The Godfather Part III
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{{Unreferenced|date=May 2007}}
{{Infobox Film
| name = '''The Godfather: Part III'''
| image = GodfatherIII2.jpg
| caption = ''The Godfather: Part III'' Theatrical Poster
| director = [[Francis Ford Coppola]]
| producer = [[Francis Ford Coppola]]
| writer = [[Mario Puzo]]<br />[[Francis Ford Coppola]]<br>[[Vincent Patrick]]
| starring = [[Al Pacino]]<br>[[Diane Keaton]]<br>[[Andy García]]<br>[[Talia Shire]]<br>[[Sofia Coppola]]<br>[[Eli Wallach]]<br>[[George Hamilton]]<br>[[Joe Mantegna]]<br>[[Bridget Fonda]]<br>[[Richard Bright]]
| music = [[Carmine Coppola]]
| cinematography = [[Gordon Willis]]
| editing = Lisa Fruchtman<br />Jane Jenkins<br />Roger Mussenden
| distributor = [[Paramount Pictures]]
| released = [[December 25]], [[1990]]
| runtime = 170 minutes
| language = [[English language|English]]<br />[[Italian language|Italian]]
| budget = $54 million [[United States dollar|USD]]
| amg_id = 1:20079
| imdb_id = 0099674
| preceded_by = ''[[The Godfather Part II]]''
}}
'''''The Godfather Part III''''' ([[1990]]) is the third film in the ''[[The Godfather|Godfather]]'' trilogy written by [[Mario Puzo]] and [[Francis Ford Coppola]], and directed by Coppola. It completes the story of [[Michael Corleone]], a [[Mafia]] godfather who tries to legitimize his criminal empire. The movie also weaves into its plot a fictionalized account of real-life events — the [[1978]] death of [[Pope John Paul I]] and the [[Banco Ambrosiano|Papal banking scandal]] of [[1981]]-[[1982]] — and links them with each other and with the affairs of Michael Corleone. The film stars [[Al Pacino]], [[Diane Keaton]], [[Talia Shire]], [[Andy García]], [[Eli Wallach]], [[Joe Mantegna]], [[George Hamilton (actor)|George Hamilton]], [[Bridget Fonda]], and [[Sofia Coppola]].
==Plot summary==
The movie begins in [[1979]], with a brief flashback establishing the long and tragic history of the Corleone family. [[Michael Corleone]] is now 62 and still feels tremendous guilt for indulging in his ruthless ambition many years ago. Although his previous conquests have made him a very rich man, the thoughts of his children, their future, happiness, and his legacy are the only things keeping him going. His adopted brother [[Tom Hagen]] is now dead. The Corleone compound at [[Lake Tahoe]] is abandoned. Michael and [[Kay Adams-Corleone|Kay]] divorced in [[1959]], and Michael gave her custody of their children, [[Anthony Corleone|Anthony]] and [[Mary Corleone|Mary]]. He has returned to [[New York City]], where he is using his wealth and power to restore his dignity and reputation.
The violent criminal element of the Corleone family has been largely abandoned, ostracized by Michael as well as the public, which no longer romanticizes the gangster lifestyle. Michael has embraced corporate America. In an attempt to break with the past, Michael creates a charity, the Vito Corleone Foundation, in memory of his father. At a ceremony in [[St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York|St. Patrick’s Cathedral]], presided over by [[Archbishop Gilday]], Michael is named a Commander of the Order of [[Saint Sebastian|St. Sebastian]].
At the lavish party following the ceremony, Kay and Michael have a somewhat uneasy reunion. Anthony tells his father that he is going to drop out of law school to pursue a career as an opera singer. Kay supports his choice, but Michael disagrees, wishing that his son would finish law school or join the family business. Michael eventually acquiesces to Anthony's wishes. Meanwhile, [[Vincent Mancini]], [[Sonny Corleone]]’s illegitimate son, shows up at the party. He is embroiled in a feud with [[Joey Zasa]], the Corleone family's mafioso muscle. What remains of the old Corleone criminal empire--once the most powerful Mafia family in the nation--is now under Zasa's stewardship. However, the Corleones' old neighborhood in [[Little Italy, New York City|Little Italy]] is in ruins, and has become lawless. In Michael's study, Vincent and Zasa tell him about their feud. The discussion grows violent, with Vincent accusing Zasa of being an out-of-control monster who mocks Michael behind his back. Michael makes it clear that he is not "a gangster" and that whatever bad blood exists between Vincent and Joey Zasa is none of his business, and must be settled between only them. He asks the two men to make peace with one another. The two men embrace, but Zasa insults Vincent by whispering "''bastardo''" in his ear. Enraged, Vincent bites off part of Zasa’s ear. Zasa is escorted out and Michael scolds Vincent for his violent ways. But impressed by Vincent's passionate loyalty to protect him, Michael agrees to take his nephew under his wing. The party concludes with a family picture where Michael asks Vincent to join the rest of the family.
