I could never quite work it out, was she genuinely concerned for michael or was she just deviously trying to get Michael out and Vincent in, i mean i think its obvious she wants Vincent in, but is it because she still has a grudge against michael??

The Connie Conundrum. Who is this woman. The waifish wife in GF, the whore in GF2. We get a hint of her metamorphosis in the end of GF2 when she's tells Michael she wants to stay close to home and take care of him. And now in 3 she's acts like a capo. I don't think the character comes across as convincing. Sometimes it seems forced or the dialog is contrived. Again, another example of the bumps in GF3.

yeah, i mean i thought she was great in her few scenes in the first film, but her role was confusing in 2 and 3, you never new quite what her true motives were, was she in on the hit on fredo? and the way she killed altobello. complicated

No she wasn't on the hit to Fredo. She still don't know the truth

She knows the truth. I just think she chooses to ignore the fact that Michael killed Fredo just as she chooses to let go the fact that he also killed her husband.

Yeah I agree with the last one there, she's jsut in denial.

AH...So your saying that Connie KNEW?

wah wah sarcasm wah

I was never sure if she knew about the hit to be absolutely honest, i always felt she went through that impassioned speech at the boathouse just to get him to forgive Fredo

Sorry I just find it hard to believe. Unless the producers and directors say so.

Watched GF III again last night...

Connie says, "Poor Fredo, dying in that tragic way, drowning..." So either she doesn't really know, or is in denial to herself about it.

I don't think for one second that Connie is even slightly angry at Michael for killing Carlo. (Even by GF II she never shows any anger about it.)

Carlo was instrumental in the death of Sonny, whom Connie idolized (the youngest sister always looks at the oldest brother as a father figure), Carlo also directly endangered the life of Vito, and to top it all off, Carlo repeatedly beat the $#$# out of Connie (after first cheating on her with half the sluts in NYC).

I think after her first hysterical reaction as seen at the end of GF I, Connie got over Carlo's 'tragic death' (har-de-har-har) very quickly and concluded that everybody (herself inclded) was considerably better off with Carlo dead. By the time of GF II and certainly in GF III I I don't think Connie had even the slightest problem with Michael having whacked Carlo. She knew it had to be done.

In fact, I have little problem believing that if Carlo were still alive in 1979, working as some flunky, chauffeur, etc. for Joey Zasa, 55 years old and alcoholic and whacking Connie around in his spare time just for fun, that Connie wouldn't have hesitated for a second to have him snuffed herself.

(She'da probably told Vincent to make it a double-dipper when he whacked Zasa at the street parade, to make sure they plugged Carlo too. )

I personally thought the character change for Connie in GF III was very intriguing.
Remember people change a lot over 30 years. When we first see Connie she is a very naive, spoiled, pampered brat. By GF III (and needless to say GF IV if it is ever made), that naive brat is gone forever.

She sees a lot of nasty stuff go under the bridge over the next 30 years and for the most part, she knows what's going on. She becomes hard-boiled and ruthless herself and in the end, she becomes perhaps as capable a Don as Michael himself.

i hate it when she says 'now they'lll fear you' so annoying.

I dont think Connie forgave Mike by the start of GFII, watch it again

I think at the beginning of GF II Connie was mad at Michael because he hadn't given her the money she wanted and was roadblocking her plans to get married to Merle. I don't think it had anything to do with Carlo.

it had EVERYTHING to do with Carlo, thats the reason she tarted herself up and turned into a whore, to hurt her brother to let him know how much she hates him, she even says so at the boathouse

Yeah, but then she says something to the effect of, "You were just being strong for everybody in the family, the way Papa would have."

She knew Carlo had to go.

