Wall Street

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Wall Street (1987), directed by Oliver Stone, whose father worked on that avenue of affluent dreams and financial nightmares, starts off with Frank Sinatra singing, “In Other Words.” It contains the lyrics, “Fly me to the moon/And let me play among the stars/Let me see what Spring is like/On Jupiter and Mars.” In the context of this film, it suggests there are those people who want to be so powerful that they don’t even see the sky as the limit. And that power comes from accumulating money, no matter what the cost is to others who the wealthy use as their stairway to the affluent heavens. The opening montage shows all levels of society in New York City, from laborers to those going to financial institutions as they crowd onto sidewalks and into elevators, trying to make a living.

The story takes place in 1985. Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) works at a Wall Street brokerage firm, trying to get ahead in the cutthroat business of selling stocks through cold calls. (Bud’s last name is Fox, but is he as sly as one? At the beginning of the movie it is an ironic name, but he lives up to it by the end). When someone cancels a deal, Bud must make up the loss the firm sustains. His pal, Marvin (John C. McGinley), says it could have been worse if it was “my money.” He is joking, and offers Bud some spending money, but his selfishness epitomizes the central work ethic of his profession.

Bud is desperate to rocket out of his current job, unlike coworker Lou Manheimm (Hal Holbrook), who believes in patience and sticking with the stock of a company that creates good products, no matter if it takes five years to fulfill its potential. He says, “Good things sometimes take time.” Marvin, in contrast, says on the phone he needs information immediately, because in a very short time, if he doesn’t get it, he’ll be a “dinosaur.” His point is that in the stock market world, sure and steady doesn’t win the race; if that is the practice, one becomes a financial evolutionary failure.

Director Stone said that he wanted to make a “movie about sharks, about feeding frenzies.” So, the camera keeps moving, in circular fashion many times, like a “predator.” There’s no letup until we get to Bud’s father “where the stationary camera gives you a sense of fixed immutable values.” In this way Stone uses motion to contrast the loose ethical ways of the Wall Street types with the steady, honest, hard-working members of society.

Bud continually calls Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas, who won the Best Actor Oscar for this role), an unscrupulous giant in the stock and real estate investment area, to work with him. However, Bud is a nobody who never gets through to Gekko. (Gekko suggests a gecko. As IMDb notes there is a Golden Gecko, which sounds like Gordon Gekko, and which may point to Gekko’s lust for riches. We may think of the creature as a friendly lizard from insurance ads and forget that it is a carnivorous animal). Even the mercenary Marvin sees how Gekko is beyond the edge of acceptable moral behavior when he says that the man had “an ethical bypass at birth.”

Bud goes to a tavern to see his father, Carl (Charlie’s real dad, Martin Sheen). When Carl uses the word “spaghetti,” Bud says his dad should use the word “pasta,” since spaghetti is out of date. Carl says so is he. The film implies that Carl’s morality is becoming extinct. Carl notes he is taking blood pressure medication, and Bud wants him to stop smoking. These facts are a foreshadowing of what is to come. Bud needs to borrow more cash. The lifestyle which he maintains to be a player in his job cuts right through his earnings. He can’t even pay off his college loan. So far, he has been staying inside the ethical playing field, but his profession makes it difficult to stay there. Living a working man’s life is not good enough for Bud. He says, “There’s no nobility in poverty anymore.” So, when his father mentions that the airline he works for, Bluestar, has been cleared of any wrongdoing in an accident (which Carl knows was due to lax standards on the part of the manufacturer, pointing to more unethical behavior due to stress on the bottom line), Bud has access to information that has not been made public yet. If used to purchase stock, it is insider trading, which is illegal.

