The Godfather Part III
A man can only exist in the light of redemption or in the shadows of his transgressions, but never truly in both. The Godfather Part III is the finale to The Godfather trilogy, and is about Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), the calculating head of the Corleone mob family. Many years have passed since Michael consolidated power, and has since tried to divest his family's interests from organized crime by making an exorbitant investment in a billion dollar land conglomerate operated through the Vatican. As Michael tries to escape his dark past, he is pulled back into the quagmire of violence and deception, placing the family he loves in peril.
|
|
Like its predecessors, The Godfather Part III explores the myriad definitions of family, and what that means to Michael. The specter of Michael's Old Testament-level sin at the end of The Godfather Part II--ordering the death of his brother, Fredo--haunts him and is felt in his every action. Michael had many years to eliminate his mafia ties, yet Fredo's death was the true catalyst, building to his deal with the sycophantic Archbishop Gilday (Donal Donnelly). The Catholic Church represents Michael's wish to be absolved for the sins he has committed in the name of his family--even slaying one of them ostensibly to save the rest. Time passed, and Michael's wife, Kay (Diane Keaton), has remarried, no longer willing to share her life with a man who harbors murderous impulses. Their son, Anthony (Franc D'Ambrosio), echoes the young Michael who Kay once loved--a dreamer who longed to be free from life in the Corleone family. Michael's daughter, Mary (Sofia Coppola), is ignorant of the dark side of her father's past; he appoints her as the honorary chairperson of the foundation he finances alongside Gilday. Michael does this to establish himself as a philanthropist and bring an air of legitimacy to his subsequent power play of epic proportions--buying the controlling share in the European land conglomerate, Immobiliare. Anthony defies Michael's wishes that he continue law school and becomes a musician instead; in response, Michael takes his nephew, Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia)--the son of his late older brother, Sonny--under his wing as his protégé. Vincent is a wild hood who indulges his passions and relishes being a gangster in the family's former business; he also sports a vicious vendetta against his own caporegime, the slick yet scheming Joey Zasa (Joe Mantegna).
Anthony, Mary, and Vincent are a reflection of Michael and his siblings from the previous generation--including his surviving sister, Connie (Talia Shire)--and Michael gradually transforms into his late father, Vito. But Michael's angst and guilt affects him more than it did his father, because he knows that he has done evil; he is fully aware that no matter the excuses he makes in claiming that it was a necessary sacrifice for his family, it has always been about his paranoid refusal to abdicate power. Consider when Vincent comments that since Michael relinquished control of the family's street operations, the community that fostered the Corleone family lives in fear of drug pushers and killers like Zasa. Michael has not cultivated a sustainable "family", but an outfit that is helpless in the vacuum of his leadership. Michael formally ends his dealings with the "Commission"--the leaders of the families he has made rich through their erstwhile casino dealings--yet treats this "family" as nothing but a business venture to be dissolved; he offers generous payouts, but all he's really doing is trading one cash crop for another to harvest--Immobiliare. Michael lacks integrity with his actual family; despite his proclamations that he wished to honor his father in The Godfather, and his immediate family in the sequel--a point he stresses to Kay in a heartfelt confession--he still treats them as pawns in his schemes, even if he isn't aware of it.
Michael molds Anthony into a simulacrum of himself by quelling his fiery temper, aware that it got Sonny killed--but this same passion for the "old ways" is what compelled him to take the young firebrand under his wing in the first place. Vincent is a bit of a romeo, evident by his easy seduction of Grace Hamilton (Bridget Fonda), an assertive reporter who insinuates herself into the charity ball Michael throws in honor of receiving a medal by Gilday--one he bought. Vincent becomes attracted to Mary after her innocent flirting, and the two fall in love, despite Michael's demands to the contrary. Michael later concocts a plan where Vincent will ingratiate himself with a suspected traitor, Don Altobello (Eli Wallach), and pretend to be at loggerheads with Michael and looking to strike out on his because of his love for Mary. His cunning is in rare form here; he leverages the rift between him and the younger Corleones for an edge against his enemies--deft yet heartless, and consistent with Michael Corleone. The inheritors of the Corleone legacy may not agree with Michael's terms, but they are earnest to honor their seniors; this is why Vincent ultimately replaces Michael as the godfather, even if it is in name only--Michael is still regarded as the biggest threat by his enemies. When Michael discovers he has been betrayed by Gilday and his accomplices on the governing board of Immobiliare, he visits Cardinal Lamberto (Raf Vallone), ostensibly to recruit him as an ally against Gilday. During their visit, Lamberto comes to hear Michael's confession; Michael breaks down in front of Lamberto in a shocking departure for this cold and aloof iceman, and confesses that he killed Fredo. The Pope dies shortly thereafter, and Lamberto is made the new Pope; Michael's deal with Immobiliare is assured. Could it be that even this moment--at the acme of Michael's vulnerability and guilt--was just another cunning maneuver? Michael's true motives are always obscure; there is the lingering sense that on a fundamental level, he longs to regain the life he had a lifetime ago, free of the Corleone legacy. But consider a moment when Kay--who has heretofore maintained an adamantine level of resistance to his efforts to repair their bond--concedes that she still loves him. He is subsequently called out into the hall to discuss "business", and the scene is deliberately framed to recall the denouement of The Godfather; her response is exasperated resignation--and she's entitled to it.
