Top silent moments

I'm not sure if this has been done before but whats your favourite silent moment in the godfather?

Mine would have to be the end of part 2 when mike is sitting alone.

Mike silent stare to Al neri in the funeral is also good and also when mike comes back from Havana and sees Kay sewing and doesnt know what to say is also a great moment.

In GF I there is a silent moment where Brando shrugs right after Tom returns from LA.

Brando's pause when Tom tells him that Sonny has been killed and of course Michael's silent scream in III.

The moments, in which rage is building after Kay tells Michael she had an abortion.

Vito's funeral and the visual exchanges between Michael and Barzini.

Michael before killing Solozzo

The glare Kay shoots at Michael after the Tahoe shooting. Truly "if looks could kill..." Another was when Kay ignored Michael after he returned to Tahoe from Cuba--just working on her sewing machine with her back to him.

TB -

Do you think that Kay intentionally ignored Michael in that scene? I've always took it as if she didn't realize that he was behind her and that Michael chose not to go to her because he didn't know what to say regarding her "losing the baby."

DC -- Kay had to know more or less when Michael was coming home, and she made no effort to greet him. Instead she sequestered herself with her back to the door and was doing some sewing (who knew she was a seamstress?). It was her way to show Michael she didnt want tto speak to him.

Ahhh, I don't know about that DT. I'll have to watch that scene more closely again.

I think that it was Michael who chose to ignore her.

I'm with dt on this one, DC. Further thought: notice that, right after that scene, when Kay ignores him and has his back to him, Michael sits with Mama and asks if it's possible to lose his family. I don't think that was a coincidence.

But Mike came from Havana when business was finsihed and that could have took a long time so Kay wouldnt have known when mike would come back. Actually come to think of it i think both ignored each other. Mike not knowing what to say to kay and kay hating mike for the life he had chosen, both didnt have anything good to say to each other so they just kept quite.

I always felt that it was Michael who decided not to approach Kay and instead chose to ignore her and just walk away. I feel that when he looks at Kay, it's almost as though he can't face her because of what he's put her through and now with her losing the baby felt even more guilt for not being there for her when she did. Then he decides to consult with mama.

[quote=klydon1]"The moments, in which rage is building after Kay tells Michael she had an abortion."(End quote from Klydon1)

Ah how i could have forgot that moment, that was one of the best acted moment from the whole godfather movies. Pacino was incredible in that scene.

What this scene really shows is how irreparable the state of this marriage was. Kay obviously chose not to greet Michael, to have a meal prepared or anything else....she just sat there sewing. Whether or not she knew he was there is almost beside the point. For Michael's part, he was hardly in a position to say "Honey I'm home!"

What about the scene between Kay and Michael when Kay was leaving after visiting the kids. Hollywood taught us that Michael was going to let her back in the house and everything was going to be great again. But the look he gives her, and its not even a look but its a silent moment.

The more I watch Part 3 the more I get the sense of a King Arthur type role for Michael.

Edit: Also, what about the 2 looks Kay gives at the end of Par 1, first when Michael says "NO" to her about doing anything to Carlo, and next when the door was being shut as they kissed his ring.

Yes DMC, that is an excellent scene. Michael's silence and stare speaks volumes of how he feels about Kay.

I am definitely with DC on this one. Granted, if my husband had been trapped in the Cuban Revolution, I might have been a bit more concerned about when he was returning than Kay seemed to be, but I think it was Michael who snuck out of the house without letting her know he was home. Perhaps they both wanted to avoid one another, but remember that Kay is sequestered at the compound, surrounded by Michael's people. If he doesn't want her to know that he's coming, then she doesn't know. Period.

The silent scream, the silent scream!

Point well taken SB, and it would be like Michael to appear unannounced (as he did at Pentangeli's house). This brings me to another silent moment right before the sewing machine scene, and which precedes it is a way that makes both scenes part of the narrative. Of course I am talking about the scene where Michael comes to the front door and sees Anthony's little car sitting there in the snow abandoned. By the look on his face Michael knows his son has seen through this little charade, and the following scene with Kay's back to him really drives it home.

Exactly! Michael probably was blaming himself for Kay's loss of the baby. Thinking that he imedeatly left her right after the hit attempt and was not there by her side, helping her cope with the stress. Remember that at this point Michael was under the impression that Kay had 'lost" the baby. Then he sees that Anthony's present from him was uncaringly left in the snow. Michael probably realized that the present that he had Tom buy on his behalf did not replace the fact that Michael was not there for Anthony after the hit attempt. That his father was not there to share in his joy when opening that present. And that is why he proceeded to go to Mama for his little talk about losing family.

Hence losing his family while trying to save The Family.

I think the whole silent exchange at Mama Corleone's wake, between Michael and Neri, was particularly moving.

You can actually see Al show some humanity by lowering his eyes, as if to say, "I'll do it, but it's really a shame you have to do this to your own brother."

PB, I said the same exact thing over in another topic a few days back. Some agreed, some didn't. I think that may be the only time that Neri showed some sort of emotion in the first two films. Like he was saying " I can't believe that you're really going to have me kill your own brother."

I didn't see that post, DC, but I agree with you.

That's all that matters.

When they silently go to Peoria.

That was great.

I had a friend who, back in the 70s, mentioned that same Neri look. At the time I didn't agree, but now I do.

Yeah, I really think so. If anything, you get more humanity from Al's eyes than Michael's in that scene. Michael was already dead inside at that point. Well, in my opinion he was.

This is off the topic, but I want to know before the Saga reruns tonight so I can listen for it. Anyone, what is the exact scene where some say that Clemenza says "exlax?"

My two favorite "silence" scenes:

1. After Michael asks Roth who gave the go ahead for the Pentangelli hit.
2. The power projecting look of death that Michael gives Pentangelli just before he tells him that his family still carries the Corelone name, and so he is to run it like one.

Michael walking through the snow to see the toy car buried, and un-used.

My favourites:
Just before MIchael kills Solozzo.
The fury building inside of himwhen Kay tells him about the abortion.
Brando's smile when Michael tells him at the hospital " im with you now..im with you"
Brando pausing after learning that Sonny has been whacked.

Theres too many actually.....

Michael's fear when he has trouble finding the gun behind the "bucket and chain thing" in the bathroom of the restaurant.

I had to re-create a silent scene with little or no dialogue for my film class freshmen year. I chose the scene of when Michael is with the baker's son in law in front of the hospital as they scare off the hitmen who come to kill Vito. I liked this silent scene as tension was high and a lot was revealed about Michael with no dialogue. We see the son in law's hands shaking badly after the scene, while Michael's hands are calm. Michael begins to realize that he is not all that different from his father. I couldn't compete with that scene, but it was fun for me to direct the scene and my professor said I did good job as many other projects had too much dialogue in them.

Micheals walk back to office when Carlo gets strangled

The looks on the others faces when Sonny speaks out at the meeting with the Turk

Two quick moments of silence that always make me laugh:

1) The look on Woltz's face when Tom tells him to put Fontaine in
the picture. Woltz is signing something on a clip board, and he sort of looks at the guy holging it and makes a little smirk.

2) The look of utter shock on Moe Greene's face when Micahel says "Is my credit good enought to buy you out?"