Bud finally gets a meeting with Gekko when he shows up in person on Gekko’s birthday with Gekko’s favorite Cuban cigars. This contrasts with his dad’s pedestrian cigarettes, but both men are subject to the same threats to mortality. However, Gekko has the money for technology that monitors his heart in the office. He doesn’t even stop for a smoking break if a buck is to be had. As Bud says, for people on Wall Street, Fortune Magazine is the “bible,” which is substituted for religious values. Around him, Gekko has cutthroat businessmen who will do anything for a monetary killing. Gekko actually uses lines like “lock and load,” and being in the “kill zone,” which metaphorically illustrates the brutality of the big business mentality. On the phone, Gekko says, “Lunch is for wimps.” For him, taking time out to enjoy a midday meal shows weakness. Gekko does admire Bud’s persistence, but the only thing that gets some attention from Gekko is the information about Bluestar achieving a clean record form the FAA.

Bud thinks he struck out with Gekko, but the bigshot calls him and tells him to buy Bluestar stock for him. Bud is now ready to fly to the moon, as the song says, since he will make money off the purchase. The newspapers then announce that the airline was exonerated in the crash, and the stock price soars, just like a jet plane. Gekko meets Bud at a high-class restaurant, but Gekko doesn’t have the meal with him, following his own rule. He does give Bud a million dollars to invest and says he doesn’t like losses, so if Bud continues to do well, there will be lots of “perks” to reward him. He orders steak tartare for Bud, which is raw meat topped with an uncooked egg, which fits in with the predator theme of the film.

After taking a loss on an investment for Gekko, Bud meets with Gekko at a sports club where Gekko handily beats Bud at squash. The competition jives with how Gekko sees the world divided up between winners and losers. He sees himself as a self-made man. Those with “Ivy League” diplomas who he sees were given advantages that he had to earn now kiss up to Gekko. He says, “Give me guys that are poor, smart, and hungry, and no feelings.” For him, caring about others just gets in the way of accumulating wealth. Unlike most people, he says he doesn’t “throw darts at a board.” He only bets on “sure things.” To have that surety, he goes outside the law. For Gekko, all is fair in love (which he thinks is an emotional scam) and war, and he sees monetary acquisition as warfare. That is why he tells Bud he should read Sun-Tzu’s The Art of War. He says that “every battle is won before it is fought.” He doesn’t gamble, but wants the game rigged in his favor.  

Gekko is a complicated person. He makes valid comments about how little invested in their own companies the executive officers are. Even though he is a self-made man he has disdain for those that just labor their whole lives without success, including his own father, who died of a heart attack at an early age. This fact is another foreshadowing, and the story suggests that he is linked to Bud through their fathers. Gekko sees things in binary ways. When he observes a beggar standing next to a well-dressed businessman, he says nobody can convince him that only luck was the factor between success and failure. He seems to think that being rich and being poor are the only choices. He doesn’t concede that those who work hard should be deserving of more than being poor. He tells Bud that the choices are either being rich enough to own an airplane, “or nothing.” Yet, he is also able to appreciate that the beauty of a sunrise is not something that can be measured in dollars and cents.

He wants Bud to follow a rival, Sir Larry Wildman (Terence Stamp. The character’s name suggests staid nobility and a rulebreaker at the same time). Sir Larry had a “mole” in Gekko’s organization and burned Gekko on a deal. Gekko wants “payback.” He has seduced Bud and will dump him if he doesn’t spy on Sir Larry in the U. S. and provide Gekko with insider information. After tailing Sir Larry, Bud and Gekko realize the Englishman is investing in Anacott Steel. Bud and Gekko start buying stock in the company which drives the price up and makes it expensive for Gekko’s nemesis, Sir Larry, to purchase the company. When Bud tells Lou about it, the latter dismisses the idea of a sure thing, and says a steady investor gets through the “bear” as well as the “bull” markets. Lou reminds Bud to keep his eye on the larger picture that goes beyond individual gain, stressing how the money invested wisely “creates science and research jobs.” In response to Bud saying a person must make it big before he or she can do good, Lou says, “You can’t get a little bit pregnant.” The point is once you cross the line that leads to corruption it means you’re all in.

