The Greatest Godfather Ending of Them All by Bilge Ebiri Review Essay

The Godfather III is an American crime film that was released in 1990, sixteen years after Godfather II. The film was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and stars, Bridget Fonda, Diane Keaton, Andy García Talia Shire, Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, George Hamilton, and Sofia Coppola and Al Pacino. The Godfather III starts with Michael Corleone being honored by Archbishop Gilday after he donated $100 million to the poor of Sicily from the Vito Corleone Foundation (Maslin para. 3). As the movie progresses, it emerges clearly that Michael has finally opened legitimate businesses after selling the family casinos. Some of the major themes in the film are crime and justice, power and masculinity, and patriarchy. However, the predominant theme in the Godfather III is religious in nature of confession, atonement and redemption, because it shows why change is important. The main message is that nothing lasts forever – Michael has finally realized that his days are numbered and he wants to be redeemed before it is too late.

From the onset, the Godfather III depicts Michael’s last attempt for redemption. He is presented with an opportunity to fulfill the promises that he had broken so many times. Michael’s love for his children is the main reason why he was more focused with cleaning the family name by investing their fortune in legitimate businesses. However, his new partners and those he interacted with during the many years in crime were more less the same. As explicated by Ebiri, a lot has changed since Godfather II was released – his son Anthony, instead of following in Michael’s footsteps, chose a life in opera (para. 7). The most important issue that Coppola seems to be telling his audience revolves around Michael’s renewed efforts of resisting any new calls to return to crime. While at first he appears to have succeeded, faith and circumstances draws him back in – his nephew Vincent Mancini betrays him as he unintentionally got involved in Michael’s attempted assassination.

In line with the above, the predominant theme is brought out well through Coppola’s final attempt to conclude Michael’s story. Towards the end of Part II, Michael can be seen sitting alone contemplating his next course of action. The same is replicated at the end of Part III – Michael is seemingly experiencing intrapersonal conflict after he was involved in the murder of Sollazzo and McCluskey. In the Godfather II, “it is the initial attempt to assassinate Vito that drove Michael to continue running the family illegal activities, despite previously promising to start legitimate business” (Ebiri para. 8). The scene where Michael’s nephew undergoes baptism shows the transformative process that he must follow to attain full redemption. The third trilogy allows the audience to see the existing spiritual struggle Michael has been experiencing with respect to the previous mistakes. While it is true Michael had previously committed serious crimes, he can still be redeemed. His first attempt at redemption was through money but this does not give him the satisfaction he was looking for.

The money failed to resolve the struggle between the spirit and the flesh. It was not until he met archbishop that he finally found what he was looking for –confession. The camera movement, combined with the entire setup of the confession, is a clear indication that Michael will finally be saved. As cited by Ebiri, the “archbishop says that he hears the confessions of his own priests in that courtyard, and when Michael is actually confessing, the two openings frame him and the archbishop as if he is in a confessional” (para. 8). As the confession progresses, the audience tend to realize how Michael has been struggling with the guilty of the crimes he had committed. Initially, Michael was unwilling to confess his sins but later changed his stand after archbishop persuaded him to accept. He finally breaks down in tears when he confesses to ordering the killing of his brother Fredo, twenty years ago (Maslin para. 2).Despite the nature of his sins, Lamberto maintains that he can still be redeemed. His chooses to give him sacramental absolution, thus permanently forgiving him all his sins – he became a new creature in the eyes of God.

Conclusion

The Godfather III is an American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Some of themes highlighted throughout the movie include crime and justice, power and masculinity and patriarchy. However, the predominant theme is religious in nature of confession, atonement and redemption, because it shows why change is important. As discussed above, Godfather III depicts Michael’s last attempt for redemption. He is presented with an opportunity to fulfill the promises that he had broken so many times. It is clear from Part III that there is a moral struggle within Michael after he was involved in the murder of Sollazzo and McCluskey. He tried many options such as donating money to the poor but he did not find what he was looking for. It was not until he met archbishop that he finally confessed his sins.

Works Cited

Ebiri, Bilge. “The Greatest Godfather Ending of Them All.” Vulture, Web.

Maslin, Janet. “Review/Film; the Corleones Try to Go Straight in ‘The Godfather Part III.’” The New York Times, Web.