The Godfather Ⅲ

The Godfather Part III is a 1990 American mafia film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It completes the story of Michael Corleone, a mafia king who tries to make his criminal empire lawful. The movie also combines its plot with real events—the 1978 death of Pope John Paul I and the Papal banking scandal of 1981-1982, and links them with each other and with the affairs of Michael Corleone. Coppola and Puzo originally wanted the title to be The Death of Michael Corleone. However, Paramount Pictures would not accept that title. Coppola states that The Godfather series is in fact two films, and Part III is the epilogue. Despite being part of a popular movie series.

Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola

Produced by: Francis Ford Coppola

Written by: Mario Puzo Francis Ford Coppola

Music by: Carmine Coppola

Editing by: Barry Malkin Lisa Fruchtman Walter Murch

Studio: American Zoetrope

Distributed by: Paramount Pictures

Release date: December 14, 1990

Running time: 170:06. Theatrical

Country: United States

Language: English

Gross revenue: $136,766,062

Genre: feature crime

Rating: Argentina:16，Australia:M，Canada:14A，Chile:18，Finland:K-16，France:U，Germany:16，Hong Kong:IIB，Ireland:15，Japan:PG-12，Norway:15，Peru:18，Singapore:PG，Spain:18，Sweden:15，UK:15，USA:R

Parts of the film are very loosely based on real historical events: the ending of the Papacy of Paul VI, and the very short Papacy of John Paul I in 1978, and the collapse of the Banco Ambrosiano in 1982. Like the character Cardinal Lamberto, who becomes John Paul I, the historical John Paul I, Albino Luciani, reigned for only a very short time before being found dead in his bed.

The character of Frederick Keinszig, the Swiss banker who is murdered and left hanging under a bridge, mirrors the fate of Roberto Calvi, the Italian head of the Banco Ambrosiano who was found hanging under Blackfriars Bridge in London in 1982. The name "Keinszig" is taken from Manuela Kleinszig, the girl friend of Flavio Carbone who was indicted as one of Roberto Calvi's murderers in 2005.

On the audio commentary of the DVD, Francis Ford Coppola states that the character of Don Licio Lucchesi would be very recognizable for Italian citizens. The thick-rimmed glasses, the official police bodyguard while Michael meets the Don in Sicily, and a single quote at the end of the movie are said to contain clues to the actual person Don Lucchesi is based on.

20 years have passed and Michael Corleone is in his 50's. As part of his plan for legitimizing the family business, Michael contributes a large donation to the church and accepts an honor from the pope at the church. After the ceremony, there's a big celebration. His nephew, Vincent becomes his assistant with the help of Connie while his own children, Anthony and Mary, remain free from a life of crime. Joey Zasa, another mafioso who has a big problem with Vincent, sends two thugs to kill Vincent that night but they don't succeed.

Tom Hagan has already passed away, and his son Andrew is a priest for whom Michael gets a position at the Vatican. Michael wants to take over a European company International Immobiliare and he works out a deal to get the Vatican's shares in exchange for helping them out with their debt. After selling his casinos and laundering his money through the Vatican, Michael attempts to take over a European-owned company, International Immobiliare. There's a meeting of the heads of the families for Michael to tell everyone that he's "out" and won't be working with any of them anymore, so he cashes everyone out on their stocks, and everybody gets shares based on what they put into the casinos. However, Vincent rejoices in telling Joey Zasa that he gets nothing. Joey leaves angry and threatens everyone that they're either with him or against him, and suddenly there's a hit-by-helicopter on everyone in the room, and most everyone dies except for Don Altobello.

Michael has problems with Diabetes, and he has a diabetic stroke and goes into a coma. It doesn't look good for him. He gets better, though.Mary and Vincent fall in love, even though they're first cousins. Michael tells Vincent that if he wants to be in the family, things can't go on between him and Mary.

The family travels to Sicily, even Kay. Michael takes Kay and shows her the sights. As the family witnesses a death of Michael's Mentor, Michael realizes he's unsafe in Italy. Don Luchese hires a professional assassin to kill Michael. After the pope, who was the main character in Immobiliare's vote dies, a pope who's not loyal to the Corleone family takes over. When Michael and his family attend his son's opera, it's at this point that Vincent breaks things off with Mary. The assassin hired to kill Michael arrives in New York, while Vincent's associates kill the swiss banker, the pope, the archbishop, and Don Luchese. After the opera, the assassin retreats to the opera house façade's staircase and tries to shoot Michael there. At the same moment, Mary is confronting her father about the forced break-up with Vincent. Mosca fires his handgun twice, wounding Michael and killing Mary. As Mosca is wrestled to the ground by a group of real priests, Vincent kills him with a single shot. As Kay weeps, Michael cradles Mary's bloody body in his arms and screams in agony.