Bud brings documents for Gekko to sign at his house where he is having a party. It is there that he meets Darien Taylor (Daryl Hannah), an interior decorator, who is quite snobby in her attitude toward design. Gekko notices that Bud admires her beauty, and Gekko and Darien stroke each other’s hands, so we know that there was a sexual connection between the two. Darien says she’s a spender of other people’s money, so Bud uses that information to make a direct play for her, saying he will be moving up in the world after a couple of deals with Gekko. Acquiring people is the next step after obtaining things in this world of high finance.

Sir Larry arrives to confront Gekko about how he has driven up the cost of obtaining Anacott Steel. Sir Larry recognizes Bud, and probably realizes that he was following him. The references to war continue to make the connection to how big business is carried out. Gekko has a wall of firearm collectibles, including a German Luger, joining him metaphorically to Nazi war tactics. This time, Sir Larry wants to turn the company he is buying around. He’s in it for the “long haul,” harkening back to the beneficial principles that Lou espouses. Gekko gets him to buy his shares of the company at a high price, but his motives are revenge as well as profit. Bud now quotes Sun-Tzu, which impresses Gekko, since battle tactics to win the immediate confrontation are what he is teaching Bud, not long-term prosperity.

Gekko wants to be continually “surprised,” by new information that will get those sure things he can invest in. So, Bud visits a college buddy, Roger Barnes (James Spader), a lawyer at an upscale legal firm. He tries to bait the hook by offering lots of cash if Roger will provide information on a certain deal. Roger is wary about getting disbarred, but still seems interested. He notes that the records in his uncle’s office at the firm contain loads of great information about company transactions. So, Bud gets involved in the janitorial service that cleans the office building where Roger works so he can delve into the uncle’s files. It is interesting that he does his dirty business by pretending to be working in a business that involves dirt.

Bud’s fortunes are rising, so he now can afford to date Darien. He even adopts Gekko’s phrase, “I’ll talk at you,” showing Gekko’s influence. The words suggest giving dictation, as opposed to listening to the needs of others. He plays rich games, like riding dune buggies with Gekko and Darien on the beach. Their vehicles are filmed in front of fisherman with their nets who have no time for play as their survival exists from day to day. Bud is decent about paying his father back for all the money he borrowed from him. But the workers at the airport kid him about joining them in doing a “honest day’s work,” as opposed to the slick Wall Street manipulations he’s involved in. His father compares his recent big monetary gains to winnings at the racetrack, which is a gamble, and which one can lose soon after.

Gekko always protects himself first so his lawyer gives Bud a limited power of attorney that allows Bud to make trades and assume any possible liability, since Gekko can claim plausible deniability. They use offshore accounts such as in the Cayman Islands to hide money. As Bud gets richer, another worker who has been with the firm for a long time is fired, showing how loyalty in the investment business does not last based on past accomplishments. As Marvin says, they are only one stock trade away from “humility,” which shows how precarious their profession is.

Time passes and Bud moves to an expensive penthouse apartment with Darien, who is also his decorator. They enjoy the high life together way above the worker bees below them. But Bud hasn’t forgotten his roots. At one point, staring out at the view high up in the clouds where he now resides, he asks himself. “Who am I.” It is more like what has he become.

Gekko wants to take over Teldar Paper and goes to a stockholder meeting to give his famous “greed is good” speech. He says, “greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms: greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind.” He makes a valid point about how the drive of the individual to excel brings about changes moving forward. However, he leaves out that not all change is good, especially when it comes to technology. And, his sermon sounds like he is preaching Social Darwinism, where only the strongest can survive as they vanquish all others. He says according to him, “You either get it right, or you get eliminated.” Again, we have his extreme binary way of looking at things. But “getting it right” for Gekko only means making huge profits no matter the cost to others. He often breaks up companies he buys and sells them for their components that pay more than what the company were worth when combined, regardless of who loses their jobs and benefits. We again hear the lyrics, “Fly me to the moon,” which fits in with these men who have the hubris to think of themselves at gods on high, ruling the earth below.

