The Godfather Part 3: Review, Synopsis, Cast, Critics

The Godfather, Part III, is a direct sequel to Part II, following the continuing efforts of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) to build the family business into a legitimate capitalist conglomerate, though there is a gap of quite a few years between the narrative time of Part III and that of Part II. There was also a considerable gap between the making of these two films. Part III was made by Coppola reluctantly, after a sixteen-year hiatus in the series, largely because he needed money. This third film does lack some of the magnitude of the earlier ones, though it is still a fine film. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including best picture and best director, but won none.

Part III begins in 1979, by which time Michael has been largely successful in his efforts to become legitimate. He is now a fabulously wealthy and much-respected philanthropist, and, as the film begins, he is receiving a prestigious honor from the Catholic Church-in return for a $100 million contribution. The film thus continues a long literary tradition of critique of the venality of the Church that goes back to such works as Chaucer "Pardoner's Tale. This critique does, however, take a particularly modern turn. The Catholic Church emerges in Part III as a vast corporate enterprise that is at least as ruthless as the Mafia and as conniving in its quest for profit as the typical large corporation. In this sense, the subtext of the film needs to be understood as the triumph of global capitalism in the late twentieth century, when even the Catholic Church, once the most formidable foe of capitalism worldwide, has now been safely brought into the capitalist fold, operating much like any other large corporation. As Archbishop Gilday (Donal Donnelly), one of the principal villains of the piece, explains of the Church, "This is like any other company in the world."

As the plot unfolds, it turns out that the Vatican Bank has run up a huge deficit through certain illicit dealings and is therefore desperate for cash. Michael offers to make up most of the deficit out of his own funds in return for the Church's support in his efforts to gain control of International Immobiliare, the world's largest real estate holding and development company, a move that will allow the Corleones to become legitimate once and for all.

Unfortunately, Michael encounters a number of obstacles to this deal, including the reluctance of his former Mafia connections to let him sever his ties with them. An even larger obstacle occurs when the Pope falls ill and dies before he can approve the deal, followed by the election of a new Pope who may not be as cooperative as the old one.

In the meantime, as in all the Godfather films, Michael is also struggling with the deterioration of his family, centered in this installation on the decision of his son, Anthony (Franc D' Ambrosio) to forego all association with the family business and instead pursue a career as an opera singer. Michael reluctantly accepts his son's decision. Mary (Sofia Coppola), his daughter, is interested in the family business but is, after all, only a woman, so Michael turns to Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia), the illegitimate son of Michael's older brother, Santino, as a possible successor. Much like his father, Vincent is violent and hot-tempered, something of a throwback to the earlier days of the family, but he is also talented and resourceful. Moreover, he is desperate to be accepted as one of the Corleones and wants nothing more than to be involved in the family business in a central way.

Eventually, all of these plot strands come together when the Corleones travel to Sicily, where Anthony is to debut at the Palermo Opera. There, the tired, sick, and aging Michael turns over control of the family to Vincent, making him the new don, though it is certainly unclear that Vincent is equipped to run the family's modern corporate business. But Vincent is very good at old-style Mafia intrigue, which immediately comes in handy when the new don has to deal with a plot, engineered by International Immobiliare and the Vatican Bank, to kill Michael and thus prevent him from gaining control of Immobiliare. The same conspirators also plan to kill the new Pope, who is proving unwilling to go along with the criminal schemes of the Vatican Bank. Following very much in his uncle's footsteps, Vincent engineers a sweeping coup in which all of the principal plotters against the Corleones are killed. He is, however, unable to prevent the murder of the Pope, nor can he prevent the shooting of Mary on the steps of the Palermo Opera by an assassin who is aiming at Michael. The film then ends with a final scene of an ancient Michael, now retired in Sicily, falling to the ground, dead from a fatal attack, much in the mode of his father, Vito, at the end of the original Godfather. The family, under Vincent's leadership, goes on, however, leaving the door open for possible future sequels should Coppola once again encounter financial difficulties.

Bibliography : Film and the American Left: A Research Guide, Biskind (Easy Riders); Biskind (Godfather Companion); Clarens; Cowie (Coppola); Cowie (Godfather Book); Ferraro; Jameson (Signatures); Lebo; Papke; Robert Ray.

ACTORS:

Al Pacino

Owen Wilson

Pierce Brosnan

Sylvester Stallone

Tom Cruise

Will Smith

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