Originally Posted By: johnny ola


I don't know if I exactly follow your line of reasoning, so allow me to make a few comments about the 2 scenarios.

-Most importantly the Cuba scenes were loosely based on fact, whereas the portrayl of the Church, to say the least was a stretch.

-The Cuba scenes basically dealt with the local goverment being in partnership with the mob. Sure GFIII showed the partnership of the Church and the mob, but involving the very heart of Catholicism, The Vatica, The Pope, and the College of Cardinals, is again quite a stretch.

-As pointed out on another thread, for a mafia family to be able to "invest" 100 million dollars, is again, you should pardon the expression, a stretch. I don't think such wealth by a mob boss has come close to acquiring that much wealth since the days of Al Capone, and by the same token, the wealth of the Vatican is legendary, and I don't think they need any two bit hoods to fund their business interests.

Keep in mind I don't object to the Catholic Church sort of being shown in a bad light, I think it was just too much, but on the other hand, had it been handled differently would have made for a better film. As I posted before, with a first viewing, many of us were trying to establish "who's on first?".


I don't think the plot points you cite are major stretches.

A family owning 4 major casinos for decades could easily amass hundreds of millions of dollars of profits. Not to mention the brothels, drug dealing, etc. etc.

As for the Immobiliare subplot, that was at least loosely based in fact. In a book of underreported news stories I own there's an article about a Vatican banking scandal that clearly inspired much of GFIII, right down to a Swiss banker found hanging from a bridge. I'm at work now, but if I have a chance tonight I'll dig it up and post some of the details.


"A man in my position cannot afford to be made to look ridiculous!"