The film nicely segues to Bud telling Darien that he is “shooting for the stars,” and, appropriately, he wants to run an airline. He tries to convince Gekko to help build Bluestar Airlines into a bigger and better company after he hears from his dad that layoffs are coming. Bud says he knows the people working at Bluestar, and they will trust him that they can turn the company around if there is a cut in wages. Trust is the branch that Bud is hanging onto here, and betrayal will be what breaks that trust.

Bud (whose hair is greased back now like Gekko's, reflecting their slick maneuvers) and Gekko meet with the airline union leaders, including Carl. What Gekko and Bud propose seems like a good plan to turn Bluestar around, but Carl knows Gekko’s love of greed and doesn’t believe he will follow through once he owns the airline. Bud may have some good general plans, but Carl points out that his son only worked at the airline for a short time and isn’t ready to be president of the company. Gekko calls Bluestar’s management “scum” who have ruined the company. Carl points out that the management of Bluestar built the company over thirty years from scratch when they started with one plane. Carl’s argument is that management is in it for the long haul, and he knows that Gekko is a short-term speculator who gets his money and then dumps what he buys.

Bud is of course embarrassed by his father’s lack of support, and they have an emotional confrontation after Carl walks out of the meeting. Carl says Gekko is using Bud, but Bud says, “What I see is a jealous old machinist who can’t stand the fact that his son has become more successful than he has!” It is an incredibly hurtful statement, and Carl feels that he has failed in raising his boy if that is what he believes. Carl marks an individual’s success by the morality of an individual, not by the “size of his wallet.” But, Carl does agree to let the union members vote on the proposal.

Bud’s lawyer friend Roger calls Bud into his office because he’s worried about the SEC looking into offshore purchasing of Teldar Paper that Roger is complicit in. Bud learns from Roger that Gekko is using the law firm to instigate plans for Bluestar. In a meeting, Bud finds out that his father was right, that Gekko is planning on breaking up Bluestar and selling its components, including the property for housing development and the planes, and plundering the overfunded pension for a substantial profit.

Bud confronts Gekko, who says he was reading his son the story of Winnie the Pooh, and how the bear became stuck in the honeypot, supposedly relating the tale to the Bluestar situation. Bud wittily says maybe Gekko should have read the story of “Pinocchio,” which talks about someone who lies, obviously referring to Gekko. Gekko gives a speech which some may feel is shockingly true to this day. He says how the richest one percent of the United States own most of the country’s wealth. He says that “I create nothing. I own.” The stock and real estate speculators just manipulate the capitalist system to profit from it, but not by creating anything or helping others. The amount of gain is not important to Gekko. He just sees things in that binary way, where there are only winners and losers. He says that we don’t live in a “democracy.” It’s the powerful wealthy who “make the rules.” As he says this speech, the camera includes a shot of a man washing the windows of Gekko’s high-rise office. The movie is saying with another visual example that the manipulative wealthy live in extreme comfort as others must labor for meager earnings.

Bud is feeling guilty about being played by Gekko. Darien is frightened by Gekko’s wrath if Bud fights him on the Bluestar deal, and says she will not stick around because she will lose all her clients through Gekko’s influence. She tells Bud that he should look in the mirror and should not act self-righteous concerning Darien’s plans to bail. After he throws her out, she looks at herself in the mirror in the hallway, and Darien, like Bud, is not happy with what she sees.

The foreshadowings are realized as Carl has a heart attack and he and Bud have a tearful bedside meeting where Bud says he will make things right and use Carl’s “words,” which come from an “honest” man, when he speaks to the union leaders. Bud wants the unions to confront Gekko when the stock begins to rise once he implements his plan. He also knows that Sir Larry wants to hurt Gekko over the Anacott Steel deal. Bud and the union leaders give the same deal to Sir Larry that they gave to Gekko so long as he agrees to make a contract not to break up Bluestar. Sir Larry is agreeable, since he seems to be willing to help companies, not exploit them at this point.

