the godfather ending explained

When we meet him, he's a young man who cares about his family deeply but doesn't want to be involved in the family business until violence pushes him to take action. It's an American tragedy that plays out across more than three decades of history, and it's filled with various key events that are still worth dissecting as part of a larger whole. Vincent has taken up a life on the criminal side of the family, working with and eventually feuding with Corleone leader Joey Zasa, even though Michael has encouraged him to go legitimate. Related: Black Panther Embraces Elements Of Both James Bond And The Godfather. This new iteration of the New York "family" continues to operate after The Godfather ends, changing hands even after Clemenza passes away as the last remnant of the family's original founders. This marks the inception of a new regime for Michael (Al Pacino), who takes over the role of Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) and solidifies the new-found position of strength of the family, exerting it effectively … Kay has turned her back on Michael, divorcing him and retaining custody of their children, while Connie has ultimately leaned into the family business to such an extent that she seems almost more ruthless than Michael. Robert Duvall was scheduled to return as Tom Hagen, Michael’s consigliere (advisor) and right-hand man. Click on the different category headings to find out more. The New York crime family remains a part of Michael's life, and it will eventually become a thorn in his side in later years when new players come onto the scene. Cookies help us deliver our Services. Vito passes out and dies. When a battle with Zasa ensues, though, Vincent finds himself at the center of his uncle's life, even as Michael is trying to move away from the mob once and for all. Before his death, however, Vito and Michael, now the undisputed Don of the family, had concocted a grand plan that would not only take all their enemies off the board, but would cement the Corleone legacy for years to come. The plan begins on the day Michael’s nephew and godson is baptized. These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features. The audience knows of Vito’s criminal activities and his use of lethal violence against band conductors, but his initial presentation as a family man softens the blow. These two women have been broken in some way by this, no matter how ruthless Connie was or how forgiving Kay could've been. A wave of relief spreads over Kay’s face but after she leaves the room and looks back, she sees Michael surrounded by his three capos, all hugging their leader and kissing his hand. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website. In the next scene, nine-year-old Vito Andolini walks with his mother through the Sicilian countryside, near the town of Corleone. The murders are designed to tie up loose ends that exist within the plot of the first film, but they have broader implications that ring out for years. The story by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola is a brilliant conjuring act, inviting us to consider the Mafia entirely on its own terms. Al Neri shoots Archbishop Gilday, two assassins suffocate and then hang Fred Keinszig and Calo … As the bodies stack up and Michael continues to look ever more distant, the organ music and baby cries reach a crescendo. The other families don't stop existing, but they do stop being the same threat to the Corleones that they were during the era of Michael's father, Vito Corleone. The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son. For all its Oscars, acclaim and legacy, the fact is The Godfather really should have been a bomb. A few days later, Vitos mother takes Vito with her to see Don Ciccio and begs the don to spare Vitos life. During the procession, Don Ciccios men open fire in the surrounding hills and kill Vitos older brother, Paolo. We learn later that what really happened to Fredo has become something of a family legend in the years that followed, as those loyal to Michael denied it was a hit and those less loyal (like Kay and her son Anthony) came to believe Michael was behind it all along. The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same name.The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte, and Diane Keaton.It is the first installment in The Godfather trilogy. In The Godfather Part II, it's the Cuban revolution, and in The Godfather Part III, it's the Vatican Banking Scandal and the sudden death of John Paul I. Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, you cannot refuse them without impacting how our site functions. Michael neither confirms nor denies Connie’s accusations, and merely holds her, before sending his sister downstairs to see a doctor. We may request cookies to be set on your device. Looking directly at Kay, Al Neri slowly moves towards the office door and closes it, leaving Kay with a mixture of distrust and stark realization. The Godfather trilogy is jam-packed with iconic characters, from Tom Hagen to Johnny Fontane, but none loom so large (literally) as Luca Brasi. The year is 1901. Picking up in 1958, three years after the events of the last movie, The Godfather Part II finds Michael still promising his wife Kay that he will take the family into complete legitimacy. After the celebration is complete, Michael goes on to have Tessio and Carlo, his brother-in-law, killed for their respective betrayals. Let’s get into that Possessor ending, explained. It ranks even today as an American classic that's almost universally beloved. And then, two sequels followed — the nearly universally beloved Godfather Part II and the more divisive Godfather Part III. I promise that you won’t regret it, even if the running time is three hours in total. Once an attempt on Michael's life is made in which she herself is almost shot, Kay realizes that Michael cannot and will not change, at least not fast enough to save the lives of her children. During the performance of the Cavalleria Rusticana, Michael and Vincent have numerous people killed. This effort includes purchasing more hotels and casinos and partnering with legendary mob tycoon Hyman Roth to open new properties in Cuba, where the government is friendly to their business interests. 