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How did Vito know?
#757082
01/05/14 03:00 AM
01/05/14 03:00 AM
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Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 98 New York, NY
Questadt
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Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 98
New York, NY
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A very basic, fundamental question that surely must have been raised on this forum more than once before, though I can find no evidence of it: During the latter part of GF1, after Michael had assumed full control of the Corleone family and begun the family's transition to Nevada, Vito warns Michael of an impending assassination attempt against him. Not only can Vito foresee that the attempt is coming, he is also able to furnish Michael with important details, i.e. that the attempt will be initiated by Barzini, that it will occur at a meeting, set up by someone close to the family, whom Michael absolutely trusts, thereby guaranteeing his safety. Simply, how did Vito know all this? That Barzini would be the culprit is somewhat logical, but for the fact that the Corleones would soon be leaving New York anyway - which Barzini would already know about from Moe Greene, who "talks to Barzini" - thereby no longer presenting any challenge to Barzini's interests. So why murder Michael, when the Corleones are already "getting chased out of New York"? Even more to the point, how could Vito have known the manner in which the assassination attempt would be carried out, with such specificity? I can't even speculate about the answer(s) to that, other than to guess that it's rooted in some kind of Mafia custom or "standard operating procedure" that goes back to the Mustache Pete era. Thoughts? Ideas?
"A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns."
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Re: How did Vito know?
[Re: Questadt]
#757091
01/05/14 08:11 AM
01/05/14 08:11 AM
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 5,325 MI
Lilo
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 5,325
MI
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Very simple. It's what Vito would have done had he been in Barzini's situation. (In the book it's explained that Vito did this to the Maranzano character years ago).
Vito wouldn't have been able to predict all the details but with 30 yrs + experience he would have known that like most such attempts, the murder of Michael could not have been easily accomplished without betrayal. It was just a question of who.
Also remember that although it was unspoken, everyone in the family blamed Carlo for Sonny's death though they pretended not to do so. In that instance they had been fooled once. They weren't going to be fooled again by Barzini.
I don't know if it's a Mafia custom other than pure pragmatism. Your "friends" are the ones who set you up/kill you because they are the one who can most easily get you relaxed, alone and unguarded. As Vito said, it's an old trick.
"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives." Winter is Coming
Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
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Re: How did Vito know?
[Re: Lilo]
#757122
01/05/14 03:21 PM
01/05/14 03:21 PM
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,544 AZ
Turnbull
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,544
AZ
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An even simpler answer: directoral license. It was convenient for Puzo and FFC to have Vito make those predictions in order to set us up for the denouement--especially that nice scene where Tessio lights Barzini's cigarette and makes his pitch to Michael.
Closer to logic: Barzini had been signaling bad intentions by crowding the Corleones (as in Tessio's beef in the fishtank scene). And, Barzini knew that the Corleones' move to Nevada would still leave a Corleone family, allied with Michael, in NY, and still rivaling Barzini's family. So, I don't think Vito was being overly prescient in his predictions. And, as Lilo said, in the Mob, it's always your friends who do you dirty.
What really puzzles me is why Vito didn't know, until after the Commission meeting, that it was Barzini all along. "Tattaglia is a pimp - alone he could never have outfought Santino." Sure, Vito - and that was true before the Commission meeting.
Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu, E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu... E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.
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Re: How did Vito know?
[Re: Turnbull]
#757269
01/06/14 01:35 PM
01/06/14 01:35 PM
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 11,468 With Geary in Fredo's Brothel
dontomasso
Consigliere to the Stars
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Consigliere to the Stars
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 11,468
With Geary in Fredo's Brothel
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Even Moe Green thought the Corleones were being run out of New York by the other families, and that Barzini was now the Don with whom he needed to deal. Vito knew that the Corleones were (wrongly) perceived as weak, and he also knew that someone within the family would betray Michael to Barzini. It was not a stretch for Vito to understand that once he died and Michael was officially head of the family, Barzini would rub him out and take over. Given that there would be a traitor, it makes sense that the traitor would not let on to what he was doing until Michael was out of the way. It came as no surprise to Michael when Tessio approached him about how the meeting could be held on his territory where Michael would be "safe." Vito, with his Sicilian cunning could have easily figured this out. If there is directorial license in this I think it is to tell the viewing audience of what was coming. My guess is Michael had already figured all this out on his own, and was humoring Vito by allowing him to give him this warning.
"Io sono stanco, sono imbigliato, and I wan't everyone here to know, there ain't gonna be no trouble from me..Don Corleone..Cicc' a port!"
"I stood in the courtroom like a fool."
"I am Constanza: Lord of the idiots."
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