Bud then tells his fellow workers at the investment firm where he works to start buying Bluestar to drive up the price. Ironically, Bud uses Gekko’s connections against Gekko to create enthusiasm for Bluestar stock. The union people tell Gekko they know his plan and will disrupt the airline’s activities, causing the company to be worthless before he can break it up. Bud then gets everyone to sell stock and take gains, thus lowering the price so that Gekko takes big losses on the shares he bought as the price went up. Sir Larry buys the stock at a cheap price and he is the only person willing to buy Gekko’s shares, which amounts to a total defeat for Gekko.

However, Gekko lets the Federal authorities know that Bud was involved in insider trading violations, and they arrest Bud. Bud meets Gekko in Central Park. He smacks Bud around for how he caused Gekko to lose millions. However, Bud is wearing a wire and makes a deal with the authorities to get Gekko on illegal activity.

Bud will be going to jail, but he saved Bluestar, and Sir Larry has offered him a job at Bluestar once he gets out. As his parents drive him to the courthouse, Carl states the theme of the movie, telling Bud “Stop going for the easy buck and start producing something with your life. Create, instead of living off the buying and selling of others.” The camera pulls away, a bookend which compliments the opening shot, to take in the whole skyline of New York City, as if to suggest people should look beyond their own interests to the bigger picture that includes the welfare of others.

The next film is Manchester by the Sea.

Glengarry Glen Ross

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Here is another post that comes out of a class discussion at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), based on David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize winning play, focuses on the themes of the punishing aspects of capitalism, the line between legality and criminal behavior, and male toxicity.

The film begins with the credits displayed against passing subway cars. The images tell us that it’s an elevated train, which places us in Chicago, as one of the few cities that has this type of rail system. It also implies speed, which the real estate sellers in the story must adopt. As the audience soon discovers, they have to beat the clock or they will be fired. One of the rules in writing a play is to include a sense of immediacy to hold the audience’s attention.

The first part of the story takes place at night and there is a drenching rainstorm. The setting provides an atmosphere that suggests that dark deeds are about to transpire. One student noted that these elements are included in the film noir genre. However, our instructor noted that the noir element of a femme fatale is absent since these men do not need a conspiring female to corrupt them. (Mamet reverses the femme fatale character in House of Games where the con man subverts the female character).

The film starts in a restaurant with Shelley Levene (Jack Lemmon) in a phone booth inquiring about the health of his hospitalized daughter who has no insurance. In the phone booth next to him is Dave Moss (Ed Harris) who is trying to sell some properties. The story quickly sets up the theme that money is needed by these men not just to enrich themselves but so that they and their families can survive, which of course places extreme pressure on them. Following their calls they go into the men’s room and gripe (especially the vocal Moss throughout the film) about the bad “leads” they have. The company they work for is making them try to sell to people they have encountered before who are unwilling to buy property or don’t have the means to do so. The large financial institution that employs them is ordering them to make transactions that are almost impossible to finalize. It’s like Sisyphus trying to roll that big rock up the hill, and these men are also condemned to a fruitless task. The one salesman who has been successful lately is Ricky Roma (Al Pacino), who has an amazing gift of gab, and he is working on a sale at the restaurant to James Lingk (Jonathan Pryce).

At the office, Levene and Ross, along with George Aronow (Alan Arkin) are confronted with the crude and demeaning company representative, Blake (Alec Baldwin). (Mamet, who also wrote the screenplay, added this character and Levene’s phone calls to the movie, and many, according to the IMDb, believe the film script may be better than the play). Blake is brutal, telling the men that they are losers, and if they don’t go out into the literal (and figurative) storm and triumph over their adversity, they will be fired. Levene goes for a cup of coffee and Blake yells at the man, saying, “Put that coffee down! Coffee’s for closers only.” In this economic hell, even basic items are denied unless one meets the company’s demands.