That night, two men break into Vincent’s home, after Vincent has spent the night with a journalist ([[Bridget Fonda]]). Vincent kills one in order to frighten the other into revealing Zasa as the man who sent them and kills the other. Michael seeks to buy the Vatican's shares in [[Immobiliare]], an international real estate holding company. He negotiates the transfer of $600,000,000 to the [[Vatican Bank]] with Archbishop Gilday, who has plunged the Holy See into tremendous debt through his poor management and corrupt dealings. While in [[Vatican City]], Michael learns that several influential parties oppose the deal for many reasons, not the least of which is the extensive criminal history.
[[Image:Godfather III.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Michael Corleone (Pacino) and his nephew Vincent (Garcia).]]
[[Don Altobello]], an elderly New York mafia chief, tells Michael that his old New York partners want in on the Immobiliare deal. A meeting is arranged in [[Atlantic City]], and Michael appeases most of the mafiosi with generous payoffs. Zasa, however, gets nothing. Furious, he declares that Michael is his enemy. Zasa storms out of the meeting. Minutes later, a helicopter hovers outside the conference room and sprays a barrage of bullets through the ceiling windows. Almost everyone is killed, but Michael, Vincent (acting as a human shield for his uncle), and Michael's bodyguard and ''caporegime'', [[Al Neri]], manage to escape. Back at his apartment in New York, as Michael considers how to respond to this hit, he suffers a diabetic stroke, and is hospitalized. Near-delirium, Michael screams out the name of his brother Fredo.
Though they are cousins, Vincent and Mary begin a romantic relationship. Unbeknownst to Michael, Vincent, with the urging of his aunt Connie, plots revenge against Joey Zasa. During a street fair, Vincent and his accomplices kill Zasa's bodyguards, and Vincent murders Zasa himself. Michael, still hospitalized, berates Vincent when he finds out. Michael insists that Vincent end his relationship with Mary because Vincent’s involvement in the family puts Mary's life in jeopardy. Vincent agrees. While in Sicily, Michael tells Vincent to speak with Don Altobello and to intimate to him his intentions of leaving the Corleone family. Altobello supports the idea of Vincent switching his allegiance, and introduces him to Licio Lucchesi, the man behind the plot to prevent Michael’s acquisition of Immobiliare. Michael visits Cardinal Lamberto to speak about the Immobiliare deal. Lamberto convinces Michael to make his first confession in nearly thirty years; in which he confesses to ordering the killing of his brother Fredo.
Touring Sicily with Kay, who has arrived for Anthony’s operatic debut, Michael asks for her forgiveness. As both admit that they still love each other, Michael receives word that [[Don Tommasino]], his Sicilian friend and ally of the Corleone Family for half a century, has been assassinated, signaling that a new round of violence is about to begin. Cardinal Lamberto [[Papal conclave, August 1978|is elected]] [[Pope John Paul I]], which means that the Immobiliare deal will likely be ratified, due to his intention to "clean up" the dealings of the Vatican. The new Pope's intentions come as a death knell to the plot against the ratification of the Immobiliare deal, prompting frantic attempts by the plotters to cover their own tracks. Vincent tells Michael what he has learned from Altobello: Lucchesi is behind the plot against the Immobiliare deal, and a master assassin known as Mosca da Montelepre (the man who killed Tommasino), has been hired by Altobello to kill Michael. Vincent wants to strike back, but Michael cautions him, saying that if he goes ahead with such a plan, there’ll be no going back. Vincent insists on revenge, and Michael relents. He makes Vincent head of the Corleone family. In exchange, Vincent agrees to put an end to his relationship with Mary.
The family travels to [[Palermo]] to see Anthony perform the lead in ''[[Cavalleria Rusticana]]'' at the renowned [[opera house]] [[Teatro Massimo]]. Meanwhile, Vincent makes plans to seek revenge against the Corleone family's enemies. Interspersed with scenes from Anthony’s performance are the brutal murders of the enemies of the Corleone family.
Michael Corleone's theme, Halls of Fear, is mainly played during the murders:
* Keinszig is assaulted by Vincent's men. His body is hanged over the bridge, to make his death an apparent suicide.
* Archbishop Gilday has the tea of the pope poisoned. The pope soon drinks it and dies.
