Godfather III

Part III is a 1990 American Thriller film written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, and directed by Coppola. It completes the story of Micheal Corleone, a Mafia kingpin who tries to legitimize his criminal empire. The movie also weaves into its plot a fictionalized account of real-life 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 mentions that The Godfather series in fact two sequels, and Part III is the epilogue.

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Review:

The characters that carry over from the earlier films bear little resemblance to themselves the dread curve of Michael Corleone's life, which provided a dramatic spine for the family saga has lost its sinister bend. At the beginning of "Part III," Michael has come very close to realizing his dream of a completely legitimate family business. At a ceremony in his New York penthouse, he receives the Order of St. Sebastian from the Catholic Church, a lofty honor that may be connected to the $100 million donation given to the church by the Vito Corleone Foundation, a charity run by Michael's daughter Mary (Sofia Coppola). Michael is a businessman now, and in divesting himself of his criminal interests he has lost what made him interesting, his murderous darkness.

It loses its moral dimension and becomes just another mob story. The two main plot threads concern the Corleone family's dealing with the Vatican, and Vincent's emergence as Michael's successor. The motives for Garcia's Vincent aren't split, the way Michael's have been. Violence is natural to him. He suffers no pangs of conscience when he takes revenge on his family's behalf, and in this he is supposed to be strong in the uncomplicated way Don Vito Corleone was. Garcia, as a result, seems to be the only actor in the film who knows what he's playing, the only one with a clear mission, and he gives a thrilling, feral performance. It's the film's strongest.

Even though she is authoritative in the role, Keaton suffers tremendously from having no real function except to nag Michael for his past sins. Eli Wallach has a few hammy moments as Don Altabello, an old mob friend who turns out to be an enemy. Bridget Fonda, who plays a journalist, has only two small scenes that contribute nothing whatsoever, and George Hamilton contributes a few atrocious moments as the family's PR man. Talia Shire's part as Michael's sister, Connie, She's a screaming crackpot and the next a power-hungry behind-the-scenes plotter.

Mary, Sofia Coppola is hopelessly amateurish. Still, the part is a relatively small one, and her failure -- contrary to much that has already been written -- contributes very little to what is actually wrong with the film. It may be that Coppola was right to put off filing this last instalment all these years; from the evidence here, he had nothing more to say. As an epic metaphor for the American dream, the first two "Godfather" films are nearly perfect. The connections they made go deep into the story of this country, deep into our sense of our-selves and the contradictions in our lives. As a generational story, they had the richness and scope of Shakespeare. But the man who made those two masterpieces is not the man who has given us this failed final chapter. Though he reassembled many of the members of his old team -- his actors, Puzo, cinematographer Gordon Willis and production designer Dean Tavoularis -- his talent for filmmaking is eclipsed now by his gift for self-destruction. If that great earlier artist ever had a chance of resurfacing, it was here. But he didn't and you can't help but see "The Godfather Part III" as his headstone.

Cast:
Directed and Produced: Francis Ford Coppola
Writer: Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Alpacino Diane Keaton Diane Keaton Talia Shire Talia Shire Andy Garcia Music: Carmine Coppola Theme: Nino Rotta
Cinematography: Gordon willis
Editing: Lisa Fruchtman, Jane Jenkins, Roger Mussenden
Studio: American Zoetrope
Distributed: Paramount Pictures
Release date: December 25,1990
Running time: 170 minutes
Language: English, Sicilian

Movie review: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099674/