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The Godfather, Part III
| Rated:
R |
1990 |
Color |
Time |
Awards |
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| Starring: Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Andy Garcia, Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, Bridget Fonda, George Hamilton, Sofia Coppola, Rick Aviles |
| Director:
Francis Ford Coppola |
Screen
Writer: Mario Puzo,
w/Francis Ford Coppola.
Based on The Godfather by:
Mario Puzo |
| Produced
by: Francis Ford Coppola, Gray Frederickson, Fred Fuchs, Nicholas
Gage, Marina Gefter, Charles Mulvehill, Fred Roos |
|
| Editing:
Lisa Fruchtman, Barry Malkin, Walter Murch |
| Casting:
Janet Hirshenson, Jane Jenkins, Roger Mussenden |
| Music:
Carmine Coppola, Ray Evans, Jay Livingston |
| Production
& Movie Co.: Paramount Pictures, Zoetrope Studios |
| Critique
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| Relevant Sites: Official
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Reviews:
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By prankstaguy
HUGE |
The Godfather Part III pumps new energy into a saga that
arguably still had a lot of energy to spare. It brings a new
perspective to the tragic downfall of Michael Corleone’s
morality and the depiction of the violence in his life that pulled
him away from his sanity. In the first Godfather, we see Michael (Al
Pacino) pull himself into the crime life. In
the sequel, we see him bringing himself deeper and deeper into that
self-destructive pattern. Now, with this film, we see him feeling
the ultimate guilt and paying the price for
his great sins. It is fascinating to compare the opening of this
film with the opening of the first film. In the first, we saw his
father negotiating a murder with someone. In the
introduction to this installment, we see a broken Michael writing a
letter to his two children about his new way of life.
He has involved himself with the church and charity functions, and
insists that he has no interest in any illegitimate business
anymore. In one of the opening sequences, his
nephew Vincent (played brilliantly by Andy Garcia) encounters him
with a problem he is having with a man by the name of Joey Zasa (Joe
Mantegna). Francis Ford Coppola
described the character of Vincent’s personality as being a
combination of every male member of the Corleone family’s. He has
the temper of his deceased father, Sonny
(James Caan), the heart of Fredo (John Cazale) and the cunning of
Michael. His character is established perfectly in the scene where
he encounters Michael about this
problem.
When Michael tells him to shake hands with Zasa, Vincent obeys, but
also proceeds to bite his ear. The plot involving the dispute with
Joey Zasa and Vincent is satisfactory
enough for carrying the film forward. The only minor flaw to the
film is that it also incorporated a murky subplot involving the
Vatican in Rome. The movie holds undeniable
power, and its fascinating theme of redemption is what makes it such
a worthy part of The Godfather trilogy. There are definite flashes
of brilliance here. There is a scene in
which Michael makes his confession to a priest, and we recall all of
his great sins from the previous two films. The scene is an
extremely clever way of distancing the
character emotionally from the audience. Out of the three Godfather
films, this one relies the most on action to carry the plot forward.
Instead of using bursts of shocking
violence to keep the audience’s attention as in the first two films,
this one gives us fascinating dialogues between the frequent murders
to keep it intelligent.
The conclusion to the movie is its biggest triumph. Michael goes to
watch his son at his first opera performance, and between clips of
the delightfully morbid opera we see
assassins preparing to murder him. The scene was reminiscent of
Alfred Hitchock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), balancing
tension with some glorious music to
create one of the most memorable scenes in the entire trilogy. After
the opera, there is a heart-wrenching murder that seems to pay
Michael back for everything he has
done. A fascinating aspect of this film is that every murder feels
enormous and consequential, whereas in the first two they felt like
they were involved with the Mafia
business more than anything. There is real emotion behind the crimes
committed in this movie.
The scale of the film is amazing. With the sweeping camerawork and
emotionally driven screenplay, we feel the real climactic power of
the story. The haunting score from
the first two films is present, along with Gordon Willis’s flawless
cinematography and incredible shot composition. This is a massively
entertaining and powerful conclusion
to the best film trilogy ever made.
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| Awards
& Nominations: IMdb |
Full Cast &
Credits: IMdb |
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