I betrayed my wife...

When Michael is confessing to Cardinal Lamberto he said that he had betrayed his wife... He meant: Apollonia or Kay...

He betrayed Kay. Both in marrying Appolonia and in persisting in a life of crime when he said he would turn the family straight in five years.

Moreover, he didn't spend enough time with his family whether it be Kay individually or Kay and the children together on outings. He just wasn't there.

If Michael didn`t spend enough time with the kids was because he wanted kay to raise them without danger of being killed just because of being wife/children of Michael. After all, Michael is a mafioso and had to protect his family, of course he failed in GF3

Definitely Kay. He lied about Carlo and he lied about having the slightest intention of going legitimate.

He betrayed Kay...but not by marrying Appolonia.

Kay was not his wife when he married Appolonia. They may have been 'engaged', but not married. So there was no betrayal there.

Apple

I think that he meant that he betrayed his wife Kay by lying to her, deceving her and not showing her the love and attention that a husband should give to his wife and by just bringing her into that kind of life.

It had nothing to do wiht Applonia.


DS

I don't think that was a lie, either. When he told that to Kay I think he truly believed that he could gradually turn the Family legitimate.

Of course, there had to be a few 'eliminations' first...!!

Apple

He betrayed Kay. I believe that on the surface Michael felt that he could bring the Corleone Family to legitimacy, and he convinced Kay to marry him. He betrayed her in the sense that deep down inside he really knew that the chances of his bringing the family into legitimacy were very slim, and that he never should have brought someone that he loved so deeply into his world. He realized that his convincing her years before that he was going to go legit had been a factor in her decision to marry him. But because he was not really able to legitimize the family as he told her he would, and brought her into a life of lies, deceit and coldness, it was an act of betrayal on his part. And in his coldness he was unable to be the man and husband that he should have been to her, and he turned her out, broke his marriage vows, at first took her children away from her and poisoned a young son against his mother. I think that as he grew older and all these things played on his inner conscience, it eventually caused him to realize and confess that he had betrayed his wife.


Don Cardi

I most feel missaccurate after reading your posts but here it goes my vote: He betrayed Apollonia, he never loved Kay as much as he loved Apollonia and that makes me thing that in a depper sense he felt guilty about Apollonias dead and so he felt that as betraying her...

Incredible but true, I agree with you, Apple! I also think Michael at a certain time in his life truly thought he could manage things in order to legitimate. It was possibly a lie to himself, or just an aspiration, a dream that could come true. But then once again his fate came over and pushed him where he had to go. Deeper and deeper into the darkness of crimes and faults.

He wasn't referring to that at all. Definitely he must've felt an incredible amount of guilt that the car bomb that killed Appolonia was meant for him. But that doesn't equal a feeling of having 'betrayed' her. Remember, he intended for Fabrizio to bring her to her father's house where she would be safe. Even Fabrizio did not realize she would be in the car until it was too late. It was Appolonia who decided to 'surprise' Michael by driving him.

Tragic circumstances, but no betrayal (toward Appolonia) on anyone's part.

Apple

Maybe too much red wine, maybe Im too romantic but: I think he meant Appolonia beacause of that circumstances and beacause all hes life he was devoted to her and her remember (now Im infering) was hes hope for getting out of the wild side!

I don't think the intention of the script is that he was referring to Appolonia.

He was referring to Kay.

Apple

ok, i feel like a complete dumbass. all these years, i thought michael was admitting to having being unfaithful with Kay (and we the viewers just never saw it).

Unthinkable Robert D. ! Michael was scrupulously, religiously faithful, a family man through and through. When he went to Vegas or Havana for business, it was all business. Not even Fredo's Vegas showgirls could get a second look from him.

I believe his loyalty to his family was especially emphasized to show how similar in temperament Michael was to his father. If it weren't for his drive for power and the way he made his living, Michael would have made the ideal husband.

But it was the way the power, revenge, and family business consumed him that caused his betrayal of Kay. As this topic illustrates, betrayal takes more forms than just marital infidelity.

I also think that Michael's fidelity was a form of self-control. Michael NEVER wanted to be caught in a moment of weakness, which is why he always drinks club soda. I think that a large part of his faithfulness was his desire to never be caught, either literally or figuratively, with his pants down.

Well put, Sicilian Babe . Michael's self-control -- we don't even see him show nervousness in the most dangerous situation -- is undoubted.

I was recently mulling over his seriousness and reserve vs. his display of feelings. My conclusion is a bit different from yours. I don't think the reason Michael was so faithful was largely motivated by his wanting to maintain self-control. I think the reason he had self-control was because he was faithful -- to his marriage vows, his children, his father, his business. When he cared about something, he took it seriously; and as a result, the controlled and protective aspect of his personality became more apparent.

I look at the way he is so tender with Anthony when he tucks him in, the way he caresses Kay's face when he sees Anthony's drawing, the way he covers Kay with his own body during the machine gun assault on his home, and the way he bristles at Senator Geary's insults to his family ("We're both part of the same hypocrisy, Senator; but never think it applies to my family.").

I like to think it's genuine. Plus, I need a good reason to justify why this villain is, paradoxically enough, also so attractive.