The Godfather Part III is dramatically self-aware--even more than its predecessor--highlighting moments that become ironic because of their familiarity. The film uses flashbacks less to recall key details from the prior films, but to place the audience inside Michael's head--a place that has long been unknown territory. This includes his memories of when he was joyous and married a Sicilian woman named Apollonia during his exile in The Godfather--and she was assassinated in his stead by a car bomb. He recalls dancing with her, with Kay, and also with Mary. The fateful gunshot signaling the consummation of his revenge against his brother still rings in his ears, as he stared out onto the lake outside of his since deserted home in Nevada with dead eyes. And he tears up when Anthony performs the theme song to The Godfather--described as a Sicilian classic--which reminds him of his ill-fated marriage to Apollonia. The opera that the Corleones attend at the film's climax--"Cavalleria rusticana"--is like a pantomime of The Godfather series, depicting scenes that are eerily reminiscent of key moments from the trilogy. As the opera plays, Vincent executes a multifaceted "settling of accounts" that is deliberately designed to mimic the memorable climax of The Godfather. It would be impossible for Michael to be unaware of Vincent's intentions, considering he has shaped him into his surrogate. Yet before he passes his title of godfather to Vincent--asking that he call himself "Vincent Corleone" henceforth--he ominously prays for redemption while swearing on the lives of the children that he claims are his only real source of joy in this world. The Godfather Part III is a tragedy; the ending makes this clear, but this is also because Michael is an anti-hero similar to Oedipus. His paranoia leads the family he claims to protect into darkness, and his pride compels him to undermine his family's desires for his own--and then twist them around to make him look like a martyr. When Michael passes the torch to Vincent, the question lingers whether it comes from a genuine need to be free of the burden or if it is just a diversionary tactic. Michael finally lets out his terrible primal scream at the end, forced to bear witness to the culmination of his hubris--it is born from his loss and the existential horror that his whole life from the start of the first film has been a fraud.
Recommended for: Fans of a weighty conclusion to one of the most beloved crime dramas in movie history. The Godfather Part III explores themes of family and commitment, and the difference between genuine contrition versus the superficial illusion of it, used only to salve one's conscience from guilt.
Anthony, Mary, and Vincent are a reflection of Michael and his siblings from the previous generation--including his surviving sister, Connie (Talia Shire)--and Michael gradually transforms into his late father, Vito. But Michael's angst and guilt affects him more than it did his father, because he knows that he has done evil; he is fully aware that no matter the excuses he makes in claiming that it was a necessary sacrifice for his family, it has always been about his paranoid refusal to abdicate power. Consider when Vincent comments that since Michael relinquished control of the family's street operations, the community that fostered the Corleone family lives in fear of drug pushers and killers like Zasa. Michael has not cultivated a sustainable "family", but an outfit that is helpless in the vacuum of his leadership. Michael formally ends his dealings with the "Commission"--the leaders of the families he has made rich through their erstwhile casino dealings--yet treats this "family" as nothing but a business venture to be dissolved; he offers generous payouts, but all he's really doing is trading one cash crop for another to harvest--Immobiliare. Michael lacks integrity with his actual family; despite his proclamations that he wished to honor his father in The Godfather, and his immediate family in the sequel--a point he stresses to Kay in a heartfelt confession--he still treats them as pawns in his schemes, even if he isn't aware of it.
