Paramount Pictures were determined to continue The Godfather Saga with or without Francis Ford Coppola’s involvement. Coppola didn’t want to go back to the well again after the difficulties of working on the first two films and initially refused to be involved. This led to several years of ideas being bandied around by Paramount, most of them bad enough to sully the good name of the franchise. Eventually, after several box office disasters that left Coppola bankrupt he agreed to come back to the franchise that made him famous. He contacted Mario Puzo and the two began working on The Death of Michael Corleone, a film that would bury the patriarch of the Corleone family once and for all. Paramount Pictures flexed their muscles and insisted the title be The Godfather, Part III, keeping it in line with the other films in the series. It would be just one of many battles Coppola would have with the studio. Years later he would be granted the opportunity to re-edit this film and retitled it The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone. This version has a few scenes rearranged and the ending clipped short by a few seconds to change the overall message but it changes little in the overall feel of what is considered the most polarizing film in the trilogy.
Things begin with Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), now aged and suffering from diabetes, attending a celebration in his honor following a papal order induction ceremony. Michael, struggling with the guilt over his role in killing his brother, Fredo, as well as the brutal nature of his rise to power, is using his wealth to donate millions to charities. He’s sold the family’s interests in gambling and is intent on keeping the current organization completely legitimate. Attending the celebration is Kay (Diane Keaton), who only came to support their son, Anthony (Franc D’Ambrosio) as he reveals to his father that he is dropping out of law school to become an opera singer. Michael is initially upset, feeling that his son is throwing his life away, but finally relents and allows his son to go his own way.
Meanwhile Archbishop Gilday has approached Michael for assistance. Through mismanagement on his part The Vatican is now in a great deal of debt. Michael and Gilday negotiate a payment of $600 million in exchange for shares in Internazionale Immobiliare, an international real estate company. This deal would net Michael enough shares to make him the largest single shareholder and one of the richest men in the world. Immobiliare’s board approves the offer, pending ratification by Pope Paul VI. This deal brings with it interest from friends of the family including Don Antobello (Eli Wallach) who tells Michael that his partners want in on the deal. Wanting to be completely legitimate Michael instead pays them off with the proceeds from the sale of the Las Vegas holdings, withholding only Victor Zasa (Joe Mantegna), a New York gangster running the old Corleone interests into the ground. Zasa storms out of the meeting declaring he is now at war with Michael. Antobello follows, claiming he will try to calm the hot headed Zasa and shortly afterwards a helicopter hovers outside the room and opens fire killing most of the attendees except for Michael; Vincent (Andy Garcia), illegitimate son of Michael’s brother Sonny; and Michael’s bodyguard Al Neri (Richard Bright). Michael surmises that Antobello must have been behind the attacks but the stress of it all causes him to have a diabetic stroke and he collapses into a coma. While incapacitated, Vincent, with support from his aunt Connie (Talia Shire) arranges a hit on Zasa. Michael awakens from the coma and is livid with his nephew for making that call as Zasa was not the one behind the hit and was just a pawn to Antobello.
The family travels to Sicily to attend Michael’s son’s debut opera performance. While there Michael and Kay bury the hatchet and admit that despite everything that has happened between them, they still love each other. Meanwhile he has ordered Vincent to get in with Antobello and find out what he is planning. This, along with Michael’s visit to The Vatican, reveals that the deal for Immobiliare is just an elaborate ruse to get Michael’s money and that Antobello has hired an assassin to kill him. All of these complicated and intricate plots come to a head during the opera where all of Michael’s enemies are eliminated once again but not without a hefty price tag.
This is perhaps the most complicated plot of any of the Godfather films, but complicated doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good. Coppola notoriously had scripting problems that were being resolved daily during production. It was a strained shoot that left many of the key performers frustrated with the process and with the director specifically. To add to the stress Wynona Ryder, cast in the pivotal role of Michael’s daughter Mary, fell ill on the first day of filming leaving Coppola to replace her at the last minute with his inexperienced daughter Sofia. Sofia Coppola was not interested in acting and, aside from some brief appearances in other of her father’s films, had no professional experience whatsoever. At the time she took a lot of heat for her performance in this but it’s really not her fault. She was not an actress and should not have been thrust into the part, especially with how prominent her role is. There is a subplot involving her falling in love with her cousin Vincent but she simply cannot sell the emotions. She became the scapegoat for a film that didn’t have a chance in hell of living up to its legacy in the first place.
Michael’s past sins will always be with him. He talks big about being 100% legitimate now but he cannot possibly escape the associates of his past life. He cannot escape his personal demons, either. While visiting The Vatican and speaking with Cardinal Lamberto (Raf Vallone), the man expected to succeed the current Pope, Michael is offered a chance to confess his sins and seek forgiveness. Michael admits he hasn’t gone to confession in more than thirty years and breaks down, tearfully confessing to the murder of his brother Fredo among others. It’s the first time Michael reveals his emotional vulnerability and he is given sacramental absolution, a permanent forgiveness of his past sins in the eyes of God. This is a Michael that hasn’t been seen in any of the films of the past. He is not the cold hearted killer he was in the past but is now an older man reflecting on a life filled with regrets. Al Pacino delivers a somewhat nuanced performance here that, while not his best is still pretty good. He would not get an Academy Award nomination for this role, getting nominated the same year for his goofy over-the-top performance in Dick Tracy instead.
But this is a Godfather film and as such the final act must be a balancing of the books and tying off loose ends. Michael appoints Vincent as the new head of the family and all the conspirators are targeted for assassination. Antobello’s hired assassin makes his move against Michael outside the opera house and, while Michael is only wounded he loses much more than merely his life. This moment shocked audiences at the time and the image of Michael on the steps outside the opera, his head turned to the sky screaming and pleading with God are absolutely haunting. This is combined with images of Michael dancing with his daughter Mary, then his late wife Apollonia, and finally with Kay. God may have forgiven Michael but the sins of his past still come with payment due.
The Godfather, Part III doesn’t deserve the reputation it has. It is not a bad movie at all. Sofia isn’t good in it but she’s merely ineffectual. A better actress would have helped but not immeasurably so. The plotting is a bit convoluted but it too isn’t ruinous. What it boils down to is that Part III couldn’t possible live up to the legacy and in comparison isn’t on the same level. Critics liked it at the time and it earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. It was up against Martin Scorsese’s gangster magnum opus Goodfellas though which is leaps and bounds a better film. Even Goodfellas failed to nab the prize, though, losing out to the Kevin Costner western Dances With Wolves. Ultimately The Godfather, Part III is a good solid film that had the unfortunate distinction of being a sequel to two amazing films and with that pedigree it is impossible to shine in comparison.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: Francis Ford Coppola
Best Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Andy Garcia
Best Art Direction: Dean Tavoularis and Gary Fettis
Best Cinematography: Gordon Willis
Best Film Editing: Barry Malkin, Lisa Fruchtman, and Walter Murch
Best Original Song: “Promise You’ll Remember Me” Carmen Coppola and John Bettis
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Release Date: December 25, 1990
Running Time: 162 Minutes
Rated R
Starring: Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Andy Garcia, Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, Bridget Fonda, George Hamilton and Sofia Coppola
Directed By: Francis Ford Coppola
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