When it comes to
trilogies, usually the first one is good, the second raises the bar, and the
third falls short of the second one. There are of course exceptions (The Bourne trilogy, the Indiana Jones
series), but that’s usually the way it goes. When The Godfather Part III came out in 1990, the universal consensus
was that the first two were masterpieces and the third one was nowhere near as
good. There are indeed problems in Michael Corleone’s swan song. The story is a
bit hard to follow, Robert Duvall is no longer there as family lawyer Tom
Hagan, and Sofia Coppola was probably not experienced enough as an actress to
play Michael’s daughter. That being said, it does have its moments of
greatness, including the uttering of the line “Just when I thought I was out,
they pull me back in.”
I am going to end
up repeating this part two other times as I move up Empire’s list, but the
first time I saw The Godfather trilogy was when my parents, my brother and I
rented it from ye old video store in Quebec City in 2003. We watched the
original Star Wars trilogy as a family way back when, so why not move on to
another classic series? I already knew Part III was regarded as the weakest
link, because everyone from Richard Roeper to mobster Fat Tony on The Simpsons
said it. Ironically, Fat Tony is voiced by Joe Mantegna who plays enforcer Joey
Zasa in the movie. Maybe it’s because I didn’t have the anticipation audiences
had back in 1990, but watching the whole trilogy back to back I thought it was still
a pretty solid exit for the Godfather.
Set in 1979,
years after the events of the last movie, The
Godfather Part III sees mobster Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) older and full
of regrets. The execution of his brother Fredo by his orders still haunts him;
he divorced his wife Kay (Diane Keaton), who took custody of his children Mary
(Sofia Coppola) and Anthony (Frank D’Ambrosio), and his closest advisor Tom
Hagan died years ago. Now with new legal adviser B.J Harrison (George Hamilton)
Michael wants to put the past behind him and rebuild his family’s name by
focusing on charity.
Unfortunately the
past won’t let go. At a party following his ordination as a Commander of the
Order of St. Sebastian, Michael meets Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia), a
hot-tempered young man and illegitimate son of Michael’s late brother Sonny.
Vincent is in a feud with Joey Zasa (Joe Mantegna) an enforcer who has taken
over the Corleone’s crime interest in New York City and has been pumping drugs
into the Little Italy neighbourhood. Michael’s sister Connie (Talia Shire) who
has become adept at the family business arranges a meeting between the two
hoping cooler heads will prevail. Instead things escalate and after Vincent
survives an assassination attempt, Michael decides to take his nephew under his
wing.
Meanwhile Michael
makes a business deal with an unlikely partner: the Vatican. Negotiating with
Archbishop Gilday (Donal Donelly) he buys stocks in International Immobiliare,
an international real estate holding company and makes an offer to buy the
Vatican’s interest in the company, which would give him controlling interest.
As the Vatican Bank was running a massive deficit at the time, just like in
real life, Gilday is very grateful for the deal. However Pope Paul VI, who is
gravely ill, must approve it first.
To further
complicate matters, Michael’s old mafia partners hear of the multi-million
dollar deal and want a piece of the action. Wanting to keep the deal
legitimate, Michael meets the mafia bosses in Atlantic City and offers them a
generous buyout. Joey Zasa is amongst them and promptly leaves after Michael
tells him he gets nothing. Shortly after the mobsters are massacred in a
spectacular action sequence as a helicopter hovers from above the hotel. Barely
escaping with is life; Michael realizes Zasa does not have the power to pull
off a stunt like that. The enemy might actually be Don Altobello (Eli Wallach) an
old family friend who also conveniently fled before the helicopter showed up.
The rest of the
story takes place in Sicily, the Corleones’ homeland where Michael tries to
figure who he can trust while salvaging his deal with the Vatican. He also
tries to stop Vincent from developing a physical relationship with Mary. Two
reasons: number one, they are cousins after all. That’s not healthy. Number two,
despite his temper Vincent is on his way to becoming the next Godfather and
Michael knows the dangers that entails. In a great scene Michael watches
Vincent being handed over the power of the family. The poor fool has no idea
what he is getting into.
Upon first
watching it is difficult to keep track of the various Dons, cardinals, bankers,
mobsters and corrupt politicians involved in the Vatican deal. The best scenes
are the more personal ones, such as when Michael tries to patch things up with
Kay, who backs away every time the family business rears its ugly head. Then
there is a scene when Michael finally confesses his most heinous crimes to a
cardinal who tells him he deserves to suffer, but still has a chance at
redemption.
The cardinal is
most certainly right about the suffering part. It is an unwritten rule that
gangsters in movies must pay for their crimes in the end and Michael Corleone
is no exception, despite his effort to move away from crime. In the end he will
lose everything. A sad ending for a former war veteran who never wanted to be a
criminal. This may not be the best ending to a trilogy, but throughout Al
Pacino gives yet another memorable performance.
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