2019-09-21 03:09:19 Kay, of course, is an educated, professional woman, and isn’t as willing to turn the same blind eye to Michael’s activities that other mafia wives might. When Clemenza, Neri and Rocco are seen showing respect to their boss, this is a reaffirmation of their allegiance now that the War of the Five Families is over. In the world of this film, nothing can ever be completely "legitimate," no matter how benevolent the efforts were. Check to enable permanent hiding of message bar and refuse all cookies if you do not opt in. Sure, he had to spill a lot of blood, but now Michael can try to move beyond the old ways of doing things and into something new. In The Godfather 's final scene, Connie hysterically confronts Michael about Carlo's death, correctly assuming that her husband was killed on the Don's orders. Kay no longer feels she truly knows what kind of man her husband is, nor what he’s capable of, and views the world within those office walls as the divide between her and the man she fell in love with. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Vito’s youngest son renounces the devil at the altar and promises to protect his nephew in the name of Christ. That’s why we sympathize with characters who are essentially evil. Roth, meanwhile, has decided that a key to his own plans is eliminating Michael from the picture while feigning talk of retirement. By the end of the film, though, power hasn't just transferred from Vito Corleone to his son, Michael. Throughout The Godfather, music and sound effects are used to represent Michael’s state of mind, for example the increasingly loud train noises that build up to Michael’s first kill, and the same technique is employed during the baptism scene. By The Godfather‘s conclusion, Michael is the undisputed heir to Vito’s throne and the new Godfather. But ending the … The Godfather trilogy is the story of Michael Corleone, the one member of the Corleone crime family who was supposed to get out and be something more legitimate, a … More: Rupert Wyatt’s Gambit Movie Would’ve Taken Cues From The Godfather, (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Rather than fighting it, rather than seeking redemption or even vengeance, he's simply given himself over to despair because he knows he can never beat it. In that way, for all the gangster swagger, The Godfather is ultimately the story of an American tragedy. The Godfather’s Ending Explained (What Happens and What It All Means), Turkey’s family, labor and social services minister tests positive for COVID-19, Dozens of FETÖ suspects arrested in nationwide operations, Turkey, Russia work on terms of Nagorno-Karabakh deal, Akar says, 6.7 million homes across Turkey need to be rebuilt, minister says. Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. Click to enable/disable Google Analytics tracking. In Michael's case, the death of his brother wasn't just another necessary evil but the one sin he could never fully escape. 3. The last time we see Michael Corleone, he's an old man alone in Sicily, dying while dogs wander the grounds around him. https://i0.wp.com/movieplus.news/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/The-Godfathers-Ending-Explained-What-Happens-and-What-It-All-Means.jpg?fit=1400%2C700&ssl=1, https://movieplus.news/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Logo_ENV2-3-e1555638024319.gif, The Godfather's Ending Explained (What Happens and What It All Means), Nurse Jackie Season 8 Updates: Is It Happening? In the years since The Godfather Part II, Michael's wife Kay and his sister Connie have had very different reactions to his ruthless attempts to stay in power. The Godfather III gets an amazing new ending: Director Francis Ford Coppola re-edits his 1990 film and unveils a stunning new twist (spoilers) ... Coppola explained the … The Godfather‘s final phase begins after Vito Corleone passes away in the comfort of his own garden. And evil is a subject for art. Although not the biggest threat to the Corleone family, Stracci is in league with Barzini, Vito’s main rival. | Screen Rant, Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness Comes Out as HIV Positive. Here’s a breakdown of the events that take place in The Godfather‘s final scenes, and what they tell audiences about the story and characters. When Don Ciccio refuses, Vitos mother puts a knif… There’s another ending The Irishman more closely echoes, it’s the one that puts a cap on what is, arguably, the greatest mafia film ever made: The Godfather Part II. He dances at his daughter’s wedding, wants the family photograph to be just right, and takes care of those that come to him for aid and call him Godfather. We learn later that this has the lasting impact of a kind of familial cold war that will haunt Michael's relationship with his children for years to come. Meanwhile, Kay seems to finally be coming around to the idea that she and Michael could reconnect ... and then Mary is killed. It's a major move toward legitimacy, but the implications are more far-reaching than just Michael's business interests, and they'll be echoing down through family history for decades. He was an obstacle to the Corleones’ Las Vegas interests and had physically attacked Michael’s brother, Fredo, in public. As testament to the subtlety of Coppola’s directing and the depth of Puzo’s script, those closing scenes are also