Saturday, March 24, 2012

The Godfather Part III, or The Death of Michael Corleone: "A Long Contemplation of Eternity"


Other posts in this series:
The Godfather: 1. Coppola's Decline of a Family; 2. "I Believe in America"; 3. Enough Time / The Godfather Part II: 4. The Horizon of Time; 5. "Fruit of Thy Womb"; 6. Revolutions; 7. Between Brothers / 8. Intermezzo: "Time, Who Eats His Own Young" / The Godfather Part III: 9. "A Long Contemplation of Eternity"; 10. "The Body Cries Out" / 11. Coda: My Debt to The Godfather



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Order your copy of Off the Map: Freedom, Control, and the Future in Michael Mann's Public Enemies, published by Cascade Books, here.



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6 comments:

  1. Jim AFebruary 19, 2015 at 1:40 PM

    Speaking of a ““syphilitic, like Dorian Gray”: Godfather III was set 8 years after Godfather II, but filmed about 16 years later. The difference in years shows in the face of Pacino which creates an implausible discontinuity in the timeline for me. And that wasn't helped by the spikey short (graying) hairstyle of the Michael Corleone character in GFIII. Now I understand that Coppola may have wanted to project the continued degeneration of "Dorian Gray" in GfIII. But I think he overdid it. I might be splitting hairs (no pun intended), but Pacino's character in GFIII would have been more identifiable if he had looked more like Lt. Col Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman, but exuded a persona closer to the “Dorian Gray” of GfII than of Col. Slade. So for me, the Michael Corleone of GFIII looked and acted (in mannerism) like a 70 year old Frank Slade. And I feel that greatly detracted from the narrative coherence of the trilogy.

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    Replies
    1. The Niles FilesFebruary 23, 2015 at 12:33 PM

      Thanks for the comment--but just to clarify, Part III is set 20 years later. (Part II concludes in 1959; Part III is 1979).

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    2. AnonymousMarch 19, 2015 at 4:01 PM

      Correct, the 8 years is now long Michael has seen Kay.

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    3. MDDecember 22, 2015 at 11:56 AM

      However, if you notice Michael in the last shot of GFII alone in the chair, his hair is much noticeably grayer and face more wrinkly than the entire movie. Therefore, I have a hard time believing that GFII ended in 1959/1960. Seems like they jumped ahead several years in that final shot. I'm interested in hearing someone else's take on that.

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    4. UnknownApril 12, 2017 at 5:10 AM

      So inattentive. The film is set 20 years later, not 8. And Frank Slade did not exist for several more years after this film. You clearly haven't followed this essay's analysis of Michael Corleone's evolution.

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    5. UnknownJanuary 7, 2018 at 11:45 PM

      So where was the scene shot and who kept the little puppy?

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