There is a contest going on to determine who sells the most property. Blake says, “the first prize is a Cadillac El Dorado. Anyone wanna see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.” It’s sort of an all or nothing capitalistic game they must play. In the film Wall Street, the merciless Gordon Gecko points out two men on the street: one is well-dressed wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase, and the other appears homeless. Gecko says you can’t say that the difference between the two is just based on luck. The implication is that success is earned. That may be true, but is the alternative to winning mean that anyone who doesn’t finish first must sacrifice everything and become destitute? According to Blake, the answer is yes. Blake tells them the law according to their job is, “A-B-C... Always Be Closing!” He is saying that if they are not always making money on every deal then they are failures.

Moss complains that the “leads” are “weak,” Here is where Blake uses, as one of our students noted, emasculating language. He says, “The leads are weak? The fucking leads are weak? You’re weak!” He says that if they are good guys who just want to be with their families, they aren’t real men since they are not making the grade as salesmen. Blake flaunts his income, his expensive watch and car, setting them up as the measure not only of success but of what makes someone manly. He pulls out two metal balls attached to a string and places them in front of his crotch. He says, “It takes brass balls to sell real estate.” He calls them “cocksuckers.” The insults throughout the film accuse men of being homosexual or children, which, in this macho world, means they are not “real men” if they can’t close the deals. Blake holds up the Glengarry leads like they are a present, tied up in a bow. They will only go to the salesmen who can close the mediocre leads. It’s a sort of a Catch-22 because nobody can get the leads that will bring in money if they don’t already make the sales. It’s a version of the rich getting richer. The title of the movie, which also refers to other choice properties that were sold, thus becomes a symbol for the pot of gold at the end of a sullied mercenary rainbow.

John Williamson (Kevin Spacey) is the office manager (a job Mamet had in real life) who hands out the inferior leads. He is a bureaucrat who, like the others, is only out for himself since this survival of the fittest environment fosters that approach. Levene, worried about his daughter, feels driven to negotiate an unethical deal with Williamson so he can get some of the Glengarry leads, offering the office manager a cut of his earnings and payment for each lead. However, Williamson will not compromise on his price to meet Levene’s lean resources since he feels he must be highly compensated for taking a chance that might get Williamson caught. Human decency is not a factor here, as there is no sympathy shown for Levene’s daughter’s medical situation. After this rejection, Levene continues to cross over into unethical behavior as he pretends to be a busy big shot who is willing to throw some deals toward some potential customers. But, his high-pressured pitches fail to close on any properties.

There are extended scenes between Moss and Aronow which on the surface seem to be commiserating about how dire their fate is, and how badly they are being treated. The dialogue here illustrates Mamet’s signature style, with interruptions occurring between the speakers that sets up a rhythm that, as Arkin noted in an interview, is not subject to variation or improvisation. One student noted the musical score is jazzy, which fits in with Mamet’s writing style which has him riffing on a subject. IMDb states that Al Jarreau’s version of “Blue Skies” in the film refers to blue sky laws that aimed to prevent sales fraud, which is ironic given the unscrupulous actions occurring in this story.

Moss proposes that they stage a burglary at the office and steal the Glengarry leads from Williamson’s file cabinet and sell them to a competing firm. But Moss’s chumming it up with Aronow is just a ploy to get him to do the robbery since Moss, because of his vocal dissent, would be the prime suspect. Aronow does not wish to be part of yet another example of crossing over into illegal activity. But Moss, using the unscrupulous ploy of blackmail, says Aronow is already guilty since he has listened to Moss’s plan.

Roma does not try to strongarm his potential clients, as does Levene. He talks about all sorts of philosophical topics to ingratiate himself with his mark, because, as with other Mamet films, such as House of Games and The Spanish Prisoner, characters are trying to con others by achieving a personal connection. However, what Roma says to Lingk reveals a capitulation to a lack of a moral compass. He tells him, “You think you’re a thief? So what? … You cheat on your wife? You did it, live with it. You fuck little girls, so be it. There’s an absolute morality? Maybe. And then what? If you think there is, go ahead, be that thing. Bad people go to hell? I don’t think so. If you think that, act that way. A hell exists on earth? Yes. I won’t live in it.” Roma says it’s up to the individual how a person wants to live, but for his money, he doesn’t buy into rights and wrongs, He just wants to avoid the guilt that would hold him back from escaping from the hardships in life and enjoying whatever pleasures there are.