still analyzed and picked apart, as each decade brings fresh eyes to the story. Michael, still eager for legitimacy, dives back into violence, ordering the deaths of Roth, Pentangeli, and finally, Fredo. The most famous scene in The Godfather Part II is, almost without question, the moment when Michael's brother Fredo heads out on the lake with Corleone captain Al Neri to go fishing. Later in the trilogy, when he becomes Godfather, he grows obsessed with the idea of making the family “legitimate,” which, in a sense, is a euphemism for “assimilated.” Michael wants to de-Sicilianize the family, to take the crime out of it, so that the Corleones will be as American as anyone else. This site uses cookies. One way or another, that means the Vatican as it exists in the world of The Godfather will never be the same. A good man who went bad for the sake of his family, and every decision he's made has cost him someone he loves. In the aftermath of the purge, Michael orders the deaths of both his former captain Tessio and his brother-in-law Carlo for playing parts in attacks on the Corleone family. Michael’s future right-right man, Al Neri, puts on his old police uniform and takes out Emilio Barzini, the arch-enemy of the Corleone family and the driving force behind Sonny’s death. Michael’s future right-right man, Al Neri, puts on his old police uniform and takes out Emilio Barzini, the arch-enemy of the Corleone family and the driving force behind Sonny’s death. Over the course of those films, Coppola and Puzo worked together to weave a complex web of alliances and betrayals, lovers and fighters, sins and triumphs. As Michael enacts his grand design on the day Connie’s child is baptized, and completes his transformation into the new Godfather, he is cast in a far harsher shade of evil. So she has an abortion, refusing to bring another child into a family of violence, and ultimately, she decides to leave him. Much of the endgame of The Godfather revolves around Michael Corleone's master plan to achieve two key goals: knock out his family's enemies and move his family's operations away from New York City and into Nevada, where he hopes to take on more legitimate dealings. In shutting the door on Kay, The Godfather highlights both Michael’s decision to close his wife out of his business and the mafia’s general attitudes towards a woman’s role. This hints towards the conflict at the core of Michael’s character – the war between the person he was and the Don he has now become, and it’s clear which side is winning the battle. In the moments after Mary's death, we see Kay react momentarily to Michael's own grief, and we see the despair in her eyes. In The Godfather‘s final scene, Connie hysterically confronts Michael about Carlo’s death, correctly assuming that her husband was killed on the Don’s orders. No matter how hard he tries to escape his family's criminal past, it keeps coming back to haunt him. It's Connie who orders the hit on Joey Zasa while Michael is in the hospital, and it's Connie who ultimately kills the treacherous Don Altobello when it's revealed that he betrayed the family. Michael is laid bare as a man who lies in the face of his God, a man who has no qualms about attending a family event while button men commit murder at his behest, and a leader with an icy heart and perfect poker face. It's not hard, for example, to see Connie as someone who turns even colder after losing her niece. As he explained to his future wife, Kay, back in 1950, Michael is determined that it will only take five years for his family to become "completely legitimate," and he believes that operations in Las Vegas are a big part of that mission. The Tattaglia family were responsible for the attempt on Vito’s life earlier in the film. The expression on Diane Keaton’s face that acts as The Godfather‘s final shot indicates that, despite initially being relieved by Michael’s denial, her trust towards him has been irretrievably damaged. Changes will take effect once you reload the page. If you got lost, don’t worry—I’m here to help. When Michael's capos gather in his office, the door shuts on Kay, ending the movie. Craig Elvy. The various hitmen dispatched around New York (and, in one case, Las Vegas) are tasked with taking down the heads of each of the other Five Families — Don Barzini, Don Tattaglia, Don Cuneo, and Don Stracci — as well as Moe Greene, the casino magnate who attempted to block Corleone control in Vegas. That leaves Clemenza, who stays behind in the city and establishes his own faction, still loyal to the Corleones. Vito was all of these things  too – but the inherent darkness wrapped around the position of Don only becomes fully clear when Michael takes the role, switching his alignment from protagonist to antihero. In its opening act, The Godfather depicts Don Vito as a dedicated family man. Connie and Carlo's son (played by young Sofia Coppola, daughter of Director Francis Ford Coppola, who also appears in The Godfather Part III) … Then we see Connie, who's so distraught that she literally pulls her black shawl up over her head, like a mourning hood. A member of Michael’s inner circle, Rocco Lampone, shoots Philip Tattaglia as he cavorts with a prostitute in bed. The Godfather 2 shuttles back and forth constantly from past and present, contrasting the life of Vito Corleone in the early twentieth century, from his humble beginnings through his ascent into power, with that of his son Michael Corleone in the second half of the twentieth century, whose influence is declining. Frequently cutting between scenes that feature religious imagery and biblical passages, and acts of brutal, deadly violence make The Godfather‘s infamous Christening montage intentionally jarring and help establish the type of Don Michael has become. 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