Filed under: Philosophy of the Person
“Oh no… Can’t you see, I have a head contusion!” — Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part III
I’ve seen The Godfather Trilogy recently, relatively late as compared to the time the other movie aficionados have watched it, which, for me, is ideal for had I seen the film in my early twenties, I would not have the adequate sensibility and analytical mind to scrutinize The Second Greatest Movie Character of All Time (the first being Vito Corleone) that is Michael Corleone.
Side note : I first saw The Godfather Trilogy on November 18-19. I played G1 11:00 pm on the 18th, then went to G2, nonstop. I slept in the morning of the 19th, 6am. I woke up 3pm on the 19th and hit G3 and the documentary that ran until 8pm. Total viewing time, with only sleep and peepee in between, is 12 hours. Yes, I took a bath at 9:00 pm of the 19th. It didn’t matter to me if I stink, which was so not me. It’s really that addictive. I don’t know if it was just my psychotic neurons working because I had a monthly period on those dates, but I doubt. If there’s something else that got me hooked, aside from the story itself and Michael Corleone’s evil evil evil personality that was so me, it would have to be The Gorgeous God of Acting Al Pacino.
In early part of The Godfather Part 1 (G1), Mikey appears as a laid-back heir-to-the-throne of a Mafia Lord, the ‘nice college boy punk’ who does not want to get his hands dirty in being mixed up with the family business. When Don Vito’s life was threatened, Mikey encountered an epiphany that compelled him to make that 360 degree turn from what he was supposed to be to what he was destined to be—the successor to Don Vito, The Boss, The Head of the Most Powerful Mafia Family in Mario Puzo’s fantabulous world of gangsters (Watch the movie or you’ll miss half of your life, you airheads!). From the time of Santino’s massacre (Vito’s eldest son), Mikey took over the family business and became The Head of The Family as Don Vito’s health continuously went downhill. Mikey gave orders to annihilate every single soul that got in the way of the family business: the heads of The Five Families, Moe Greene (the boy who invented Las Vegas), and Carl, the husband of Connie Corleone (Vito’s daughter) who sold Santino to Don Barzini (The Head of one of The Five Families) for the latter’s control over the Mafia business in America.
One of my favorite scenes in G1 was when Mikey confronted Carl.
Mikey : You have to answer for Santino, Carl.
Carl : You got it all wrong, Mike.
Mikey : You contacted Barzini… Ah, that little farce you played with my sister! You think you can fool a Corleone? Give ‘im a drink. (Mikey signals one of the members of the Caporegime to bring Carl a drink, and Carl takes a shot.)
Carl : Mike—
Mikey : Sit down! Barzini is dead, so are Phillip Tattaglia and Moe Greene. All the heads of the five families are dead, Cunio, Straachi… So, admit what you did, Carl.
Carl : Mikey, please, don’t do this to me. (Sobs like hell.)
Mike : You think I’d make my sister a widow? I’m godfather to your son. You’re out of the family business, Carl. That’s your punishment. I’ll send you to Las Vegas and you’ll stay there, only don’t tell me you’re innocent. It insults my intelligence. It makes me very angry. (Note : The punctuation marks for the preceding sentences are appropriate for Al Pacino delivered the lines in a ‘so-cool-so-suave-yet-so-authoritative’ manner, which is soooo convincing that I have decided to devote my alter-ego in loving Mister Pacino for the rest of my life.) Now, who approached you, Barzini or Tattaglia?
Carl : It was Barzini.
Mikey : Good. Here’s your plane ticket to Las Vegas. There’s a car waiting for you outside. It’ll take you to the airport. I’ll call your wife and tell her what flight you’re on.
Carl : Mike, please.
Mikey : Get out of my sight!
Then the Caporegime takes Carl away and strangles him to death in a car which was supposed to take him to Las Vegas where Connie and the rest of the family were staying. Mikey walks on by, conscious and definite about what he did, yet feeling comfortable with it for he thinks he made the right move.
This is the evil Michael Corleone in G1. He stood godfather to Connie and Carl’s son, who was named Michael Rizzi, then Mikey had Carl killed in order to get his vendetta for the death of his brother—you see, anyone who takes sides against the family is a hindrance to the family business and that hindrance must be obliterated. Connie then approached Mikey to pour down her sentiments on her brother for making her a widow and her child an orphan. Mikey sent Connie away, saying she needed a doctor for she was hysterical. Kay Adams, Mikey’s wife, went to ask Mikey about the death of Carl.
Mikey : She needs a doctor. She’s hysterical.
Kay : Is it true?
Mikey : Don’t ask me about my business.
Kay : Is it true, Michael?
Mikey : I said, don’t ask me about my business.
Kay : Is it true—
Mikey : Enough! (Slams the table with his palm; note Al Pacino’s eyes that would give The Devil a run for his career. He then takes a cigar and cools down.) All right, just this once, I’ll let you ask about my affairs. Just this once.
Kay : Is it true?
Mikey : No.
Kay hugs her husband, oblivious to the fact that his husband is the evil of all evils in the world.
Kay : I guess we both need a drink, huh.