To get back to the original question: I think that by GFIII, Connie wanted to both ease out Michael and make Vincent his successor. She saw Michael getting old, frail, trying hard to legitimize himself--and still having connections to the old ways, no matter what. I think she genuinely loved her brother, and I don't think she was trying to "get" him for Fredo's death. Connie may well have been in denial about Fredo's death, but by GFIII, I think she was over it.
She saw that Vincent defintely had leadership qualities, but needed exposure to Michael to gain patience and perspective. So, she cultivated Vincent and maneuvered him into Michael's orbit.
Don't overlook Vincent's own manipulativeness. Connie may have inveigled him an invite to Michael's party, but he makes a great flatterer's entrance: "How's my favorite aunt?" Connie bucks him up in Michael's presence by complaining that Zasa is ruining the old neighborhood. But then Michael takes Zasa's side! He tells Vincent that he was "foolish" to turn down the position Michael had offered him previously, and then Zasa took him in "out of the goodness of his heart(!)" He then tells Zasa he has no quarrel with him, and orders Vincent to "make your peace with Mr. Joe Zasa." Had Vincent done it, he'd have been shown up as a wuss--and Zasa would have taken it as carte blanche to whack Vincent. Instead, Vincent lays down the classic Sicilian challenge--biting Zasa's ear--which forces Michael to put family ties ahead of his (shaky) peace with Zasa.
Another (admittedly remote) possibility: Michael took Zasa's side to test Vincent and see if he had real coglioni.

and to keep Zasa off his back for the time being.

The characterisation of Connie in part III is clearly unclear, she seems to be a bit batty and power-crazy

"Now they'll fear you." :


"Oh, will they, Connie? Thanks for the tip. I didn't realize you had gotten so hip to the governance of the family's criminal empire. In fact, it seems to me that just a few years ago, you were a stupid drunk, jumping from one marriage to another, constantly asking to borrow money, who didn't know $h!t about mob politics and who, even now, hasn't put two and two together to surmise that I killed Fredo. And before that, you unwittingly married the Judas who would cause our brother Sonny to get gunned down--a Judas with a lovely personality, I might add, who used to beat the hell out of you. That was a real testament to your brains. And during all of this behavior on your part, I was only doing a little thing of minor importance that you might have heard about that I like to call STEPPING IN TO TAKE OVER THE FAMILY WHEN POP LOST HIS MARBLES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO AVENGING SONNY'S DEATH, KILLING THE HEADS OF THE OTHER FOUR FAMILIES, TAKING OVER VEGAS, CONSOLIDATING OUR POWER AS THE MOST POWERFUL SYNDICATE IN THE COUNTRY, AND OUTSMARTING THE BRILLIANT MANIPULATOR HYMEN ROTH TO DEFEND OUR FAMILY AGAINST YET ANOTHER ATTACK. But, by all means, please feel free to tell me what else I might do in the future to make them fear me."

The whole character change with Connie in GF3, I dont like it, I really dont. I think it was there to show that times were changing and women werent shut out of the business end anymore. Another one of the many GF3 flaws.

i agree with that,i think connies roles in part II and III could have been better handled

One of the main central themes in this whole trilogy is the influence of your environment on who you become and your action and how difficult it is to escape these influences, no matter how hard you try.

Vito, made the best of it, becoming, as the movie portrays him, a good and noble man, despite his tragic past all of his actions in the movie were in some way noble or for the greater good, overall. Michael on the other hand, is sucked into the family life by the events of GF I, he had little choice, this was a worst case scenario, so he went to the diner and the rest is history.

On the other Connie's evolution I think is a very clear one. In GF I, she is innocent and niave, puts up with the abuse of her husband despite the power she weilds due to her status as Vito's daughter and by the end of the movie comes to a harder realization of things. She realizes by understanding about Carlo that it was for the best.

This is somewhat shortlived and in GF II, for the most part she acts like a teenager, drinking, covorting with men of all types, being reckless and irresponsible. Sounds to me like someone who is trying to rebel or escape her family, huh? She also by the end realizes that she will have little escape from her family and decides to accept it by "remaining close to Michael".

By GF III, many years have passed and she is clearly controlled, confident, clever, caluculating and cunning. Much more Sicilian in her approach, much more like a true mafiosa. She is also in a superficial way at least, much less americanized, and more Sicilian in her mannerisms, stance and dress. She clearly has many of the qualities of her Father and Michael, mature, wise, patient, calculating.

Finally consider this... She is insturmental in getting VIncent to Mike, without that none of GF III wouldn't have happened. She approved of the hit on Zaza, she suggested Vincent take control of the family and Michael accepts. She clearly has enormous influence over not only the family business but over the two protagonists, Michael and Vincent.

Finally, it is my opinion that her feeling toward Fredo and Carlo, are generally accepted as the way things are done in the family, in the Cosa Nostra. This is also symbolic of her transformation, from this innocent girl to a very power and influential figure in the family by application of her natural abilities genetically endower to her by her father.

wow, are you trying to say that all Micheal did in GF1 and 2 was heroic?....wow....