The story now enters daytime, where underhanded activities are revealed. The agency has been robbed, with the Glengarry leads taken. The audience might assume that Moss and Aronow did the deed, given their conversation. Roma is upset because he made a deal to sell property to Lingk and doesn’t want the burglary to mess up his first place standing that will get him the car and the good leads. Aronow and Moss are interrogated by the police concerning the theft, and Moss acts indignant about being suspected, which is deceptive considering we know he wanted Aronow to steal the leads.

Levene, however, is ecstatic because he sold property off of one of the inferior leads, and brags about his abilities. Roma admires the older man because Levene was his mentor. At that point Lingk shows up. He has talked the deal over with his wife. She contacted an attorney who told her the law says they have three business days to get out of the deal. Lingk haltingly tries to get out of the transaction. Roma, illegally trying to evade a termination of the contract, has Levine, who catches on quickly, to pretend he is an enthusiastic customer who Roma has to get to the airport. But Lingk stops him just before Roma leaves by saying he wants his money back. Roma tries to buy time to convince the Lingks to continue with the deal. Williamson, however, enters and doesn’t know what has transpired. He thinks he is helping by saying that he sent Lingk’s check to be cashed. Lingk is upset that he now has to take legal action to end the deal. He actually apologizes to Roma, and comes off as a pathetic character who allowed himself to be a victim, but now has been ordered by his wife to put him in this uncomfortable position. In this testosterone-fueled environment, he appears unmanly.

Roma then verbally attacks Williamson for opening his mouth when he shouldn’t, calling him a “fairy,” another example of the homophobic, emasculating attitude in this environment. After Roma goes into Williamson’s office to be interviewed by the police, Levene continues to insult Williamson, since he is angry at Williamson coldly dismissing him earlier when Levene tried to make a deal for the Glengarry leads. But, Levene slips up, telling Williamson he shouldn’t make things up if he doesn’t know what’s going on. Williamson then asks how would Levene know that Williamson didn’t send in Lingk’s check to be cashed. He and the audience now realize that it was Levene who broke in and stole the leads. In addition, Williamson says the people to whom Levene sold property are “crazy. They just like talking to salesmen,” and the check they wrote will bounce. His statement illustrates how futile their task is. The system is rigged to penalize these men if they aren’t unscrupulously slick enough to cheat their way to the top.

It is sad to hear Roma come back into the room and continue to praise Levene and talk about starting a partnership, not knowing that Levene will probably go to jail, not for doing something wrong, which is what would happen in an ethical world, but for getting caught. Aronow returns to his desk and starts making calls again, as the exploitative process continues.

The next film is The Station Agent.

The Godfather Part II

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

For this post, I used director Francis Ford Coppola’s Restoration version of the film, which is three hours and twenty-two minutes long. So, this analysis is quite lengthy.

Like The Godfather, this 1974 sequel (also winner of the Best Picture Oscar) further explores the contrasting elements within the lifestyle of the Italian Mafia. The lawbreaking with its accompanying violence exists while at the same time there is the impossible desire to keep the sanctity of the private family intact and separate from the business world. Coppola again uses organized crime as a metaphor for unscrupulous capitalist activity.

The first image echoes the last scene in The Godfather where there is the act of kissing the hand of the ironically named Godfather. The shot serves as the demonic version of the kissing of the Pope’s ring. The next image is the chair that Vito Corleone, the gangster boss of the first movie, sat in, which serves as a type of mobster throne, as opposed to the papal chair.

