As
he has done with Apocalypse Now and The Cotton Club, as well as
early tinkering with the original Godfather movies for television,
Francis Ford Coppola has now unleashed a new edit of his 1990 picture, The
Godfather Part III.
Full
disclaimer: The Godfather Part III is not a bad movie. While it is
nowhere near approaching the masterpieces that are The Godfather (1972)
and The Godfather Part II (1974), the third film in the trilogy was
still honored with Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best
Supporting Actor (Andy Garcia), and some technical categories. This reviewer
feels that The Godfather Part III is a good movie, but perhaps
not a great one like the first two. Still, many critics and audience
members complained that it was a “failure†and threw a lot of criticism at poor
Sofia Coppola. She had stepped into a major supporting role at the last
minute just as cameras were rolling, replacing Winona Ryder, who had
abruptly dropped out for health reasons. Sofia went on to become an extremely
talented director and writer; as an actress she may have lacked that “light up
the screen†charisma, but she displayed an honesty and realism that was
entirely believable. In short, she was unfairly maligned.
Papa
Coppola has retitled the movie Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death
of Michael Corleone, which apparently was the original title he and Puzo
wanted back in 1990, but Paramount balked and wanted them to go with “Part IIIâ€
for the sake of the box office. The filmmaker has also made subtle edits,
mostly in the first third of the movie, that affect the thrust of the picture.
The new version opened in some theaters on December 4, 2020, and it was released
on Blu-ray (with digital download code) on December 8.
The
opening is different. The original picture displayed hauntingly empty
zoom-throughs of early Corleone residences, mainly the Nevada one, with
flashbacks to Fredo’s murder. Now, a scene that appeared at approximately 39
minutes into the original Part III is the first thing we see—Michael
Corleone (Al Pacino) in a meeting with Archbishop Gilday (Donal Donnelly), the
head of the Vatican bank. Michael offers to bail out Gilday, who has blundered
management of funds and needs to cover a deficit. In return, Michael hopes to
go “legit†and own the majority holding of an international real estate
corporation the Vatican controls. The new cut completely deletes Michael being
honored with a papal order in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York and instead goes
right to the party celebration, mimicking the openings of Godfather I and
II. Some scenes in the first half hour are shuffled so that this all
makes sense—and it’s for the better. The financial intrigue plot is less
confusing than it was in the original.
Not
much else is changed, save for the deletion of a later brief scene between
Michael and Don Altobello (Eli Wallach) that is inconsequential, and some
extremely subtle trimming of a few sequences. The ending is also slightly
altered; it wouldn’t be much of a spoiler to reveal it, but that won’t happen
here. As it turns out, Coda is roughly four minutes shorter than Part
III.
It
can be fascinating what a little editing can do to a movie. Coppola has managed
to “trim the fat†without trimming much at all. By rearranging some scenes, the
story is clearer. Most importantly, the focus on Michael and his attempt at
retribution—and failure at it—is emphasized. And that’s what this final chapter
in the Godfather saga is all about.
Al
Pacino delivers another fine performance in the picture; considering the slate
of Best Actor nominations for 1990, it’s a bit of a mystery why he wasn’t
included in the short list. Diane Keaton as Kay, Michael’s ex-wife, still
doesn’t have much to do in the movie, but she’s fine. Andy Garcia steals the
film as Vincent Mancini, the illegitimate son of the late Sonny Corleone (James
Caan in the first movie). The picture sorely misses the presence of Robert
Duvall, who declined to be in it. He is replaced by forgettable George Hamilton
as Michael’s attorney. Joe Mantegna provides the buzz in the first half of the
movie as adversary Joey Zasa until his spectacular demise in Little Italy.
Talia Shire reprises her role as Michael’s sister Connie, and, like Keaton’s
character, doesn’t have a lot to do except be a striking presence at Michael’s
side. Oh, and keep an eye out for a cameo by Martin’s mom, Catherine Scorsese,
in a street scene.
The
technical aspects are marvelous. The design and look of the film complement the
first two (Gordon Willis was DP on all three), the music by Carmine Coppola and
Nino Rota bring back the familiar mood, and the locations in Sicily are
gorgeous. All good stuff.
The
Paramount Blu-ray edition looks great, but it comes with no supplements except
a brief video introduction by Coppola, who explains his reasoning for recutting
the movie.
Despite
the revised title, the picture will probably always be known as The
Godfather Part III. Fans of the original cut will likely prefer Coda;
detractors may like the movie more than they did, but that’s not a guarantee.
When all is said and done, The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael
Corleone is still pretty much the same movie as Part III. Good, but
not great.
