrast,' said Tavoularis. 'I don't remember anybody saying, Hey, I like oranges as a symbolic message.'"

It's true that the oranges make a nice contrast with the palette of muted reds, yellows and browns that dominate "The Godfather." But it is also true that they became strongly imbued with symbolism in the final product, even if by happenstance. Readings of art don't necessarily have to conform to the creators' intentions — especially in the case of movies, which are so brimming with visual and aural information that each given viewer will have a completely unique experience. You don't have to look at the oranges and think of death, but you don't have to not do that, either.

The Mystery of the Godfather Oranges

We have identified twenty-two scenes where the camera lingers on this tasty fruit. Some suggest that they indicate death or the threat of violence for the character interacting with the orange ... and Francis Ford Coppola corroborates this to a certain extent in his audio commentaries on the DVD sets. He says it started out as an accident but once they realized they had used oranges so frequently in the first movie they started to purposefully use them in subsequent movies

Pop, Flash, Bang: Color Accents in The Godfather
posted by kirkaracha at 6:34 PM on July 15, 2022 [7 favorites]

True film scholar ignores the artistry of a brilliant film and focus on click-bait crap.

It must be exhausting to appreciate things on such a more profound level than everyone else and be forced to point it out.
posted by Etrigan at 7:46 PM on July 15, 2022 [7 favorites]

I thought for sure that it was because Sicilians trade in so much citrus, that wasn't the point?
posted by eustatic at 7:58 PM on July 15, 2022

Metafilter: appreciating things on such a more profound level than everyone else and being forced to point it out.
posted by k3ninho at 2:10 AM on July 16, 2022 [2 favorites]

Visiting the Amalfi Coast were limoncello is made, people on the side of the road were selling huge lemons, like almost a foot in diameter, I bought a couple for ornamental purposes, and they lasted almost forever on the counter. Why aren't those more common?
posted by StickyCarpet at 2:52 AM on July 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

I figured it was a symbol of Sicily. Back in the first half of the 1900s, oranges were "exotic" just like Sicilians were considered "exotic." Oranges and people from Italy were becoming more and more common in the USA.

Plus, people from that era really treasured fruit. We take fruit for granted today. Fruit wasn't available year-round in giant sterile supermarkets when the movie characters were kids in the early 1900s. It had to be brought in by railroad in refrigerated cars. Fruit was a treat, especially citrus fruit in New York. Also, oranges have a good shelf life, can be left unrefrigerated on tables, etc. And you eat oranges out of hand like an apple, unlike limes or lemons.
posted by SoberHighland at 5:37 AM on July 16, 2022 [2 favorites]

Oranges (1967) was one of the first books by John McPhee that I read. I remember saying at the time "I'm reading a book about oranges and I can't put it down!".
posted by neuron at 10:49 AM on July 16, 2022 [2 favorites]

books by John McPhee that I read

P.S. I have read them all.
Okay, this derail stops now.
posted by neuron at 10:50 AM on July 16, 2022 [3 favorites]

so much 70's brown in the movie, orange will really pop in contrast

Orange IS brown.
posted by tigrrrlily at 8:29 PM on July 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

Consider how the colour of Kay Corleone’s clothing is an expression of her spirit throughout the series

"Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) has to tell his Don about the death of a child (in Part I, that of Santino to Don Vito; in Part II, about Kay's abortion"

This shit is insidious and i'm so done with it.
posted by tigrrrlily at 8:39 PM on July 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

@neuron I have read a John McPhee book. You remind me that I have always meant to look at more of those.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 12:52 PM on July 19, 2022