Michael's fun

Hey guys... sorry for being away for so long. missed all of you.

anywho... i have a question (or rather an observation and a question). I cannot recall an instance of Michael smiling between the periods after Appolonia (sp?) dies all the way through the end of the trilogy.

I can't remember one smile, even...

Can some one explain why this is... and if I missed it?

There are only a few moments where we can see Michael smiling:
- "Do you like your Lasagne?"
- "Then would you like me better if I were Ingrid Bergman?"
- The deleted bed scene between Michael and Kay.
- Michael sees Appollonia touching his gift.
- Michael teaching Appollonia how to drive. (Which is kind of funny because Al Pacino didn't have a driving license back then.)
If I remember correctly he smiles twice at Anthony's party: Once when the photo with the cheque is taken (a fake smile). And in the deleted scene with Sonny's daughter.

The reason why is smile disappears is simple: The Godfather Trilogy is the story of Michael's tragedy. A man who sacrifices all his hopes, all his love for the sake of what he thinks is "his family", which in fact is a crime organisation. In GFII, he finally destroys his family, believing, he's protecting them.

Nice to see someone else noticed that too.

In The Godfather Part II, Michael smiles only two times. The first time is when he forced a smile when he and Senator Geary are taking a picture during the party. The second time is when he's at the meeting in Havana. And he may smile a little bit when he meets with Geary during the show.

In Part III, I recall he smiles multiple times as he's a changed man, or so it seemed at least..

But in the entire Trilogy, Michael never really laughs.

hmmm... thank you guys... i do remember those instances now! but they are, indeed, few and far between (up till GFIII)

In a deleted scene from GF, Michael and Kay are shacked up in a hotel room (before Vito is shot) and are positively playful together. Michael asks Kay to impersonate a telephone operator to convince Tom that he's still in New Hampshire (not in a NYC hotel), so he'll be late for the family get-together.

GF 3 has a few. At his party when Johnny Fontaine starts singing, Michael quips that he is going to listen to some Tony Bennett records.

I think at the end of GF 3, Michael dies with a smile on his face, thankful that the movie is over.

In a deleted scene, Michael is seen laughing histerically at a joke Manolo told him about Hyman Roth.

Who is Manolo?

Manolo is a mysterieus guy only the core members of this board know about...

In deleted scenes Michael is always smiling while doing his hobby: Making anagrams of the names of people he has had wacked.