I was just watching the Godfather I.

It looks like Luca's left hand with ring on pinky is held by Bruno then stabbed by Solozzo.

Then when he falls to the floor it looks like his right hand has been stabbed and stuck to the bar.

Anyone notice this or am I wrong?

Ok then I guess only I notice it LOL

I was wondering why he was stabbed in the hand. Purely so Luca couldn't fight back or did it have a meaning?

Dramatic effect. Probably most viewers found it the most memorable scene in the movie.

No. In both shots his thumb is pointed to the left. He was stabbed in the right hand and that hand was shown in the final shot. But I wonder what Luca's right hand was doing positioned flat on the bar in the first place.

Another question. I can't tell if the bar has a mirror behind it. Can you? If it does then I wonder why Luca could not have seen his assailant approaching him from behind. Also, where did the assailant come from? Luca had a view of the entire bar area when he came in and he surely would have noticed anyone at that time or if anyone else entered the bar.

1. Bruno holds Luca's left hand. Sollozzo stabs him in the right.

2. Why was he stabbed in the hand: Luca was known to be very strong. So it wasn't enough that Bruno held one of his hands. Sollozzo was very good with the knife ("but only in matters of business" ), so we can say: it was his personal way of fixing Luca's hand.

3. Luca was garrotted because it was a "clean" way of killing.

4. The bar did not have a mirror behind. When you look at the scene where Luca enters, you can see that there is lot of space behind Bruno.

Question for speculation: Obviously Bruno and Sollozzo first had a different plan which failed. Something that has to do with Luca shaking hands with Sollozzo sealing the contract. Sollozzo looks a little irritated when Luca refuses. How would they have done this?

If Luca had shaken hands, Bruno probably would have grabbed the hand with both of his (or maybe the hand and forearm) and tried to pull Luca toward him. Sollozzo obviously had his knife out and to the ready. If he saw that Luca's other hand was on the bar, he would have stabbed the hand, as was shown. If Luca had raised his hand in defense, Sollozzo probably would have stabbed him in the back or somewhere else convenient. The stabbing in either case was probably to weaken and distract Luca--the garrote was obviously the murder weapon of choice.

I have always questioned the wisdom of Vito's decision to send Luca
with the story that he was not happy with the Corleone family.Everybody knew of Luca's fanatical loyalty to the Godfather.
Vito's enemies read right through it.Do you think vito used luca as some sort of scapegoat?

No. It's a flaw in the storyline.

We have an active thread on this subject. Go here:

http://www.gangsterbb.net/threads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=444618&page=1#Post444618