Its has to be kay

Well said, Cristina, I've been trying to find a good reason myself for ages and you know what? I concluded that this character is by no means just a villain. Not the typical, ordinary one, anyway. Of course we all know he is a criminal, a murderer. No question about that. But when we deepen inside him, when we consider where he comes from, his personal story, we also perceive another aspect (maybe the most remarkable one) bringing us to be merciful towards him. He was in fact both a victim and a torturer. And the first one who was to be a victim was indeed himself, his whole life being devastated by the impossibility to escape his own merciless violent fate. We realize it and cannot help but take pity. That's why we sympathize.

Add to this moral reason (that is undoubtedly a good one), the subconscious appeal of evil to humans. And Michael's character is decidedly fascinating due to his ability to live against the common rules, at the edge of society, in an absolute outward coldness.

Last but not least, consider the P-factor. By P-factor I mean the Pacino role. He was in fact the perfect Michael, the perfect victim and torturer, an archetype we can detect in his most significant roles throughout his brilliant career. And you know why? Al Pacino got those eyes. He got some inner flame in them. Pacino's eyes say it all. You look at his eyes and you see lust for power and thirst for violence, coldness, rage. But somehow, at the same time, you see desperation. And a vulnerability, desperately calling for help. A calling that in Michael's case is to be left unanswered, at least during his life. But I believe God will answer. I like to think of Micheal finally calm and pacified, soon after his solitary death in that Sicilian sunset, among crickets songs and oranges aroma. The Don is dead. Michael lives.

And that's the key. The reason I find Michael so attractive is because he (Pacino) is ... well, so attractive.

Too bad he couldn't look that way (the way he did in GF I or II, I'll take either ) forever.

There were and are plenty of handsome actors in Hollywood, but none are so fascinating that I can watch them over and over again as I can Al Pacino in the Michael role. It certainly was a marriage of the right role with the right actor, and ... BOOM ... magic! A lot of Michael's appeal -- his soft-spoken voice, his eyes, his posture, his looks -- are things Pacino brought to the table. Other attractive aspects of Michael were created by the script -- the way he calls Kay "darling," his seriousness, his intelligence, the way he kisses his little boy goodnight, the way he protects Kay while bullets are flying through their bedroom -- but they wouldn't be the same without Pacino bringing them to life.

And, yes, he has great eyes. That's one of the things I find myself concentrating on when the camera is on him. They even look beautiful when they're closed and you can see the long eye lashes (as when his eyes are downcast when he hears Fredo's slip up about knowing Johnny Ola). You can also really see the lashes when he's in profile (look for the scene where he tucks in Anthony at bedtime).

Lavinia, the rest of your post is so poetic. I don't know if I feel sympathy for Michael at the end, but a lot of people do. I feel more of a sense of poetic justice: He got what he deserved for his life of crime. But I do take pity on him. He had so much potential to be good. As you said, he was not 100% villain. We all have a dark side and a moral side, a capacity to do evil and a capacity to do good. For most of us, I think, our dark side is buried quite deeply. It's a pity that Michael allowed his dark side to dominate him.

AFIIIII!!!!!!!!!! JUSTMEEEEEEEEE!!!!, here's another one!!!!!

Seriously now, Cristina. I really enjoy your posts, you pay a great amount of attention to the details and, at the same time, got this outstandingly passionate insight, especially meant for the psychological aspects of the characters -- that's what I'm more interested to explore. You are definitely a great, great addition to the BBs!!!! Keep the good job going!!!

I agree, at least to a certain extent. As a matter of fact, I doubt Michael was completely free to choose not to get involved in his father's business and succeed him as a Don. I tend to believe he was rather compelled to crime, not just for crime's sake or lust for power (not at the beginning, at least), but basically because he was the only one who could take revenge over his father's hit. He felt he ought to be loyal to his father. As strange as it may sound, being loyal to his father (hence killing Sollozzo and McClusky with his own hands ) was the only "moral" thing to do, the only acceptable option, under the given circumstances. If he hadn't do it, he would have been a traitor of his own blood. He couldn't have lived with such a shame on him. Of course he could have refused to do it, but he didn't. His "sicilianity" obliged him. Then it was too late to go back. His fate was in fact waiting for him. He had thought he could escape, but he was wrong, he couldn't. His identity was in his blood. At this point, the dark side prevailed.

This topic brought me back to my attention while I was browsing the threads and how I recently watched GFIII (2 times actually!). I think the most appropriate answer was probably Kay. I remembered right after he said that he betrayed his wife, he said he "betrayed himself." I don't know if the car explosion with Appolonia has anything to do with him betraying himself or his "wife" - so yes, I think it's Kay.

Even though GFIII was kind of uh, corny? (in some ways, yes - but I thought it can be nicely classified as a "blockbuster" - it was quite entertaining if you ask me!) and the scenes between Michael and Kay sort of didn't "fit" into the script, but I found them the most enjoyable. In Sicily, he asks for Kay's forgiveness, which goes back to him betraying Kay and not being devoted to her as a husband and father to their children because in GFII he was so drawn into power and the family business he didn't even really find time to spend with his family. And of course how he said that the family business would be legit. by 5 years - and it's already 1979!

Exactly!