What does anyone make of this scene. Notice the cat around Michael? and suttle reference to the Godfather? How he was playing with a cat in the first one? I don't know maybe i'm reaching.

Can only remember disinterested puppy dogs myself.

That is a great scene...especially because of them playing flashbacks of Mike and all the women in his life just before that happens...my girlfriend was in tears after that...
she said that she felt the loneliness that Michael felt...must be pretty powerful especially for someone who wasnt a big fan of the Godfather movies and she still felt for the old guy dying all alone...Coppola and Pacino at their best...

I'll never forget when I went to see it with my then boyfriend on Christmas Day, they showed Micheal dying all alone with the dog at his feet..I rememeber we sat three rows from the front of course right after he died the credits rolled, they turned the lights on and I was blubbering..I was totally embarrassed.

Madonn! That was a puppy around Michael when he died, not a cat.

The scene was not only the climax to the movie, but summed up Michael's life. He was only a pale imitation of is father. He had his father's strength and intellect, but not his emotional maturity. Vito was able to distinguish between situations that called for killing and those that called for more subtle action. Michael was more like Sonny in that regard than Vito. Vito died loved and mourned; Michael died alone and blamed. Vito protected his family and incubated their collective love for each other; Michael used his family to serve his ends.

With that answer you hit the button on the right spot olivant. I remember a past treat here where that was the discussion. The differences between the dying of Vito and Michael.

Olivant, you're absolutely right with your explanation. Hmm... Godfather 3 should have ended with Michael thinking back to Vito right before he puts on the glasses and keels over. That would have been cool.

Yeah... FFC should have had the dancing sequence with Apollonia, Kay and Mary ... then crossfade to Michael sitting with Vito in the hospital ... "I'm with you now, pop... I'm with you..."

Then he drops the orange to the ground, and a moment later, keels out of the chair.

Damn you EnzoBaker! I love the ending of the 3rd one and now with your (better) idea, thats all I'm going to think about when I watch the end.

oh yeah that's really a good idea for the end. but i love the end of gf3 anyways, it makes me sad though, to see michael dying all alone

Michael's death is what made the movie for me. It is the only ending to a movie that has ever made me cry.

yeah, truth, i cry too, was very sad look at him alone with that dog, remember about the womans in his life.

The saddest scene in all of the GF movies has to be when Mary was murdered at the opera.The scream
that Michael let out had so much pain, and anguish
from his lifetime of crime and punishment.Every
time I get to that part of the movie, I'll say okay let's not cry and I'll cry like a baby anyway. This is a credit to the acting of Al Pacino and the writing of Francis Ford Coppola...
Superb!

yA that ending really got to me im still thinking about that. It really got to me because i saw all 3 parts in 3 days a part a day. I t just goes from a young colledge kid to and old man all alone with no one.(and that dancing flash back with apolonia then his wife then his daughter) Idk it just reallly got to me

Im sorry but the saddest scene is the end of The Godfather Part II. Not Part III but part II. I get a tear everytime I see Michael All Alone by the lake...

i believe that this is the most perfect movie finale in history, but when i first saw the movie i cried when mary died, not michael. everyone was just so perfect in these scenes (yes sofia included, but it was Diane keaton and talia shire's reactions that really pushed me to tears. michaels death almost seemed appropriate.

To be honest with you I didnt feel too bad when Mary died. I dont think i connected with her as a character or felt any of her pain or emotions. Thats probably because Sofia Coppola isnt a great actress...The character was a little weak...
I felt bad for Mike. He was our hero and he was our villain. To see everything hes gone through to protect his family(which includes wacking his own brother) and it comes down to this is very depressing. And the last part of GF 3 was more sad than GF 2 because though u felt he was alone he still had his children and something to live for...at the end of part 3 u know all he had were those dogs and cheap blueblocker glasses...his life was over...

The ending of GFII was powerful because it represented Michael's contemplation of the direction his life had taken, the struggle between the demon that wanted to vanquish all enemies and the angel that, in a superficial way, wanted to protect and perpetuate his family. That struggle was confirmed by the flashback scene at the end. That was marvelous.

The silent scream near the end of GFIII was one of the most dramatic and rendering scenes in cinematic history. In that scream all of Michael's pathos had come home to roost. He realized that the death of his daughter was his fault, that he had failed to protect his family, that he was a failure.

Remember, Vito died with his grandson, his blood at his side, doing what he had lived his life to do which was to protect his family; Mike died alone with the attention of a puppy that didn;t know any better. Pitiful. You do reap what you sow!

Here's how i see it. Micgael and Vito both died in gardens. However Vito had died with family, where as Mike died alone. Vito dies in a garden full of life, Michael died in a dead garden. Vito died happy, Mike died depressed. Vito died in America, where in the early 1900s many came to start a new life; a better life. Michael died back in sicily where the mafioso and the corrupt stereotype given to italians was born. Several hidden messages all of which were used to show how badly Michael had messed up, and hurt the people around him and had no limits to satisfy himself but had later regretted it.

I agree! The music, the editing, the flashbacks, Al in white hair and make up, the look of regret on his face, and his subtle and simple death is perfect. If GF3 is remembered for Sofia's bad acting - it will be a crime because it contains the best ending to a movie (not to mention trilogy) ever!

And I cried for like 3 hours after finishing Part 3 the first time. Watching those movies back to back to back was something special. I must have matured so much in those 3 days... whenever that music and flashbacks come on, I go to shit every time.

just to throw a curveball out there and play the devil's advocate about michael's death. it's easy to believe michael died alone in sicily (which i blieve is true also) regretting everyday the decisions he made and how it cost him his family. but suppose he wasn't alone in sicily? it seemed at the last half of part 3 that michael and kay were on the road to reconciliation until mary got shot. it's logical to assume that mary's death would have pushed kay and anthony further from michael than every before and therefore they probably never spoke to him again afterwards, but perhaps mary's death made anthony realize how precious life is and it's time to forgive and forget. also, the silent scream is not only a great scene because of pacino's acting, but also the reaction that kay has to michael's agony. imo it seems like kay is looking at michael not in hatred for the loss of their daughter, but almost in half-pity because she sees how much mary and family mean to michael. maybe not immediately, but eventually this scene might have convinced kay that the gfII michael is gone and the michael she fell in love with has returned. i know this is probably all completely false, but unless it's touched upon in a gf 4, we really have no way of knowing what happened between mary's murder and michael's death.

I always thought that Kay was looking at Michael because she thought that he was going to die too, which was my reaction when I first saw the movie.

And I believe that Michael lost his family after Mary was killed. He was on the road to reconcilliation, and then lost all that he had gained to that point.

Vito died with Anthony at his side. Michael died alone.