So this is a definite Opinion Piece. Many wont agree with my interpretation of the storylines. Many will refuse my opinions. What ever. It is though, long & a little rambly. Consider yourself warned.

IN DEFENSE OF AN OVERLOOKED CLASSIC

"The price you pay for the life you choose"

"From this day on, call yourself Vincent Corleone"

Foxtel has just finished showing the Godfather Part III, the culmination of a three week
advertising spiel that saw the classic films being shown every Saturday night for three
weeks in a row. Incidentally, these last three Saturday nights in a row have seen me stay
home. And once more after watching the final installment, I have something to say to all.
I love GF3. Love it. Seroiusly, if im drunk enough, certain scenes can make me cry.
Reckon 3 is a piece 'a shit, eh? Bugger you sideways. GF3 is awesome.

We can expound all we want on how overblown the script was, how elementary the plot,
and as always, bash on poor Sophia Coppola. The thing is though, 3 cops the most of its
shit by being held up against 1 & 2. No doubt it's the weakest of the three by far, but
the first two are literal materpieces of the genre! Shit, of the film medium!

Now this is 26 years after them; things change. It cant be the same. It's the epilogue to
the Corleone Family saga, and sadly, things dont always end they way the we'd like.
That being said, its still better than 90% of films ever made. The acting chops are
well present & abundant, Pacino, Shire, Garcia & so many other unsung masters. Great
cinematography, & locations, a true work of art. There's a reason it was nominated for a
bunch of Oscars. But because it has to cap off what was such an enticing story until
then, & does it on such a definite downer, shoving the consequences of Michaels life of
crime in our faces, people say, "thats shit". Well, they're shit. GF3 rules.

Sure number 3 has its faults & sure they're many compared to 1 & 2, but is it not the
natural progression? Why cant it be a little over the top & pretentious? Why cant
Michael Corleone conduct shady business with the Vatican & international conglomerates?
Why not a helicopter hit on the entire Comission at the same time?

He's not dealing with the likes of Pentangeli & the Rosato brothers anymore, no more
Hyman Roth & Johhny Ola's, no Vincent "The Turk' Sollozzo.
These are millionare's with a Gotti attitude gangsters.
I think that Joe Mantegna did a great job of the celebrity gangster, the foppish, cocksure
, sleazy mobster with a ruthless streak, & infact prefer a "new" face like Joey ZaZa's
as opposed to Willie Cicci or some other old hand portraying the new threat.
Also, it's a movie (quite the movie); Michaels business is on a much higher level these
days; consequently, so are his threats. Duh. Let it be over the top. GF3 rules.

What do i mean about it being the natural progression? Part I saw the twilight of the
great Don Vito, the tragic events that led to Michael being forced to step up as the
Godfather, he has to, ofcourse, to "protect his family".

2 saw Don Michael, now firmly confident in his birthright, moving up onto bigger &
better things, but still being dogged by the family history. But Michael, ever his
fathers son, manage's to again settle all accounts & tie of all loose ends, consolidating his
power & influence to make that leap into another kind of respectablity. But still, his
underworld success does not translate into his personal life, which suffers accordingly
& costs him dearly in so many ways; the loss of his wife, his brotherly guilt. Still,
his power at this stage is (almost) absolute.

And by 3, Don Michael Corleone, now approaching his own twilight, is nearly there,
finally within reach of where he's always been trying to get. But of course, "Just when
he thought he was out, they pull him back in". And Michael is now far removed from the
regular gangsters his enemies once were, stakes are much higher these days, with the
Palermo Families & the Vatican itself entwined in the intrigues.
Luckily of course, Michael is not without his friends & his own power; a staunchly loyal
nephew & inner circle. Good old Al Neri is still there, right alongside Michael, his
most reliable soldier, his own Luca Brasi. His sister Connie, grown into her brothers most
dedicated supporter, the family "glue", who work's in shadows towards Family interests.

After so much betrayal & shifting loyalties Michael prevails, again settling all accounts in
one deft stroke, a crescendo set against the stirring performance of "Cavaleria Rusticania",
some riveting scenes in any case.
But despite it all, despite the victories, a final bullet meant for him hits his
daughter, & from the way the Dons face tranforms during his tortured howl,
the cadaverous, partly insane, finally beaten expression, we learn, along with everyone
else, exactly what was most important in his life.

And finally, we witness the great Don Corleone, now elderly & infirmed, reflecting on it
all; he dies alone, a dog sniffing around his corpse. Was it worth it? Was the life
he chose worth the price? Regardless of how you feel about it, what better way to end the
saga of Michael Corleone & his family? His father died surrounded by loved ones, but
similar choices made by Michael have in the end brought him nothing but pain & loss.
Times had changed, & his birthright became his burden. Arrgh, GF3 frickin' rules.

And though Michael is the primary character, do not the others also fit the progression?
Connie, far removed from a jet-setting party girl, even further from the "spoiled ginny
brat", deciding on her place within the family; beside her brother, off a little to the
behind, of course. She orchestrates Vincent's ascension, the true heir of Sonny,
to the top of the Family. The newest Don Corleone, the one she will have a direct line
with, she knows the Family's reputation will be in good hands. Now that she's a part of
such things, she can hold her head high in the neighbourhood.
Poisoned cannoli? What about it? She's not gonna walk up & stab the guy for chrissakes!
She's a lady... that's what lady's do. Them being a lady is what makes it all right for
them to use poison. Lucrezia Borgia, y'know? She still did her part, & did what she had
to.

And Kay...
Decades after marrying into a Sicilian family, after raising Sicilian-American children,
after so many years of eating the food, hearing the language & the loving memories of
the "old country: Miss Kay Adams, after all the bullshit, she's finally there in Sicily,
right alongside Michael. Finally they can make their "peace", brought together by their
children, but then, of course, tragically destroyed by the death of one.
From the look on her face, we can tell how she feels during that magnificent scene;
Michael's pathetic howls, his hysteric tears, they tell her much more then he himself
would ever verbalise to her.

Still... you have to assume the death of their daughter,
by a mafia assasin's bullet no less, that would have been the final straw, the donkey
crippling one. Do we really expect Kay to stick around? After that? Is it any wonder he
die's alone? Kay left him long ago, his son estranged, Vincent & Connie far away in New York
& all his old friends dead...

Where else does Michael have to go in his life story? The son of his father, he reaped
what he sowed. A tragic Anti-Hero, one of modern films most compelling. The Godfather,
Part III, is an unsung classic, a frickin awesome movie.

In My Own Humble Opinion,
Mickey_MeatBalls.

So ive had few. Sue me. GF rules!!