I'm sure we would all agree that we love to watch the godfather movies over and over again because every time we do, we realize new things about them that allow us to have a better appreciation of the films. I think, however, that there are certain things that are in the films that are suppose to shock/suprise us and are geared towards the person watching the movies for the first time (sonny's death for example) I was thinking about one such example and I feel that neither the first time viewer nor someone watching it again get the full effect of the scene. That scene is when we find out that Frankie is alive. The way i see it, this scene is designed to shock the viewer. We are supposed to think that Frankie is dead and then just we hear that the Senate commitee is going to bring a witness to contradict Michael's testimony and were thinking who are they possibly going to get, they cut to scene of frankie with the fbi guys. I think that this is meant to be an unexpected plot twist. It was not, at least for me as a first time viewer because I feel the plot of GF2 is too complicated to fully understand the first time you see it. You don't know who actually tried to kill Michael or who Michael thinks tried to kill him or who was trying to kill frankie (michael corleone says hello) or if frankie is really dead (you see him partially alive at the end of the scene with the rosato brothers) so when see him later you just like oh there he is again, but you dont fully appreciate the scene. Does anyone have any thoughts about this, or any other examples in which we may not fully appreciate a certain scene?

We see that Frankie was still alive after the failed garroting scene. I think if they lead you to believe that he was dead and then all the sudden showed up at the Senate hearings, it would feel like a cheap ploy to shock the viewer. It would be like a soap opera bringing back a long dead character just because they didn't have anything else to do.

I don't think the reappearance of Frankie during the Senate hearings is meant to shock the viewer. If anything, I would expect an '...oh, so there's Frankie I wondered what happened to him...' reaction. Especially after that last shot of him exhausted and scared after the failed garroting.

If any shock factor is involved, it's more that he's about to testify against Michael Corleone...which is actually explained very quickly in the following scene, where Tom explains to Michael (and us) what happened to Frankie...just before Michael goes to talk to Fredo.

However, I wouldn't even use 'shock' as quite the right word. For all of this is a buildup to the intense drama of the boathouse conversation between Mike & Fredo...one which sometimes even leaves THIS billionth time viewer in stunned silence by the time it is over.

Apple

I was more surprised when I saw Willie Cicci testifying at the hearings than Pentangelli. It is pretty obvious that Frankie is going to turn, especially after the " Michael Corleone says hello " line. Then of course Tom confirms this for the viewer. But as far as Cicci, well, we see him in a gunfight outside the bar and then see him go down in it. The next thing we see of him is that he is testifying at the hearing! That was definately more of a surprise, at least to me, than Frankie testifying.


Don Cardi

IMO it is not surprising they brought Willie Cicci in as they did. His testimony did not directly implicate Michael Corleone. He had obviously pled out to somekind of deal because he freely admitted that he was a "button." The most he could say is the family had a lot of buffers. Then came Michael who said he never ordered any deaths, and the trap was set...Pentangeli would refute this, and presumably testify that he was the "buffer" between Michael and Cicci.

I could be wrong about this but wasnt it Sen Geary who asked the "buffer" question, and if so, could he have been playing both sides with that question?

i also was more surprised to see cicci than pentangelli. i think what don cardi meant, and i agree with, is it's not really surprising that the government made a deal with cicci to testify, it's just surprising that he is still alive to testify. we actually see pentangelli sitting there muttering to himself after his meeting with the rosatos, so we know he's alive. but like don cardi said, all we see of cicci is him getting shot then run over by a car. i, along with most others i would guess, just assume that cicci is dead. then, later in the film, there he is all of a sudden testifying at the senate hearings.