Michael molds Anthony into a simulacrum of himself by quelling his fiery temper, aware that it got Sonny killed--but this same passion for the "old ways" is what compelled him to take the young firebrand under his wing in the first place. Vincent is a bit of a romeo, evident by his easy seduction of Grace Hamilton (Bridget Fonda), an assertive reporter who insinuates herself into the charity ball Michael throws in honor of receiving a medal by Gilday--one he bought. Vincent becomes attracted to Mary after her innocent flirting, and the two fall in love, despite Michael's demands to the contrary. Michael later concocts a plan where Vincent will ingratiate himself with a suspected traitor, Don Altobello (Eli Wallach), and pretend to be at loggerheads with Michael and looking to strike out on his because of his love for Mary. His cunning is in rare form here; he leverages the rift between him and the younger Corleones for an edge against his enemies--deft yet heartless, and consistent with Michael Corleone. The inheritors of the Corleone legacy may not agree with Michael's terms, but they are earnest to honor their seniors; this is why Vincent ultimately replaces Michael as the godfather, even if it is in name only--Michael is still regarded as the biggest threat by his enemies. When Michael discovers he has been betrayed by Gilday and his accomplices on the governing board of Immobiliare, he visits Cardinal Lamberto (Raf Vallone), ostensibly to recruit him as an ally against Gilday. During their visit, Lamberto comes to hear Michael's confession; Michael breaks down in front of Lamberto in a shocking departure for this cold and aloof iceman, and confesses that he killed Fredo. The Pope dies shortly thereafter, and Lamberto is made the new Pope; Michael's deal with Immobiliare is assured. Could it be that even this moment--at the acme of Michael's vulnerability and guilt--was just another cunning maneuver? Michael's true motives are always obscure; there is the lingering sense that on a fundamental level, he longs to regain the life he had a lifetime ago, free of the Corleone legacy. But consider a moment when Kay--who has heretofore maintained an adamantine level of resistance to his efforts to repair their bond--concedes that she still loves him. He is subsequently called out into the hall to discuss "business", and the scene is deliberately framed to recall the denouement of The Godfather; her response is exasperated resignation--and she's entitled to it.
The Godfather Part III is dramatically self-aware--even more than its predecessor--highlighting moments that become ironic because of their familiarity. The film uses flashbacks less to recall key details from the prior films, but to place the audience inside Michael's head--a place that has long been unknown territory. This includes his memories of when he was joyous and married a Sicilian woman named Apollonia during his exile in The Godfather--and she was assassinated in his stead by a car bomb. He recalls dancing with her, with Kay, and also with Mary. The fateful gunshot signaling the consummation of his revenge against his brother still rings in his ears, as he stared out onto the lake outside of his since deserted home in Nevada with dead eyes. And he tears up when Anthony performs the theme song to The Godfather--described as a Sicilian classic--which reminds him of his ill-fated marriage to Apollonia. The opera that the Corleones attend at the film's climax--"Cavalleria rusticana"--is like a pantomime of The Godfather series, depicting scenes that are eerily reminiscent of key moments from the trilogy. As the opera plays, Vincent executes a multifaceted "settling of accounts" that is deliberately designed to mimic the memorable climax of The Godfather. It would be impossible for Michael to be unaware of Vincent's intentions, considering he has shaped him into his surrogate. Yet before he passes his title of godfather to Vincent--asking that he call himself "Vincent Corleone" henceforth--he ominously prays for redemption while swearing on the lives of the children that he claims are his only real source of joy in this world. The Godfather Part III is a tragedy; the ending makes this clear, but this is also because Michael is an anti-hero similar to Oedipus. His paranoia leads the family he claims to protect into darkness, and his pride compels him to undermine his family's desires for his own--and then twist them around to make him look like a martyr. When Michael passes the torch to Vincent, the question lingers whether it comes from a genuine need to be free of the burden or if it is just a diversionary tactic. Michael finally lets out his terrible primal scream at the end, forced to bear witness to the culmination of his hubris--it is born from his loss and the existential horror that his whole life from the start of the first film has been a fraud.
Recommended for: Fans of a weighty conclusion to one of the most beloved crime dramas in movie history. The Godfather Part III explores themes of family and commitment, and the difference between genuine contrition versus the superficial illusion of it, used only to salve one's conscience from guilt.