Scene 14; "The Return to Sicily"

This is when Michael seeks the advice of long-time friend Don Tomasino in the front yard of a house in Sicily. It is here when Don Tomasino states that only Lucchesi has the power to "reach between these two worlds."

Now, Michael is still the Don by this time, of course. He has yet to give Vincent the order. However, during this scene, it is Vincent who states what is going on and what they are "obligated" to do. Carrying himself in the utmost manner.

I just want to know what his role here is because, to me, it gives off the image that it is more or less him in charge of what's going on, the way he states how things are going and what they should do.

Michael comes off as a translator, more or less.

To be blunt, I thought Vincent's role was to sit down and shut up; to keep eyes open and ears sensitive to what's going on. What changed now?

In addition to furthering the plot, I always thought it was a critical scene for character development. Rather than an emotional outburst, he makes a statement in a calm, measured, almost subdued tone of voice. I always thought that particular scene showed that Vincent had bought-in to Michael's style of management of acquiring information and making a rational decision, rather than responding with reckless violence.

Vincent, at that moment, is less emotional and more rational. Less like Sonny and and more like Michael.

tony b.

Exactly. It seems that throughout the movie, every time we saw Vincent he seems to mature a little more, adopting Michael's famous reasoning tactic and keeping a cool head.

Well, I'm glad you guys see this sequence as character development. And I'm not saying you're wrong. But to me, Don Chater's original question underscored the fatal weaknesses of III: huge plot gaps, coupled with feeble dialog. To my mind, Vincent should have been sitting quietly because I didn't discern any credible sequences that indicated he'd risen in the hierarchy by that time.

Well I have to agree with Turnbull about this. One second, Vincent is this wild, hot tempered person, and the next minute, he's calling the shots and running the family.

As I've said before, for the most part I think that GFIII has gotten a bad rap over the years due to people trying to compare it with GFI and GFII. What I've always liked about GFIII was how are shown Michael's quest for redemption and forgiveness, from God, Kay and from himself.

However I always felt that FFC could have did a much better job in the development of the Vincent character. Why couldn't we see a transformation take place with Vincent, just like we saw with a young Michael in GFI? We were shown the different stages that Michael went through to become the Don. There was absolutely no reason why FFC couldn't have done the same thing with Vincent's character. Instead of wasting time with the incestual plot, that screen time could have better been served by spending more time with the development and transformation of Vincent. There was so much potential with Vincent's character, and FFC did not take the time nor opportunity to build on the potential of the Vincent character. To me, that was the weakness of GFIII, the uncaring way that FFC had Vincent go from street punk to Don, with nothing in between.


Don Cardi

Well, keep in mind that it was already a 3+ hour film. FFC probably figured that the audience would assume that Vincent was morphing into the role of a prime component of the Corleone empire after Michael invited him to come along with him for a few weeks. Afterall, he takes him to Atlantic City and does take him to Sicily. So, Michael is saying that Vincent has a large role.

By the way, about that scene in Sicily. Why is Tommassino sitting in his wheelchair facing in the opposite direction behind everyone? And why is everyone there kind of stretched out instead of in a circle of sorts. Camera angles, perhaps?

With the little detail FFC has given us, there is very much we can only assume and that is the problem.

It seems that Vincent had risen up in the hierarchy beause in the beginning he was just a mafia hood with a short fuse and as the movie goes on he becomes more calm and thinks more. Because of that he earns the respect of Michael. We also see this when he has to give up Mary when he becomes the don-that was also a sign of maturity as well.