The film ends with Michael as an old man, seated alone in the front yard of his Sicilian villa. After slowly putting on a pair of sunglasses, he drops an orange from his hand. He slumps over in his chair, collapses to the ground, and dies, completely alone.

Al Pacino as Michael Corleone  

Andy García as Vincent Mancini 

Diane Keaton as Kay Adams-Corleone

Talia Shire as Connie Corleone

Sofia Coppola as Mary Corleone

Franc D'Ambrosio as Anthony Vito Corleone

Eli Wallach as Don Altobello 

George Hamilton as B.J. Harrison

Joe Mantegna as Joey Zasa

Richard Bright as Al Neri 

Donal Donnelly as Archbishop Gilday

Helmut Berger as Frederick Keinszig

Don Novello as Dominic Abbandando

John Savage as Father Andrew Hagan 

Vittorio Duse asb Don Tommasino

Enzo Robutti as Don Licio Lucchesi

Al Martino as Johnny Fontane

Mickey Knox as Johnny Parisi

According to an article in Premiere, 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.

The first draft of a script had been written by Dean Riesner in 1979, based on a story by Mario Puzo. This script centered around Michael Corleone's son, Tony, a naval officer working for the CIA, and the Corleone family's involvement with a plot to assassinate a Central American dictator. Almost none of the elements of this early script carried over to the final film, but one scene from the film — in which two men break into Vincent's house — exists in the Riesner draft and is nearly unchanged.

Coppola says that he felt The Godfather saga was essentially Michael's story, one about how "a good man becomes evil," as the writer and director put 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.

Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, and Talia Shire reprise their roles from the first two films. 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 Pacino. On an episode of Inside the Actor's Studio, he said he understood that Pacino was the star but felt insulted by the difference in their salaries. When Duvall dropped out, Coppola rewrote the screenplay to portray Tom Hagen as having died before the story begins. Coppola created the character "B.J. Harrison", played by George Hamilton, to replace the Hagen character in the story. The director further states that, to him, the movie feels incomplete "without 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.

Julia Roberts was originally cast as Mary, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Madonna wanted to play the role, but Coppola felt she was too old for the part. Rebecca Schaeffer was set to audition for the role the day she died. 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. 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," 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.

The character of Michael's sister Connie is played by Francis Ford 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. Michele Russo, who plays the son of the assassin Mosca, is also a distant Coppola relative, from the same town as Francis Ford Coppola's great-grandmother.

As Vincent Corleone rises toward power, he secures twin, long-haired, very buff bodyguards. As they patrol the opera house during the climactic ending, they are both killed by Michael's would-be assassin. Later, on the opera house steps, when Michael's daughter is shot, one of these bodyguards is clearly seen by the side of the assassin after Vincent has shot him.

In the scene where Joey Zaza is murdered, one of his henchmen gets gunned down with a shotgun. Just before the blast hits him, the side of one of the wooden street stalls magically changes to a breakaway so he can crash through it dramatically, instead of just slumping down against it as he would in reality.

When Kay visits Michael in hospital the oxygen tube is sometimes running under his shoulder, sometimes across the pillow.

Vincent. Mr. Joe Zasa now owns what used to be the Corleone family business, in New York. Out of the kindness of his heart he gave you a job in his family. Contrary to my advice, you took the job. I’d offered you something, better, in the legitimate world. You turned me down. Now, you both come to me with this bad blood. And what do you expect me to do? Am I a gangster?  —Michael

Don Lucchesi, you are a man of finance and politics. These things I don't understand. —Vincent Mancini

I say to all of you, I have been treated this day, with no respect. I've earned you all money. I've made you rich, and I asked for little. Good. You will not give, I'll take! As for Don, Corleone, well he makes it, very clear to me today, that he is my enemy. You must choose between us. — Joey Zasa

The film received a generally positive response, but is 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. 

Roger Ebert: "It's not even possible to understand this film without knowing the first two.

Gene Siskel: he highly praised the film though he admitted that the ending was the film's weakest part and cited Al Pacino's makeup as very poor.

Leonard Maltin: the film is "masterfully told", but the casting of Sofia Coppola was an "almost-fatal flaw".

This hits have gotten bigger, and the violence has gotten bloodier. It's less of an examination of family and more of a character piece for Michael.

The Godfather Part III matches its predecessors in narrative intensity, epic scope, socio-political analysis, physical beauty and deep feeling for its characters and milieu.

Represents a certain moral improvement over its predecessors by refusing to celebrate and condemn violence and duplicity in the same breath, or at least to the same degree.

Nominations:

Academy Awards 

Best Actor

Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

Best Cinematography

Best Director

Best Film Editing

Best Music, Song

Best Picture

Awards: 

Hollywood Foreign Press Association 

Best Director

The Godfather trilogy