Precisely thirty years after The Godfather Part III debuted in cinemas, Francis Ford Coppola returns to his mafia movie for a little tinkering; shaving off a little fat, reshuffling scenes and tweaking the audio tracks to give a more definitive version of his final visit to the underworld.
The first two ‘Godfather’ movies are absolute masterpieces, two of the best films of all time. While the third was definitely the weakest of the three, by a country mile, The Godfather Part III was nowhere near as bad as you remember. However, Coppola has been given the opportunity by Paramount to revisit the film to play in the editing suite, and the studio has also finally allowed him his original title choice, ‘The Death of Michael Corleone’. Besides its title, ‘Coda’ – translated as a ‘concluding piece of a movement’ – is noticeably different at each bookend, the start and finish changed, which definitely helps with the pace and overall essence of what that new title suggests, but the core story is obviously intact.
We begin with a different scene, Coppola opting to present the opening moments as Michael meets with the Vatican about potentially investing hundreds of millions into the in exchange for their shares in Internazionale Immobiliare, a massive real estate and construction company. Their 25% would give Michael controlling interest in the company, further legitimising his operations after moving away from his shady past, largely due to his guilt over ordering the assassination of his brother, Fredo. With the move, Michael is the toast of town, but at the after party of a papal order induction ceremony, held in his honour, Michael gets wind of two problems bubbling in the background. The first is personal, a visit from estranged second wife Kay (Diane Keaton), who informs him that she their son, Anthony, know that he had Fredo bumped off. She also drops the bombshell that Anthony wants to pursue a career in music and leave his law degree unfinished. Following that, Michael has to manage a dispute between New York boss Joey Zasa (Joe Mantegna) and Michael’s nephew Vincent (Andy Garcia), the illegitimate son of his late brother, Sonny. It all kicks off from there, Vincent accepted into the family causing bigger a much bigger rift from deep within the lower ranks. Double crosses, assassination attempts and more follow as Michael is gradually pulled back into the world he wanted to leave behind.
It has been over two decades since I last saw ‘Part III’, the previous two movies more frequently visited over the years, but I was surprised how much I enjoyed the reworking. Personally, after rewatching the original cut of The Godfather Part III alongside this, I could take either version, as the overall essence is much the same. A little shorter than the original work, ‘Coda’ moves along at a very brisk pace considering its 2 hours 40 running time – still much less than the previous two films – and is the slightly better version because of it, along with the more fitting final few frames. I won’t spoil the ending here, but for the sake of a fade to black five seconds than the former version does make a big difference in how the film leaves you feeling.
Definitely preferred to the original cut, The Godfather Coda – The Death Of Michael Corleone is definitely worth seeking out if you’re a new viewer, or one keen to see just how a few minor changes can affect the overall feel. It’s not majorly different, and will in no way make you feel differently compared to the other two masterpieces, but it is worthy of a visit as it slides in as a more fitting footnote to a remarkable series of films.
The Godfather Coda – The Death of Michael Corleone is available on Blu-ray and to Download & Keep 8th December.
The Godfather Coda – The Death of Michael Corleone
Summary
As perfect as the film could get, Coppola tinkers enough to change the overarching feel and pace of the movie; absolutely the version to seek out to footnote the previous two masterpieces.
