Godfather Part 3’s new cut defends Francis Ford Coppola’s film

No filmmaker has made better use of the director’s cut format than Francis Ford Coppola. Instead of discrediting and cutting the first two Godfather films for network television in the 1970s, Coppola recreated them as a chronological story – running for seven hours and featuring new footage – allowing viewers a more direct view of the Corleone family tragedy. In 2001, Coppola unveiled Apocalypse now redox, A largely, carefully restored extension of his Vietnam masterpiece, a critically acclaimed theatrical publication. And just last year, the filmmaker returned to catastrophic failure Cotton Club To work again that, if nothing else, the lazy gangster was given some much needed musical omf.

So when Paramount announced earlier this year that Coppola had worked in the 1990s Godfather Part III like Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael CorleoneThere was reason to hope, based on previous successes, that the director had finally solved some of Trilogy Capper’s difficulties. But, realistically, what could be done to enhance Sophia Coppola’s bizarre performance as Michael’s daughter Mary or to fill the void left by Robert Duvall when she turned down an offer to reintroduce a key role as Tom Hagen, an adviser to Paramount’s Clayon family? Coppola may be a noble director cut, but to completely eliminate these flaws he will have to weave some kind of editorial magic that doesn’t yet exist.

Image: Paramount Pictures

What Coppola does is less of a magical act than a grand needle threading. As he stated in the presentation that the improbable title was introduced Godfather, Coda: Death of Michael Corleone, The final installment was conceived as the epic nickname of the first two movies. Indeed, it was a heavy title Coppola and a favorite moniker of both Godfather Author Mario Puzo, who partnered with the director on the screenplays for all three films. Paramount understandably supports the idea of ​​treating the first Godfather movie in 16 years, because in Coppola’s words, an “summit” is given instead of an event, but “Godfather Part III”(Christmas Day, no less), they were presenting to audiences and critics for a grand finale, with no interest in delivering to the filmmaker; Arrow, the initial critiques of the film, made by the production to meet the famous release date, led the film to a slow-to-evolving conspiracy that felt like the back of its unfamiliar predecessor. Narrative familiarity was not seen as intentional, but as a sign of creative bankruptcy.

Coppola’s iteration, which lasts a short 157 minutes, immediately resets expectations, keeping its subtitle not only in quotes, but apart from the classic. Godfather Marinate logo (first for series). The opening images of the flood-ravaged Carlion compound in Lake Leh have been replaced by an exterior shot from the lower corner of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, an architectural, midtown antiquity built by its neighboring skyscrapers – which is in the confusion. Godfather Part III Kick in downtown Cathedral of Old Italy’s Old St. Patrick. What’s going on here Coppola met directly with Michael’s Archbishop Guild (Donal Donnelly), the highly-influenced, chain-smoking head of the Vatican Bank, to the real estate group Intinazionil Immobilizer in the Curlion family over the intensity of Vatican’s controlling shares. Earlier, the scene landed after a ceremony sponsored by the Vatican and a party for Michael for his charitable deeds. Giving the guild a scene, Coppola made the claim surprisingly clear: Michael Clayon is raising the debt of the Catholic Church to legalize the family business, and nothing, becoming one of the richest men in the world. As the deal came to an end, the guild lamented, “It seems that the power to forgive debt is greater than the power to forgive today.” As Michael reports, “Never underestimate the power of forgiveness.”

Forgiveness. This is the dramatic occupation that Coppola and Puzo have chosen for Michael in this “coda” and the film’s busy plot ultimately provides a unified theme. Ever since he volunteered to kill Solozozo and McLusky, Michael has treated life like a chessboard; He sacrificed his own brother to capture Hyman Roth (Lee Strasburg), and accepted the contempt of his wife Kay (Diane Keaton) as collateral damage. According to Peter Biskinds Godfather Companion, Coppola mentioned the final shot Godfather Part II, In which Michael sits in silence outside the Tahoe compound, as the “Hitler scene.” He didn’t just settle all the family debts; He is separated from any feelings of a loving family. It is not free from humanity. Twenty years later, as Michael enters the final act of his life, he longs for attainment. A man who has done so much evil seems impossible to ask. But viewers retain vivid memories of the man who once said, “This is my family, that; It’s not me. “He had other plans. Could this be a way to get rid of the self-made monster?

