In the movie the godfather by Francis ford Coppola, the baptism/murder scene is a famous scene which involves the concept of parallel editing. The Scene consists of shots that cut between Michael Corleone at his nephew’s baptism, and his men murdering the rival mafia families. The shots are short creating a montage affect. The use of parallel editing between the church and the streets brilliantly displays the concept of holy and unholy events taking place in Michael’s life simultaneously. The order of the shots are extremely important to the overall meaning, with the priest reading from the bible and asking Michael questions about faith as the camera cuts back and forth watching his men prepare for the murder. The scene reaches its climax as Michael renounces satin and we quickly cut to the first murder taking place. During these montages, peaceful religious music plays through the church organs while we witness the murders taking places. This diagetic sound coming from the organs also helps the audience to know that these scenes are taking place at the same time. Juxtaposing the music with the murders seems to highlight Michael's conscious between good and evil. As the murders continue, the camera cuts back and forth showing the priest cleansing the baby’s face, “riding his sins”, while showing the bloody faces of the murders, once again highlighting the complexity of Michaels character and his involvement of the two different families. After the climax of the scene the camera continues to cut back and forth as we witness the family leaving the church and Michaels men leaving the murder scenes. The editing of this scene became famous for depicting the roles of good and evil in Michael Corleone’s life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O789amyaMvw&feature=related