* Don Altobello eats a dish of poisoned [[cannoli]] that his goddaughter Connie serves him. He soon dies a silent death as Connie watches.
* Al Neri shoots Archbishop Gilday as he climbs a spiral staircase and flings the archbishop's body down the stairs.
* Finally, Calo approaches Don Lucchesi and whispers to his ear [[Giulio Andreotti|''"Power wears out those who do not have it"'']] before stabbing Lucchesi in the throat with his own pair of glasses, killing him.
The assassin hired by Don Altobello to kill Michael, Mosca, descends upon the opera house during Anthony's performance, killing three of Vincent’s men, but the opera ends before he has the chance to kill Michael. The assassin retreats to the opera house facade’s staircase, and tries to shoot Michael there. Mary is confronting her father about the forced break-up with Vincent, when two shots ring out. The first hits Michael in the shoulder. The second hits Mary in the chest, and she dies calling out to her father, "Dad?" Vincent then kills the assassin with a single shot, striking ''him'' in the chest. As Kay cradles Mary's bloody body in her arms, Michael screams with primal pain and rage.
The scene dissolves to a short montage of Michael's memories, the first being a dance with Mary, the second being a dance with his first wife, [[Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone|Apollonia]], and the last being a dance with Kay--symbolizing the women he has lost. The film ends in an unspecified year (later cited in a timeline included in ''The Godfather'' DVD box set as 1997), showing an aged and broken Michael, seated in the front yard of his Sicilian [[villa]]. He slowly puts on a pair of sunglasses, drops an orange from his hand, slumps out of his chair, collapses to the ground, and slowly dies, completely alone. A small dog sniffs around his body and the screen fades to black.
==Themes==
{{Cleanup|date=April 2008}}
As with all the ''Godfather'' films, ''Part III'' deals extensively with family. Salvation also plays an important role, as Michael's attempts to redeem the family business involve the Corleones with the [[Holy See|Vatican]]. In [[confession]], Michael reveals that he had ordered his brother Fredo's murder (in the previous film), and states that this is one sin that is too heinous to be forgiven. The cardinal replies that "it is just that you should suffer" for this sin, but there is an implied misunderstanding; Michael interprets the cardinal's comment as confirmation that God will not forgive him for Fredo's murder, but the cardinal may be referring to the Catholic belief that one must ask for forgiveness in order to receive it (and must promise not to repeat the sin), something Michael as a "Don" is unable to do.
However, several scenes later, after the death of Don Tommasino, Michael relents "You were so loved, Don Tommasino. Why was I so feared, and you so loved? What was it? I was no less honorable. I wanted to do good." Then, as Michael cries, "What betrayed me? My mind? My heart? Why do I condemn myself so?" Then, in prayer, "I swear, on the lives of my children: Give me a chance to redeem myself, and I will sin, no more." This scene directly sets up the ending of the film as Michael finally receives his chance at redemption, and as he hands the Corleone family to another as violent as he was (Vincent) and since fans assume Vincent turns the Corleone family into a ruthless and violent drug cartel which contradicts every thing he swore to do (redeem the Corleones), and as he swore on the lives of his children, he dies alone, an old man, redeemed only after paying the ultimate price for his sins: the death of his daughter and a lifetime of agony.
==Cast==
*[[Al Pacino]]- ''[[Michael Corleone|Don Michael Corleone]]''
*[[Diane Keaton]] - ''[[Kay Adams-Corleone|Kay Corleone]]''
*[[Talia Shire]] - ''[[Connie Corleone|Constanzia "Connie" Corleone Rizzi]]''
*[[Andy García]] - ''[[Vincent Mancini-Corleone|Vincent Mancini]]''
*[[Eli Wallach]] - ''[[Don Altobello]]''
*[[Joe Mantegna]] - ''[[Joey Zasa]]''
*[[George Hamilton (actor)|George Hamilton]] - ''[[B.J. Harrison]]''
*[[Bridget Fonda]] - ''Grace Hamilton''
*[[Sofia Coppola]] - ''[[Mary Corleone]]''
*[[Raf Vallone]] - ''[[Cardinal Lamberto]]''
*[[Donal Donnelly]] - ''[[Archbishop Gilday]]''
*[[Richard Bright (actor)|Richard Bright]] - ''[[Al Neri]]''
==Casting and the script==
According to an article in ''Premiere'' magazine, Coppola and Puzo requested six months to complete a first draft of the script with a release date of Easter 1991. Paramount agreed to give them six weeks for the script and, lacking a holiday movie, a release date of Christmas Day 1990.
Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, and Talia Shire reprised their roles from the first two movies. According to Coppola's audio commentary on the film in ''The Godfather DVD Collection'', [[Robert Duvall]] refused to take part unless he was paid a salary comparable to Al Pacino. On an episode of ''[[Inside the Actor's Studio]]'', he commented he understood Pacino was the star but the difference between their salaries was so great it was insulting. When Duvall dropped out, Coppola rewrote his screenplay to portray the Hagen character as having died before the story begins. Coppola created the character "B.J. Harrison", played by [[George Hamilton (actor)|George Hamilton]], to replace the Hagen character in the story. The director further states that, to him, the movie feels incomplete "without [Robert] Duvall's participation." According to Coppola, had Duvall agreed to take part in the film, the Hagen character would have been heavily involved in running the Corleone charities.
Coppola felt that the first two films had told the complete Corleone saga. It was only his perilous financial status, after the failure of a big-budget movie, that compelled him to take up [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]]'s long-standing offer to make a third installment.
He further comments that before he was brought on board, Paramount had already had a script prepared (in fact, [[Dean Riesner]] had written a first draft screenplay for the film in late 1979), centering on the Vincent character, with a plot revolving around the "new kind of wiseguy" (in Coppola's words) of the '70s and '80s, and involving the lesser known drug cartels.
Coppola says that he felt ''The Godfather'' saga was essentially Michael's story, one about how "a good man becomes [[evil]]," as the writer/director puts it on the same commentary track referenced above. Coppola says he felt that Michael had not really "paid for his sins" committed in the second film, and wanted this final chapter to demonstrate that. In keeping with this theme, Coppola completely re-wrote the script; he also wanted to title the movie, "The Death of Michael Corleone," but Paramount balked.
[[Julia Roberts]] was originally cast as "Mary Corleone", but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]] wanted to play the role, but Coppola felt she was too old for the part. [[Sofia Coppola]], the director's daughter, was given the role of Michael Corleone's daughter when [[Winona Ryder]] dropped out of the film at the last minute (supposedly due to illness). Her much-criticized performance resulted in her father being accused of [[nepotism]], a charge Coppola bitterly refutes in the commentary track, asserting, in his opinion, that critics, "beginning with an article in ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]''," were "using [my] daughter to attack me," something he finds ironic in light of the film's denouement when the Mary character pays the ultimate price for her father's sins.
As an infant, Sofia Coppola had played Michael Corleone's infant nephew in ''[[The Godfather]]'', during the [[climax (narrative)|climactic]] [[baptism]]/murder montage at the end of that film. (Sofia Coppola also appeared in ''[[The Godfather, Part II]]'', as a small immigrant child in the scene where the 9-year-old Vito Corleone arrives by steamer at Ellis Island.) Sofia also played a child who is killed in a drive-by shooting in her father's 1984 film ''[[The Cotton Club (film)|The Cotton Club]]''. The character of Michael's sister [[Connie Corleone|Connie]] is played by Francis Coppola's sister, Talia Shire. Other Coppola relatives with cameos in the film included his mother, father (who wrote and conducted much of the music in the film), uncle and granddaughter, Gia. Michele Russo, who plays the son of the assassin "Mosca," is also a distant Coppola relative, from the same town as Francis Coppola's great-grandmother. In addition, Coppola cast [[Catherine Scorsese]], mother of [[Martin Scorsese]], for a bit part.
==Reception==
Despite receiving generally positive reviews (the movie holds a 66% "fresh" rating on [[Rotten Tomatoes]]), the film is quite widely considered to be the weakest of the three ''Godfather'' films. Common criticisms include Sofia Coppola's acting, the plot being too outlandish and convoluted, as well as the storyline being too based on continuity, rather than just a "stand alone" story. In his review for the film, [[Roger Ebert]] stated that it's "not even possible to understand this film without knowing the first two." However, Ebert did give ''The Godfather: Part III'' a very positive review, giving the film three and a half stars, which is a higher rating than what he gave ''The Godfather: Part II'' (three stars). Not only did he praise the film, he also defended the casting of Sofia Coppola, who he felt wasn’t miscast. Stating: “There is no way to predict what kind of performance he (Francis Ford Coppola) might have obtained from [[Winona Ryder]], the experienced and talented young actress, who was originally set to play this role. But I think Sofia Coppola brings a quality of her own to Mary Corleone. A certain up-front vulnerability and simplicity that I think are appropriate and right for the role.” Ebert's colleague, [[Gene Siskel]], gave the film four stars and placed it on his list of the 10 best films of 1990. Both critics did admit, however, that the ending was the weakest part of the film, citing Al Pacino's makeup as very poor. [[Leonard Maltin]] gave the film three stars and stated that it was “masterfully told,” but he did refer to the casting of [[Sofia Coppola]] as an “almost-fatal flaw.”
