The Godfather Trilogy

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I haven't seen it in years, but isn't there a scene in Part 3 where Vincent (Andy Garcia) and Michael (Al Pacino) are running in a ballroom with gunfire everywhere, and the film has a bad continuity gaffe and shows the same shot of them running more than once?

Winona Ryder was originally cast as Mary, but had to drop out due to exhaustion. But Coppola's dream choice was...Julia Roberts.

Wow, seven Oscar nominations. And Sofia won two awards, granted they were Razzies for Worst New Star and Worst Supporting Actress, but still....

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Aside from Sofia being a terrible actress, I was really creeped out by her and Andy Garcia supposedly having the hots for each other. They were FIRST cousins. That's just hella creepy.

I kind of like Bridget Fonda in the early part of Part III, and thought she would've been interesting as Mary. I could totally believe her as Kay's daughter, and then it would've added another layer to Michael's guilt/drama, if he had a daughter who was just like Kay - who he couldn't control. Instead of the stereotypical Italian princess like Sofia, how would Michael deal if his daughter was a blonde WASP who was smart enough to see through Michael's b.s., just like Kay?

[Sukie]

india7 said:

babyfishmouth said:

Acutally I kind of like it that Sonny's illegitimate son is the only one who wants the family reins. By this time, the Corleone family is a shadow of what it once was, and the fact that most of the third generation kids have gone off to do their own thing reflects that.

But Sonny did have a couple legitimate kids, right?

Yes, he and his wife had a couple of kids. And there again, that wouldn't bother me, that an offspring of Sonny's wanted to revive the family business. What bothered me wasn't even that he was illegitimate - it's the continuity. It's that he never existed before anywhere - like, "Oh, yeah - remember how Sonny and Lucy just screwed around in the first book, and we revisit Lucy later on? And when we revisit her, she never had a kid? Yeah, well, here's a kid we never mentioned after two wildly popular books and movies. AND the whole third movie is going to revolve around him." I mean - oy!

So glad I am not the only one. This was my biggest problem with GFIII. The whole theory of Sonny having this kid who did not exist. I read the book after watching I & II before III came out and was so disappointed. Granted, it is Hollywood and they often screw up books, but to invent a character that did not exist and then revolve the entire movie around him just bugged me.

Also, someone mentioned Winona Ryder originally being cast. I remember this and I don't think she would've been a good Mary either. Probably better than Sofia ( not saying much) but I can't help but think she would have acted the same as she was in House of the Spirits ( another book I loved which movie I hated).

I can't really think of an actress who I would've wanted in that role ( Julia Roberts would have been scary imo) so I am being a little unfair- anyone have other suggestions who may have been able to pull it off ?

[Peggy Lane]

I would definitely think Fredo screwed around: he had a history of that and also was alone in Cuba going to things like that sex show, and obviously didn't seem happy with crazy blondie

You know, I always forget that Fredo had a history of being a ladies man, because everytime someone mentions him I always think that Fredo was gay. Even as a kid. My first case of hoyay, I guess.

That's a really interesting question, who should have played Mary. Hmm. For some reason I'm having a hard time thinking of an interesting ingenue from 1991ish that could have pulled it off. Still, anyone would've been better than Sophia. Anyone. Marisa Tomei. Joanna Going. Kyra Sedgwick.

[workgeordie]

I would have loved to see Monica Bellucci as Mary Corleone.

My reasoning would be that Michael's son Anthony Vito Corleone was so adamant in not being part of his father's empire and his general blandness would have been in perfect contrast to Mary played by an intelligent and drop-dead gorgeous actor like Monica Bellucci.

Mary could have been unwilling at first in being part of the Corleone empire but then her thrive for success and her love for Vinnie could have persuaded her to be closer with the family business and of course her father. Then the whole dynamic of the movie could have changed. Michael, at first unwilling as Mary is a woman and his daughter, sleeps once again with the devil and lets his precious daughter into the family business.

Vinnie for my likeing was always more brawn than brain and Mary could have been the word of reasoning and the brains behind the muscle of Vinnie.

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Here's an interesting quote from Pacino on his IMDB page:

"You know what the problem with that film is? The real problem? Nobody wants to see Michael have retribution and feel guilty. That's not who he is. In the other scripts, in Michael's mind he is avenging his family and saving them. Michael never thinks of himself as a gangster - not as a child, not while he is one and not afterward. That is not the image he has of himself. He's not a part of the GoodFellas thing. Michael has this code; he lives by something that makes audiences respond. But once he goes away from that and starts crying over coffins, making confessions and feeling remorse, it isn't right. I applaud Francis Coppola for trying to get to that, but Michael is so frozen in that image. There is in him a deep feeling of having betrayed his mother by killing his brother. That was a mistake. And we are ruled by these mistakes in life as time goes on. He was wrong. Like in Scarface when Tony kills Manny - that is wrong, and he pays for it. And in his way, Michael pays for it." - On The Godfather: Part III (1990)

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I pretend that Part III doesn't exist. So for me, the story ends with Michael as the isolated monster who has become exactly what he feared most.

[sugaree]

Part III is my favorite simply because of Talia Shire's badass performance. The contrast between being the abused housewife in part one, the flighty brat in part two, and then the mature, savy old battlecat in part three always amazes me. The way she backs Vincent as the new Don, covertly approves the hit on Joey Zasa, poisons Don Altobello, and forgives Michael for the murder of her husband display an incredible acting ability. So much so that I can forgive Sofia Coppola and the unbelievably dumb "father and son assassin" storyline.

I just can't see any character continuity between the three Connies. Instead of watching a woman evolve, I feel as if I'm watching three unrelated women.

But Talia Shire, of course, acts circles around Sofia Coppola.

[india7]

I agee totally. Again, no continuity. True, someone can change alot in 30 some odd years, but it's like watching a different person.

[Baby Fish Mouth]

Yeah, I think Pacino hit the nail on the head with that IMDB quote. Michael is so totally in control and so positive that what he's doing is for the good of the family, and then... he becomes kind of a wimp in III. It's quite a jarring difference.