Defending ''The Godfather Part 3''

Oh, it is like being on a deserted island. Alone. Shivering in fright. Unsure of which way to turn without having to battle the forces against you. The world seems against you. Or, maybe, it is like trying to go the other way against a wave in the ocean. It is a mountain of resistance coming at you. You are Sinbad, fighting the monsters in the sea, just trying to barely stay alive against the savages. Yes, dear reader, that is what it is like being the only mortal on Earth that liked ''The Godfather, Part 3''........ Keep laughing. I know you are. I can hear you through this computer [ among the many features of having a blog is that with this, I can see right at you]. ''The Godfather, Part 3'' is a damn good movie. Now, what first must discarded in talking about this much maligned movie is the central, obvious fact that it comes nowhere near the masterpiece feel of its ancestors, Parts 1 and 2. The first two installments in the trilogy remain the golden standard of movie magic. They are the perfect blend of great art and great entertainment. When the lists of the finest movies ever made are compiled, these two always are included, with ''The Godfather'' [ or, ''Godfather 1''] often occupying the top spot. These movies are quoted by moviegoers who take its words of wisdom into the everyday life, applying them to both business and personal relationships [ ''its not personal, its strictly business'']. So, with the clear case of Part 3 nowhere near displaying the depth and quality of its parents, this redheaded stepchild must be judged apart from what has come before. And, believe me, it can be judged by its own merits...... Take, for example, the pleasure of reuniting with the characters we know so well. Seeing them all grown up, with the passage of time aging us all, is just like going to a family reunion and seeing a welcome face. You have Michael, all gray haired and stoop shouldered, sick and slowed down by age, but, still radiating the power we know him to be. He is dignified, the Old Lion, who has battled his enemies and won. Or, so we think. You have Kay, the estranged wife that he loved all those years ago from when he was young. This is the woman, with whom he promised in the garden of his parents house, that he was not like his family. Kay knows Michael well, so well, that she stands up to him like no one else dare to, telling him that, despite all his money and power and his search for respect, he is still a gangster, a ''common Mafia hood.'' Theirs is the central relationship in the movie, a life that started out so full of love and good intentions, but, was destroyed by his allegiance to his family and their code of life. There is the sister, Connie. No longer is she the mouse of the family. She has been reborn in her later years to be a female Michael, a cold , calculating woman who could be the reincarnation of a Borgia woman. She wants Michael to deal with his new crop of enemies like he did in the old days, through violence. But, Michael wants his soul clean and wants nothing to do with that life anymore. You also have the children of Michael and Kay, Anthony and Mary. Anthony refuses to follow the instructions of his father and become a lawyer. He wants to be an opera singer. From the way the character is played, Anthony seems less than masculine, more Fredo than Michael. Mary, the little girl, is filled with innocence and unabashed love for her father. She walks blindly into a love affair with her first cousin, Vincent. Vincent is the bastard son of Sonny and his maiden of honor conquest from the first movie, Lucy Mancini. Vincent has the temper like his old man, capable of flying off the handle at a moments notice, which he does by biting off the ear of a Corleone family enemy, Joey Zasa. You also have the supporting characters in the story, like Joey Zasa. Zasa is newbreed Mafia, all love of media and sharp clothes. The character seems to strongly resemble the real-life John Gotti in mannerisms and attitude. He seethes deadly vipor from his pores, you know right away that he is instant trouble. And, then, you have old man Don Altobelli, family friend for decades, who also has a mysterious streak to him. These are the characters the movie gives us to chew on. Right away, whether you are a fan of the movie or not, you are interested in these people and where the story will be taking them....... It takes them to new and daring places. Michael, looking for redemption in his later years, becomes involved with the Catholic Church. He wants to wash his sins from the past and have God forgive him for his murdering heart. In today's world, he can buy that redemption through a generous donation [ 600 million dollars] to the church. It will be all on the up and up, of course, because Michael is buying into the faultering real estate company the Vatican owns, Immobiliare. With this purchase, Michael reaches into the highest areas of the church, becoming as close to God, he believes, as he possibly can. But, God, as we know, does not forget the sins of a sinner, and Michael is bedeviled by internal infighting in the church, and his former life reaching out to him. Michael is trying to stay clean, but, his past keeps making him dirty...... Michael also has another reason to reach God. He is haunted by the murder of his sweet, weak brother, Fredo, in the second movie. If the killing of the police officer and mobster in Part 1 set him on the life of a murderer, then the execution of his brother forever doomed his soul. As the years passed, Michael cannot get over his horrible deed. The subject is touched on by other characters in the movie---- with Vincent, knowing the truth, lying to Mary to spare her feelings--- but, Connie is the only one who talks directly to Michael about it, as only family can do. She eases [ or, tries to] his conscience by saying how tragic it was that Fredo drowned in the boat. She knows the torment that Michael is under and wants to relieve his suffering. Both know the truth, and, both know the other knows the truth. Still, Michael cannot forgive himself. In the single best scene in the movie, he gives his confession to the man who will become the new Pope. ''I murdered my