==Awards==
''The Godfather Part III'' was nominated for Seven [[Academy Awards]] including [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Actor in a Supporting Role]] (Andy Garcia), [[Academy Award for Best Art Direction|Best Art Direction-Set Decoration]], [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]], [[Academy Award for Directing|Best Director]], [[Academy Award for Film Editing|Best Film Editing]], [[Academy Award for Best Song|Best Music, Song]] (for [[Carmine Coppola]] and [[John Bettis]] for "[[Promise Me You'll Remember]]") and [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]]. [[Sofia Coppola]] won a [[1990 Golden Raspberry Awards|Golden Raspberry]] for worst supporting actress. It is the only movie in the series not to win the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]].
==Historical background==
{{main|Pope John Paul I conspiracy theories}}
Parts of the film are very loosely based on real historical events concerning the ending of the Papacy of [[Pope Paul VI|Paul VI]], and the very short [[Papacy]] of [[Pope John Paul I|John Paul I]] in [[1978]], and the collapse of the [[Banco Ambrosiano]] in [[1982]]. Like the character Cardinal Lamberto, who becomes [[Pope John Paul I|John Paul I]], the historical John Paul I, [[Pope John Paul I|Albino Luciani]], reigned for only a very short time before being found dead in his bed.
Journalist [[David Yallop]] argues that Luciani was planning a reform of Vatican finances and that he died by poisoning; these claims are reflected in the film. Yallop also names as a suspect Archbishop [[Paul Marcinkus]], who was the head of the Vatican bank, like the character Archbishop Gilday in the film. However, while Marcinkus was noted for his muscular physique and [[Chicago]] origins, Gilday is a mild [[Irish people|Irishman]].
The character of Frederick Keinszig, the Swiss banker who is murdered and left hanging under a bridge, mirrors the fate (and physical appearance) of [[Roberto Calvi]], the Italian head of the Banco Ambrosiano who was found hanging under [[Blackfriars Bridge]] in [[London]] in 1982 (it was unclear until very recently whether it was a case of suicide or, as the Italian idiom has it, "being suicided." Courts in Italy have recently ruled the latter.) The name "Kleinszig" is taken from Manuela Kleinszig, the girl friend of Flavio Carbone who was indicted as one of Roberto Calvi's murderers in 2005.
The character of Licio Lucchesi, who moves between the church, organized crime and Italian politics, recalls [[Licio Gelli]], head of the [[Propaganda Due]] Masonic lodge. The character of Joey Zasa bears many similarities to the flashy [[John Gotti]] and to [[Joe Columbo]].
==Soundtrack==
The soundtrack for the movie, [[The Godfather Part III (soundtrack)|''The Godfather Part III (soundtrack)'']], received a [[Golden Globe]] nomination for best score. Also, the film's love theme "[[Promise Me You'll Remember]]", sung by [[Harry Connick, Jr.]], received an [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] and [[Golden Globe]] nomination for best song.
==Bibliography==
*Rupert Cornwell, ''God's Banker: The Life and Death of Roberto Calvi'', Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1984.
*David Yallop, ''In God's Name: An Investigation into the Murder of Pope John Paul I'', Corgi, 1987
*Director's Commentary track on ''The Godfather Part III'' DVD by Francis Ford Coppola; included in the ''The Godfather DVD Collection''
==External links==
{{wikiquotepar|The Godfather: Part III}}
*{{imdb title|id=0099674|title=The Godfather, Part III}}
{{Francis Ford Coppola's films}}
{{Godfather}}
{{Americanfilms1990s}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godfather Part III, The}}
[[Category:1990 films|Godfather Part III, The]]
[[Category:American films|Godfather 3]]
[[Category:Drama films|Godfather 3, The]]
[[Category:Mafia films]]
[[Category:Crime drama films]]
[[Category:Crime thriller films]]
[[Category:Gangster films]]
[[Category:English-language films|Godfather 3]]
[[Category:Films shot in Super 35]]
[[Category:Films directed by Francis Ford Coppola|Godfather 3, The]]
[[Category:Mafia films|Godfather 3, The]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1970s]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1980s]]
[[Category:Films set in Italy]]
[[Category:Films set in New York City]]
[[Category:Paramount films|Godfather 3]]
[[Category:Sequel films|Godfather 3, The]]
[[Category:The Godfather]]
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