The Godfather Part III

United States, 1990
Running Length: 2:50
MPAA Classification: No MPAA Rating (Violence, mature themes, language)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Cast: Al Pacino, Andy Garcia, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, Sofia Coppola, George Hamilton, Bridget Fonda
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Producer: Francis Ford Coppola
Screenplay: Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo
Cinematography: Gordon Willis
Music: Carmine Coppola including themes by Nino Rota
U.S. Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Eighteen years after the first screenings of The Godfather, the long-awaited third and final chapter reached theaters. That it proved unable to fulfill expectations was a predictable - if somewhat disheartening - result, given the sixteen year buildupThe Godfather Part III is a good movie, with moments of rare power, but it is not a great one - a reason why many fans of the series have voiced their disappointment.

Oscar nominations for this film were probably based more on the Godfather name and reputation than on the particular merits of this production. Part III became the first Godfather not to take best picture and, despite a deserving performance, Al Pacino's efforts were not acknowledged. The lack of awards enthusiasm perhaps reflected a general opinion.

The story opens in 1979 New York, some twenty years after Michael Corleone (Pacino) gave the order to have his older brother killed. His children Mary (Sofia Coppola) and Anthony (Franc D'Ambrosio) are now grown. Mary is devoted to her father; Anthony is more wary. He loves Michael, but wants nothing to do with "the business", even though all illegal investments have been divested. The Corleone family is legitimate.

As with the other two movies, this one begins with a family gathering. The occasion is the presentation to Michael of the Order of St. Sebastian - the highest honor the Catholic Church can bestow upon a layman. For a Corleone to receive it is the ultimate mark of respectability.

Michael is not so easily free of his former underworld allies, however. When he makes a $600 million play for the international conglomerate Immobiliare, they want a piece of the cake, seeing an opportunity to launder their money. Michael's refusal at a meeting of dons stings more than a few of his old friends, and brings down a bloody retribution.

The next Don Corleone - Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia), Sonny Corleone's boy - is awaiting his opportunity. He possesses a ruthlessness and taste for violence that Michael has long since lost, and as the Immobiliare stakes escalate, the old head of the family recognizes the need for youth and strength. The passing of the baton, however, carries with it a tragic price.

One of the most obvious problems with The Godfather Part III is that it covers little new territory. The plot is highly derivative of the original. This time, Michael fills Vito's role, and Vincent stands in for Michael. This method of too-obvious parallelism might have been more effective had Vincent's character been better developed. That isn't the case, however, because Michael is still the focal point.

As always, Pacino is a delight to watch. The third time around, he brings a mournful weariness to Michael Corleone. This is a man who has paid for all the wrong choices. Memories haunt him like ghosts that can never be exorcised. The emotional toll is shown in the stoop of his shoulders and the thickness of his voice.

Family, as has ever been the case, is crucial to Michael. His children are his reason for living. In his words, "The only wealth in this world is children. More than all the money and power on Earth, [they] are my treasure." He says to Mary that he would burn in hell to keep her safe. It is a prophetic statement.

Robert Duvall is missed. It's impossible not to feel the vacuum created by his absence. George Hamilton's B.J. Barrison is a one-dimensional necessity of plot, not a "real" character. At least the decision was made not to replicate Tom Hagen in Barrison. Hamilton is given little more to do than stand in the background and speak a few lines.

Another unfortunate casting decision was the choice of Sofia (daughter of Francis) Coppola as Mary (Winona Ryder, the director's preference, was prevented by fatigue from appearing). Coppola is pleasant enough to look at, but her range is limited, and that lack of ability diminishes several emotionally-charged scenes. This is the first Godfather to have a major role defined by a poor performance.

One thing that is not inferior, however, is Francis Ford Coppola's directorial flair. The final half-hour, with its interweaving of diverse-yet-related plot lines, is choreographed with the skill of a master. There are moments of The Godfather Part III that shine with the brilliance of the previous two films.

Despite its missteps, The Godfather Part III packs enough of a punch to deserve a place alongside its predecessors. This is no poorly-conceived curiosity. Not only does the film bring Michael Corleone's story to a conclusion, but it remains faithful to the form and style of parts I and II. Taken as one grand epic, with this chapter included, the Godfather movies represent one of the most solid, emotionally-rich tales ever committed to film.

The Godfather Part II

United States, 1974
Running Length: 3:20
MPAA Classification: R (Violence, mature themes, language)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Cast: Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Lee Strasberg, John Cazale, G. D. Spradlin
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Producer: Francis Ford Coppola
Screenplay: Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo based on the novel by Mario Puzo
Cinematography: Gordon Willis
Music: Nino Rota
U.S. Distributor: Paramount Pictures
In English and Italian with subtitles

A companion piece in the truest sense of the term, The Godfather Part II garnered as much adulation as its predecessor, if not more. Receiving twelve Academy Award nominations, and again winning Best Picture (and this time Best Director for Coppola as well), the second installment has been rightfully hailed as the best sequel of all time.