Image: Permount Pictures

From Aeschylus to Shakespeare to Arthur Miller, the answer has always been a resounding “no.” But like all great tragedies, Coppola engages his audience in the belief that there is a catharsis that can cleanse Michael of his sins and re-establish the family he has sidelined. The passage of time does a lot of work in the film, and raises many questions: If the Curlian family was successful enough to buy controlling shares in the real estate company Immobilizer, what were they in the 1960s – that sparked America’s fascination with the Mafia of the decade ( And inspired a book called Best Selling Book Godfather)? What was the heat on the organization after the assassination of JFK? What they do Really Avoid the lucrative drug trade that flourished during and beyond the Vietnam War?

Michael Godfather, Koda Has partnered with the misdeeds of his business. It’s oddly jokular. The immobilizer deal is complete, pending the pending formalities of the pope’s approval. He is a pay generation away from his father’s small Italian territory – now he runs John Gotti-Esk JJ Zasa – and he has a discreet publicist (Don Novello) to handle all the thorny press inquiries. It is virtually untouchable.

Business may be compromised, but for Michael, the man of ultimate victory, the individual must face. The research was clouded in earlier incarnations of the film, but, with the guild scene (instead of the ceremony in the church, which has been fully excised), it is a solitary story. Godfather, Koda. Michael is not joking about the “power of forgiveness”. He believes that atonement is possible. He believes he can be reunited with his family. He friendlyly banned Anthony Jr.’s opera para career, and handed Mary the Corlene Foundation. Kay doesn’t want any part of this, but Michael, in the new show of vulnerability, allows her to get out of her own room instead of shutting him down. This forms growth on behalf of the Dawn. As the action progresses towards Sicily, Michael will rediscover the charm. She visits Kane to her family’s home village, and recalls the memory of the person she once loved (a man viewers rarely saw in the first movie). It almost works. It helps that Michael has hedged his bets. Still, she would be thrilled if Kay remarried her, she would compromise so she wouldn’t be afraid of him anymore. The latter seems to be negotiable.

Image: Paramount Pictures

When the pope’s health goes south, the immobilizer deal seems likely to be renewed, putting Michael at an unexpected disadvantage when he comes close to a respectable goal. Michael expects the world of the “legitimate” business to be less ruthless than the criminal underworld, but, to whom he confesses, “the higher I go, the more crooked it becomes.” It is the la of the lamb discovered by that Godfather While he insisted that senators and presidents do not have to kill men. Michael has his head up, and when he sees the shark moving he has no choice but to hit back in old school fashion. To do so, he must take control of the family with his nephew Vincent (Andy Garcia), and hope for the best. But even if he succeeds, he now knows “legitimacy” is an illusion.

Whose hope Godfather, Coda: Death of Michael Corleone Be a revelation on the level Apocalypse now redoxOr the springboard of the fourth chapter of the saga will be disappointed. No wonder beyond the first 20 minutes of this version, save for condemnation, which denies Michael the immortality of death he received at the end of the previous cut. His punishment is longevity (“Santiani”), the same thing he stole from his enemies, and by an unforgivable act, his brother. Sophia Coppola’s infamous performance is what it is; He does his best with what he gives, which is not much. And that’s an inappropriate element of this film. The pieces are there. Coppola and Puzo formed it sensitively. But Mary, whose death is to break our hearts, never registers like a frightened child. In a way, this makes sense: she has been lied to all her life, and has been romantically fixed on her cousin. This is striking for psychological drama, and when such moments come Godfather, Koda Luchino takes on the intimate glory of Visconti’s Sicilian Family Drama, Leopard.

But this is the story of Michael. Mary It happens when a father presents a false sense of principle. She is sheltered and, as an adult, unable to explore the world beyond helplessness. In this sense, Coppola has changed the movie. Koda is a complete summary of his two spell works. It’s an American story. And it’s over.

Godfather, Coda: Death of Michael Corleone Premieres in limited theaters on December 4; The re-cut will arrive on Blu-ray and digital rental services on December 8.