[... furthering my original teory of michael knowing much more than portrayed in the film...... "If what I think has happened, has...." going into the whole Rocco connection theory about the shooters and his involvement with the conspiracy to 'hit' Michael, whew! This wouldve been great as a novel also!
At this point all Michael "knew" was that there was a traitor in his family, otherwise those shooters would never have gotten onto the grounds. He was also correctly assuming that the shooters were already dead, and that he would get no information out of them.
The look in Michael's eyes just before the shots are a lovely credit to Mr. Pacino's acting. But let's face it, in all reality the shooters had ample time to get him if that is what was supposed to happen. It's a movie, the assasination was SUPPOSED to fail, therefore Michael lives to retain his power, prevail over Hyman Roth and discover Fredo as the traitor.
And yes, Kay's questioning the drapes WAS a cue to turn Michael's and the audience's attention to what was about to happen.
That's just how movies work sometimes. And even when it's as obvious as this, it doesn't take away from the overall quality of the story and the film.