The Godfather Part II is a more ambitious production than the original since it attempts not only to tell a pair of completely disconnected stories, but to do so in parallel. The less time consuming of the two presents the early life of Vito Corleone (played by Robert DeNiro) in Sicily and New York, and shows how he came into power. The other tale picks up approximately a decade after the conclusion of The Godfather, and shows the means by which Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), now secure in his position, attempts to expand the family empire into Las Vegas and Cuba.

Michael lives his life and runs his business by two of his father's creeds: "A man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man" and "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." There are times, however, when those precepts fail as guiding principles, such as when a betrayal occurs from within the family. Broken trust arising from so intimate a source can be devastating.

In The Godfather, family was more important than anything to Don Vito Corleone. Michael has inherited his father's values and as Part II opens, he is surrounded by the Corleone clan as they gather for his son's first communion. A symmetry between the first and second films is established here - both open with a family assemblage, and each quickly establishes where the power lies as the don "holds court."

The Corleones no longer live in New York. They have moved to Nevada where they are amassing influence with the nebulous goal of some day becoming "legitimate." But the affairs of the East Coast are about to interfere as Frankie Pentangeli (Michael V. Gazzo) arrives to request the don's acquiescence to a hit. Michael cannot agree because such a killing would ruin certain business dealings currently in progress with the powerful and influential Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg).

Plot and counterplot develop, and Michael becomes the focal point of a web of betrayal and deceit, turned against by those he had sought to protect. Assassination attempts and government probes target Michael, but he fights back using every scintilla of ingenuity he possesses and sacrificing much of his humanity in the process.

For a man constantly battling to keep his family together, a mournful irony of The Godfather Part II is that Michael's efforts succeed only in fragmenting it. If the end of the first film was numbing, this one is shattering. The flashback preceding the final scene presents a stark differentiation of how things once were from what they have become.

A more comprehensive contrast emerges through the lengthy sequences detailing Vito Corleone's rise from obscurity. Showing his arrival at Ellis Island, his early relationship with Clemenza (Bruno Kirby), and his confrontation with Don Fanucci (Gastone Moschin), these segments stand in contradiction to Michael's scenes. Expansion is replaced by slow disintegration, energy and success by pain and failure. If young Vito's era is the Corleone's dawn, Michael's is the approaching twilight.

The danger in interweaving the early twentieth century story with the one from 1958 is that the momentum of either - or both - could be curtailed. While this occasionally happens (most notably in the first shift back to 1917, shortly after the assassination attempt on Michael), Coppola handles the transitions adroitly, keeping the pace consistent enough to limit any sense of jarring or disorientation.

The traditional elements of the Tragedy introduced in The Godfather reach their maturity in Part II. Much of the humanity remaining to Michael at the outset is leeched from him with each deception and setback. Late scenes with a resentful Fredo (John Cazale) and a bitter Kay (Diane Keaton) emphasize the price for Michael of continuing his father's dominion. His flaw is his imperceptiveness and, as is the case for any hero in a story of this nature, its effects are crippling.

Primarily due to the scope of events, Part II is not as tightly-scripted as Part I. While most of the first film takes place in New York (with a few excursions elsewhere), here the settings vary: Sicily, Ellis Island, New York, Nevada, Cuba, Miami, Washington DC. In letting their characters escape the confines of the "old neighborhood", Coppola and Puzo lessen the intimacy of certain interpersonal conflicts.

Visually, many of Michael's scenes have a more gloomy appearance this time around. Especially during the latter portions of the film, the don is shown in severely underexposed settings, appearing as a silhouette. His is a voice from the darkness - a photographic mirror of what's happening beneath the surface.

As the beginning of Part II echoes the opening of The Godfather, so too does the end. Because of the manner in which circumstances are handled and considering the people involved, the impact here is more forceful. The tragic flaw has accomplished its poisonous, inevitable designs. Coppola punctuates both movies with a gut-twisting exclamation point.

Combined, The Godfather and The Godfather Part II represent the apex of American movie-making and the ultimate gangster story. Few sequels have expanded upon the original with the faithfulness and detail of this one. Beneath the surface veneer of an ethnic period piece, The Godfather is not so much about crime lords as it is about prices paid in the currency of the soul for decisions made and avoided. It is that quality which establishes this saga as timeless.

The Godfather

United States, 1972
Running Length: 2:51
MPAA Classification: R (Violence, mature themes, language, brief nudity)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Cast: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Al Lettieri, Sterling Hayden, John Cazale
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Producer: Albert S. Ruddy
Screenplay: Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo based on the novel by Mario Puzo
Cinematography: Gordon Willis
Music: Nino Rota
U.S. Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Rarely can it be said that a film has defined a genre, but never is that more true than in the case of The Godfather. Since the release of the 1972 epic (which garnered ten Academy Award nominations and was named Best Picture), all "gangster movies" have been judged by the standards of this one (unfair as the comparison may be). If a film is about Jewish mobsters, it's a "Jewish Godfather"; if it's about the Chinese underworld, it's an "Oriental Godfather"; if it takes place in contemporary times, it's a "modern day Godfather."