brother, he injured me.'' Then, he breaks down crying with the rest of the confession, ''I KILLED MY MOTHER'S SON! I KILLED MY FATHER'S SON!'' This scene, so well played by Al Pacino, is the highlight of the movie. It also is indictive of the tone and style of the movie. Michael, after reigning supreme in the first two installments, is now the victim, paying the price of a murderer. Haunted by the ghosts of the men he killed, particulary his brother's. This style was not accepted by the staunch fans of the series, which I have always felt was at the heart of why many people dislike this movie. Michael is vulnerable and human in this movie. The natural order of living his life the way he had has caught up with him. And, many fans do not like this arc of the character's development. They wanted old Michael....... There are flaws in the movie, no argument there. The absence of Tom Hagen, played by the great Robert Duvall, is felt strongly. But, this absence is not due to the filmmakers going a different way by eliminating him and his importance. On the contrary, Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo had a big role planned for Duvall. Originally, his characters was going to be the bridge between the church and Michael. The church was going to have Hagen killed for shady business dealings, and, Michael would become involved with them by investigating what happened to Hagen. So, then, all three movies would be about Michael and his relationship with each brother. Sonny in Part 1 being killed, therebye Michael taking control of the family. Fredo in Part 2, damning Michael forever. And, then Hagen in Part 3, with Michael making his grab for redemption in the eyes of God. The script for this proposed third chapter, was, by common consensus, a very strong script, with many pungent attacks on the illegal dealings of the Catholic Church. But, late in contract negotiations, Duvall walked, insulted by the salary he was being offered by Paramount Pictures. This threw the filmmaker's for a big loop and they had to redo the whole plot entirely by eliminating Tom Hagen.His loss is felt strongly because the Tom Hagen character was the one character that the audience felt closest to. Without him--- and Duvall's presence---- there was no connection between audience and the rest of the characters...... Then, there is Sofia Coppola, the director's daughter, as Mary Corleone. At first, Francis wanted Julia Roberts, not yet a major star, for the role. But, she was tied up with other committments and declined. Then, Francis tested Madonna for the part. She tested surprisingly well, but ultimately, Coppola decided to go with Winona Ryder. The first month of shooting went smoothly and the production was looking forward to Winona's arrival to start filming. She arrived in Rome and had one of her breakdowns. She quit the production cold and flew out on the next plane. This left Francis Coppola reeling. He was close to closing the production down, but, decided at the last moment that he had the perfect person to play the daughter of Michael Corleone, his daughter, Sofia. This decision threw the production into turmoil. Sofia was no actress. In fact, she was just nineteen and a college student. But, her father insisted and got his way. This was not a good decision. The part called for an experienced actress who could bring out the nuances of the role. Sofia, for all of her good intentions, was clearly over her head. She wasn't the disaster that her detractors claim. No, she was just there, filling a key spot with saying the lines. This is the one criticism of the movie of which I agree. Francis Coppola made a mistake here, not a fatal one to his movie, but, an important one that weakened the film. Fortunately, Sofia Coppola rebounded in the years after the movie and became a much celebrated director. She is damn good. After the beating she took in the press for playing Mary, she found her redemption behind the camera....... I like the ending to this movie at the opera. The ending is on par with any part of the previous two movies. Michael is being hunted by his enemies and by his fate. It is filmmaking brilliance on Francis Coppola's part intercutting the murders with the opera. And, then the scene on the opera steps. The shot from the gun. The cries and screams of the people on those steps. The look of horror on Michael's face as he sees who was really shot. And, the scream. It is the silent scream. With the music being its companion in pain. Finally, the scream because audible, as Michael cries out his pain with a wail towards God. The ending of this movie is completely appropriate to the fate of Michael Corleone. He got his comeuppance, as he should have. You can try to outrun God with your sins. You can pray for forgiveness and try to bribe your sins away. But, God does not forget a murderer and cannot be fooled. To end this movie any other way would be to cheat and tarnish what it is all about. The scream. Michael screaming. He deserves what he got..... The movie came out in 1990 to great hoopla. It was a movie even cynical Hollywood could not wait to see. Part 2 was released in 1974. In those sixteen years between Two and Three, the ''Godfather'' movies had reached an awesome state of grace in the public's eye. The anticipation for the third was enormous. There had to be a letdown when the film was released. And, there was. The movie did not live up to its expectations, fans felt. The first two movies had won a slew of Oscars. The third, while nominated, failed to win any honors. Despite all this, ''Godfather 3'' received good reviews from the critics and was a box office hit. Still, it has a stigma to it. It is the lesser of the three. This is true. One of these had to bring up the rear. But, there is so much to this movie, many fine, outstanding scenes, if its detractors would just look at it objectively. The acting is solid [except for Sofia]. The premise is bold [going after the Catholic Church and its dirty dealings in the name of God]. And, that last half-hour shines. If you are one of its critics, take another look at it sometime with fresh eyes. Chances are that you will like it better than you thought..... Even a film finds redemption......