Kay leaves the study then gets two shot glasses of liquor. The Caporegime approaches Mikey, kisses his hand and says, “Godfather, Don Corleone.” One of the members of the Caporegime closes the door and leaves Kay outside the study. End of G1.
In G2, Fredo, the second son of Don Vito, connived with Hyman Roth, a gambling big shot who happened to be the foster father of Moe Greene, to expose The Michael Corleone Family’s Underground Business and eventually pulverize Mikey’s power and dethrone him from his current position in America.
Note this Mikey line when Fredo implied that he made such a deal with Hyman Roth. “You’re nothing to me now, Fredo. You’re not an enemy, not a friend. You’re nothing. You’re no longer my brother. When you go and see our mother, I want you to notify me in advance so I won’t have to see you.”
Mikey forgave Fredo when Mama Corleone died, but this was just the signal Mikey was waiting for. Mikey could finally give the order for the killing of Fredo.
Fredo went fishing and was saying a Hail Mary which was supposed to be the magic words for the fish to bite the bait, then bang! As Fredo’s body was falling to the waters, Mikey watched by coolly, feeling definite that he made the right move.
Mikey’s marriage with Kay fell apart. He took the kids, Anthony and Mary, with him and banned Kay from setting foot to the Corleone estate. When Kay visited the kids and Mikey caught her, he simply saw right through her, and closed the door gently.
That was Michael Corleone in G2. He can give orders to kill the closest member of the family, related to him even by consanguinity, just to get the family business going. He can close his doors, figuratively and literally speaking, to someone who matters to him most, if that person hurts him. Michael Corleone wants a personal vendetta ALWAYS and he makes sure it is served to him on a silver platter.
Now (this is my favorite part of the blog), here comes Michael Corleone in G3.
Voila! What was Mikey doing? Writing a letter to Anthony and Mary, saying that he is certain the children understood that he gave them to Kay to look after their studies! Not only that!!! He even talks to Kay in a very composed manner, begging her not to dread her anymore!!! He could even afford to have a day-off with Kay and have a romantic mood as they wander the cobblestones of Corleone, Sicily, Italy!!! And he even confesses to a Cardinal of the murder of his brother Fredo while sobbing his heart out!!! And there’s this distasteful scene at Don Tomassino’s wake when Mikey was crying, saying the following lines while sobbing:
“Why were you so loved, Don Tomassino, and I, so dreaded?”
Buhuhu!!! What a shame!!! Guffaws, guffaws!!! For Christ’s sake!!! Where is the evil Mikey that I loved in G1 and G2? Why was he transformed into this weakling who would pass for a Johnny Fontaine sibling? Goodness gracious great balls of fire!!! Down with G3!!!
The defense of the Coppola-Puzo crew was this: by nature, Mikey was really not into the Mafia business, and so after twenty years of being in the business and bathing his soul with blood, he wakes up and reverts to the natural, uncorrupted, nice college boy Mikey. It’s plausible, I would have to admit. Plausible. Especially that Mikey’s health was being devoured by diabetes. Perhaps he thought of redeeming his soul. He realized he believes in soul redemption, after all the butchering and bludgeoning. Plausible? Very plausible? Grrrr… Give me a shotgun and I’ll shoot the TV screen!!!
I would rather have a Michael Corleone who died with his soul going straight to hell as long as the Coppola-Puzo crew kept with the thesis that Mikey is not someone who acts on impulse then regrets what he did.
Mikey was evil to the bones, in G1 and G2, but, BUT, BUT… he knows what he was doing and he was willing to sell his soul for the thing he believed in G1 and G2: that it was important to keep The Family because in keeping The Family, he protects himself and his children. He could have protected Kay, too, but since Kay didn’t want this kind of protection, she decided to leave Mikey and Mikey shut her out, as if saying, “You don’t want my protection? Don’t. Leave and don’t ever come back. I don’t give protection to those who don’t want it anyway.”
Michael Corleone is Nietzsche’s Ubermensch in G1 and G2. If the Coppola-Puzo crew stuck with this thread of personality, they would have made a better trilogy.
I’ve seen G1 seven times since I first saw it in November 18th. I’ve seen G2 two times. I have seen G3 only once, and I don’t plan to see it again soon because seeing it makes me want to whack my TV screen.
Al Pacino’s acting was consistently superb in G1 to G3, and for that impeccable talent, he has invaded my wallpaper and photo albums. Michael Corleone is a character I love, but only in G1 and G2. G3? Never mind.
Oh, wait! There’s Andy Garcia!
“Joey… Saza!!!” (Bangggg!!!)
Prior to and after that scene, I’m on a ‘let’s banter Mikey’ mode while chanting, “Die Mikey! Die Mikey!”
At the end of G3, Mikey finally dies.
Thank God, it’s over.
If you don’t appreciate this blog because you cannot relate to what I am saying yet you enjoy seeing good looking people concocting evil plots to annihilate their enemies, you know, bad deeds with a taste, watch The Godfather Trilogy. Do watch G3. Who knows, your reaction may not be as violent as mine.
After all, taste and preferences are relative.
And who knows, you might be someone who believes that people can change and souls can be redeemed.
Created: December 23, 2006. 1:53am
