The Godfather was shot in multiple locations, including parts of New York City (as well as some of the burroughs), Los Angeles, and two different cities in Sicily. Francis Ford Coppola, the director, wanted the bulk of the filming to be in New York City.
The Sicilian scenes of The Godfather are filmed in Savoca, now one of the Most Beautiful Villages in Italy. Here you can see the famous Bar Vitelli where Michael asks his father to marry Apollonia: originally the structure was a former farmhouse, transformed into a bar for filming.
The villa is called Castello Degli Schiavi in real life and it's open to visitors. This is the main The Godfather house Sicily and also features as a The Godfather Sicily location in Part II and Part III, but we'll get to that.
Bar Vitelli Sicily is located at the entrance of Savoca, in Piazza Fossìa. The eighteenth-century Palazzo Trimarchi still reveals the sign of the famous bar where Michael Corleone spoke with the father of his future wife Apollonia Vitelli.
Corleone (Italian: [korleˈoːne]; Sicilian: Cunigghiuni [kʊnɪɟˈɟuːnɪ] or Curliuni [kʊɾlɪˈuːnɪ]) is an Italian town and comune of roughly 11,158 inhabitants in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, in Sicily.
Godfather Filming Locations in Savoca | Sicily 50 Years Anniversary Since Movie Release
Is Corleone Sicily worth visiting?
Enjoy a full-day shore excursion to Corleone, a small town that has had its history and culture shaped by the Mafia. Visit the museum in Corleone and admire the breathtaking scenery of Sicily as you journey through green valleys, cornfields and vineyards.
Its fame started when its name was linked to the name of the mafia Family in the American movie saga “The Godfather.” In fact, the Corleone family does not exist. It is a cinematographic fiction.
Where did they film the car bomb scene in The Godfather?
1 The Godfather Filmed On Location In Sicily
For these scenes, The Godfather did film in Italy, in the towns of Savoca and Forza d'Angiò. In Savoca, Bar Vitelli was used for the scene where Michael asks to marry Appollonia, who becomes his wife before she is killed in a car bombing meant for Michael.
Apollonia's death: In a tragic turn of events, Apollonia is killed in a car bomb intended for Michael. The explosion takes place as she is driving away from Bar Vitelli.
The estate was a prominent filming location in The Godfather, most famously the setting of the car explosion that took the life of Michael Corleone's wife, Apollonia. The villa is in the town of Fiumefreddo di Sicilia, just 30 minutes outside of Taormina.
At the Long Beach Causeway toll plaza, Barzini's men trap Sonny and shoot him to death. During a meeting with the other crime family dons to establish peace, Vito realizes that Barzini masterminded Sonny's murder. After Michael returns from Sicily, he assumes Sonny's place as Vito's heir apparent.
Savoca is the site of the famous Corleone wedding scene. The village's narrow cobblestoned streets and ancient buildings provide the perfect backdrop for the scene.
Where were the Sicilian scenes in The Godfather filmed?
Sicily Savoca, together with the near village Forza d'Agrò, is known for having been the location of one of the most famous movies in the history of cinema, The Godfather, and even today you can breathe evocative atmospheres of the past.
Francis Ford Coppola was born in Detroit, Michigan, to father Carmine Coppola (1910–1991), a flutist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and mother Italia Coppola (née Pennino; 1912–2004), a family of 2nd degree Italian immigrants. His paternal grandparents came to the United States from Bernalda, Basilicata.
Not far from the capital Palermo is the village of Corleone, the original home and family name of the characters in Mario Puzo's Godfather novel, on which the first movie was based. But much of the filming was done in the villages of Forza d'Agro and Savoca, quite a bit further to the east, in the Messina province.
Brando, who was only 47 at the time, underwent a transformation with the help of prosthetics, makeup, and a wig to make him appear older and burdened as the head of a crime family.
Michael has become a true Corleone (embracing both Italian culture and mob affiliation), and his marriage to Apollonia signifies Michael's official acceptance of this change and what it means for his future. When Michael marries Apollonia, he is wedding himself not just to her, but to Sicily and his father's values.
De Niro had a pivotal role in Francis Ford Coppola's crime epic The Godfather Part II (1974), playing the young Vito Corleone. De Niro had previously auditioned for the first installment, The Godfather (1972), but quit the project in favor of doing The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight.
Where was the Lake Tahoe scene in The Godfather filmed?
A Lake Tahoe home within Fleur du Lac — the private lakeside community where integral scenes of “The Godfather Part II” were filmed — is now available for long-term lease, according to Sierra Sotheby's International Realty agents Katherina Haug and Craig Miller.
He then flees to Sicily, where he falls in love with Simonetta Stefanelli's Apollonia. Tragically, she's later killed in a car bomb planted by Michael's bodyguard Fabrizio (Angelo Infanti), who betrayed him to his enemies. While Michael gets revenge on those who ordered the hit, Fabrizio is never seen again.
Fictional biography and early years. Vito Corleone is based on a composite of mid-20th-century New York Mafia figures Carlo Gambino, Frank Costello, Joe Bonanno, and Joe Profaci. The character's story begins as Vito Andolini in Corleone, Sicily, in the Kingdom of Italy.
Don Corleone was inspired by real-life mob boss Frank Costello. Don Vito Corleone has similarities to several real-life mobsters, including Joe Profaci, who used his olive oil distributorship as a front for his illegal activities, and Carlo Gambino, who used a quiet, non-flashy style en route to power.
