Part III was also the first of the films which didn’t have the Godfather himself, Vito Corleone, in it. By the third, the motion picture saga was on its own. The second one also drew heavily from the book.

The first film was a masterful adaptation of Mario Puzo’s book. The Godfather Part III is the purest of the saga’s films in terms of cinematic input. Coppola also cuts Talia Shire’s Connie Corleone when she goes full-on Lucretia Borgia, ordering an execution in a chapel. We get less of Eli Wallach’s Machiavellian cannoli-lover Don Altobello, which is a shame because his performance has grown on me since my initial viewing. Scenes which landed on the cutting room floor were put back in. When The Godfather trilogy was recut and re-released as a seven-hour chronological saga, it was like hearing the Beatles’ White Album with discarded tracks included. Coppola filled in the storyline to The Cotton Club for his reworking. He recut Apocalypse Now Redux, and added scenes which may not have been imperative, but are wholly welcome. The Godfather III is rough around the edges.Ĭoppola loves the editing room as much as any wine vineyard. To this writer, Mean Streets packs more of an emotional punch than Goodfellas, which is also cinematic perfection from setup to cut.

Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets is sloppy and works perfectly because of it. The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are perfect films, like Casablanca or Citizen Kane, not a single scene is less than flawlessly framed, acted, and situated. Michael’s regrets are palpable, the dangers he and his family face are recognizable. The streamlining speeds it up and makes it feel more tragic. But like a good haircut, it makes a difference, even though I think he took too much off the top. Coppola only cut five minutes from the 162 minutes of the original. The Godfather, Coda is not much different than The Godfather Part III. But does it move as slow as critics accused? We get an ear bite in the first quarter, a helicopter mass execution, and enough intrigue for three Hitchcock films. The Godfather, Part III also has the balls to wear its opera cape up front, and it’s a Sicilian one. It is canon, the arcs are similar because each film dissembles William Shakespeare’s King Lear. It references the other two films because the reality which forms this family history is well known. However, the filmmaker was making one long film, and this is the conclusion. Critics said he was just going through the motions and the arc of the first two films, and doing it much too slowly. Having seen the new cut several times, the director can finally be absolved of sins he never committed.Ĭoppola’s finale has been bashed for its structure. The 1990 film has such an undeserved reputation, it almost feels like there was a vendetta against it. The Godfather Part III concluded the family saga, made a profit for Paramount Pictures, and garnered seven Oscar nominations in its time, but Coppola has never been forgiven for it. He may well be speaking for Francis Ford Coppola. “The power to absolve debt is greater than the power of forgiveness,” Michael Corleone observes in the revelatory new opening of Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone. Find the film, watch it with fresh eyes, then come back and celebrate The Death of Michael Corleone. If you haven’t seen it, I’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse. This Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone analysis contains spoilers.

Coda the death of michael corleone