If The Godfather was only about gun-toting Mafia types, it would never have garnered as many accolades. The characteristic that sets this film apart from so many of its predecessors and successors is its ability to weave the often-disparate layers of story into a cohesive whole. Any of the individual issues explored by The Godfather are strong enough to form the foundation of a movie. Here, however, bolstered by so many complimentary themes, each is given added resonance. The picture is a series of mini-climaxes, all building to the devastating, definitive conclusion.

Rarely does a film tell as many diverse-yet-interconnected stories. Strong performances, solid directing, and a tightly-plotted script all contribute to The Godfather's success. This motion picture was not slapped together to satiate the appetite of the masses; it was carefully and painstakingly crafted. Every major character - and more than a few minor ones - is molded into a distinct, complex individual. Stereotypes did not influence Coppola's film, although certain ones were formed as a result of it.

The film opens in the study of Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), the Godfather, who is holding court. It is the wedding of his daughter Connie (Talia Shire), and no Sicilian can refuse a request on that day. So the supplicants come, each wanting something different - revenge, a husband for their daughter, a part in a movie.

The family has gathered for the event. Michael (Al Pacino), Don Vito's youngest son and a second world war hero, is back home in the company of a new girlfriend (Diane Keaton). The two older boys, Sonny (James Caan) and Fredo (John Cazale), are there as well, along with their "adopted" brother, Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), the don's right-hand man.

With the end of the war, the times are changing, and as much as Don Vito seems in control at the wedding, his power is beginning to erode. By the standards of some, his views on the importance of family, loyalty, and respect are antiquated. Even his heir apparent, Sonny, disagrees with his refusal to get into the drug business. Gambling and alcohol are forces of the past and present; narcotics are the future. But Don Vito will not compromise, even when a powerful drug supplier named Sollozzo (Al Lettieri) arrives with promises of high profits for those who back him.

Don Vito's refusal to do business with Sollozzo strikes the first sparks of a war that will last for years and cost many lives. Each of the five major mob families in New York will be gouged by the bloodshed, and a new order will emerge. Betrayals will take place, and the Corleone family will be shaken to its roots by treachery from both within and without.

The Corleone with the most screen time is Michael (it's therefore odd that Al Pacino received a Best Supporting Actor nomination), and his tale, because of its scope and breadth, is marginally dominant. His transformation from "innocent" bystander to central manipulator is the stuff of a Shakespearean tragedy. By the end, this man who claimed to be different from the rest of his family has become more ruthless than Don Vito ever was.

Despite the likes of Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Scarface, ...And Justice for All, and Scent of a Woman on his resume, Pacino is best remembered for the role he created in The Godfather (and subsequently reprised in two sequels). While this is not his most demonstrative performance - indeed, he is exceptionally restrained - the quality of the script makes Michael Corleone notable.

Next to Humphrey Bogart's Rick from Casablanca, Oscar winner Marlon Brando's Don Vito may be the most imitated character in screen history. The line "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse" has attained legendary status, as has the entire performance. With his raspy voice, deliberate movements, and penetrating stare, Brando has created a personae that will be recalled for as long as motion pictures exist.

Don Vito is a most complicated gangster. In his own words, he is not a killer, and he never mixes business with personal matters. He puts family first ("A man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man") and despises displays of weakness. He understands the burden of power, and his wordless sympathy for Michael when he is forced to assume the "throne", is one of The Godfather's most revealing moments (about both father and son).

The Godfather had three Best Supporting Actor nominees, all well-deserved. The first was Pacino (who probably should have been nominated alongside Brando in the Best Actor category). The other two were James Caan and Robert Duvall. In a way, it's surprising that Duvall wasn't passed over. His presence in The Godfather isn't flashy or attention-arresting. Like his character of Tom Hagen, he is steady, reliable, and stays in the background. Not so for Caan's Sonny, whose demonstrative and volatile personality can't be overlooked.

Family responsibility. A father's legacy. The need to earn respect. The corrupting influence of power. These are some of the ingredients combined in Francis Ford Coppola's cinematic blender. They are themes which have intrigued the greatest authors of every medium through the centuries.

Although the issues presented in The Godfather are universal in scope, the characters and setting are decidedly ethnic. Even to this day, there is an odd romanticism associated with New York's Italian crime families. The word "Mafia" conjures up images of the sinister and mysterious - scenes of the sort where Luca Brasi meets his fate. Francis Ford Coppola has tapped into this fascination and woven it as yet another element of the many that make his motion picture a compelling experience.

We come to The Godfather like Kay Adams - outsiders uncertain in our expectations - but it doesn't take long for us to be captivated by this intricate, violent world. The film can be viewed on many levels, with equal satisfaction awaiting those who just want a good story, and those who demand much more. The Godfather is long, yes - but it is one-hundred seventy minutes well-spent. When the closing credits roll, only a portion of the story has been told. Yet that last haunting image (Kay's shock of recognition), coupled with Nino Rota's mournful score, leaves a crater-like impression that The Godfather Part II only deepens.

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