The story begins with narrative information about Vito Corleone, whose last name is Andolini, and who was born in the town of Corleone, Sicily. Where one comes from is important because of the emphasis in Italy on roots and family, so the fact that Vito’s last name is later transformed into the name of the place of his birth shows a close connection between the man and his origins. In 1901, his father was murdered because of an insult involving the local Mafia boss. There is a funeral procession for Vito’s father with nine-year-old Vito and his mother walking next to the coffin. This solemn ceremony is violated by the sound of gunfire, and as people scatter, someone shouts that they have killed Vito’s older brother, Paolo, who swore revenge, and had disappeared into the hills. Vendettas keep the violence going in this country, as is seen by the fact that there are so few men in Corleone by the time Michael visits in the first movie.

Young Vito (Oreste Baldini) and his mother (Maria Carta) visit the Mafia boss, Don Ciccio (Giuseppe Sillato). She says her husband was killed because he would not give into Ciccio’s will. This information shows that the men in Vito’s family do not bow to others. Vito’s mother says that her son is “dumb-witted” and hardly speaks, (but we know later he is quite intelligent) so she argues he poses no threat to Don Ciccio. He says it’s not Vito’s words he is afraid of. In the gangster world, one must always be looking for attacks. Although the mother says Vito is weak, Ciccio says that he will grow up and be strong and seek revenge. Despite her begging, he refuses to spare her son. She has a contingency plan and pulls out a knife, holds it to the Ciccio’s throat, and tells Vito to run. Ciccio’s men overpower the mother and shoot her dead. Vito runs away. If Ciccio had spared his family, and not tried to kill Vito, is it possible that Vito would not have sought revenge later? Apparently compassion is not in the Mafia playbook.

Ciccio’s men go through the town warning anyone who protects Vito will be punished. Despite the threat, a family (not a criminal one) does show sympathy, and helps him escape. He is all alone in the world and travels by ship to New York, which passes by the Statue of Liberty, the symbol of freedom and hope to all those who arrive in America. That same statue is in the first movie in the “leave the gun, take the cannoli” murder scene, which shows how the American Dream can turn into a nightmare. Immigration officials make a mistake by substituting the town for Vito’s last name, revealing how negligence in processing the many people entering the country can shortchange a person’s individuality. The immigration workers place a chalk “X” on Vito’s clothes, indicating he may be mentally challenged, as his mother noted. It turns out that others underestimate his potential. The doctor who examines him says he has smallpox and must be quarantined for three months. Vito’s early life is thus a hard one. During this whole time he doesn’t speak, but as he looks through the window in his room on Ellis Island at the Statue of Liberty, he finally uses his words to sing, seeking some comfort in this lonely situation. Being alone becomes an important theme in the rest of the story.

There is a jump forward to 1958 to the first Holy Communion ceremony of Anthony Vito Corleone (James Gounaris), Vito’s grandson, Michael’s boy, at Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Religion and family continue to dominate the Corleones after Michael has made his move to Nevada as he proposed in the first movie. There is an opulent reception on the lake following the ceremony, which contrasts with the poverty of Vito’s young life, and shows how the Corleones have prospered monetarily. Connie (Talia Shire) shows up with her latest lover, Merle Johnson (Troy Donahue, whose real name is the same as that of his character). She has been in revolt against Michael after he killed her abusive and traitorous husband right after the baptism of her son. Mama Corleone (Morgana King) says that she was supposed to show up a week earlier, noting her daughter’s carefree ways. She lectures Connie about seeing her children more often, which is a violation of the family code of behavior that is ethically strict, as opposed to the lawbreaking inherent in the family business.

Nevada Senator Pat Geary (G. D. Spradlin) is there with his wife, who we later learn he cheats on repeatedly, cheapening his public show of decency. The senator thanks the Corleone family for their contribution to the state through a college endowment in the name of young Anthony. Geary mispronounces “Vito” and “Corleone” which is a form of disrespect, but also shows how he still distances himself from the Mafia family, presenting himself as a ceremonial acquaintance only. Later, he pronounces the name with the correct Italian version, showing his phoniness in this scene. There is then a photo opportunity with Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), his wife Kay (Diane Keaton), and the senator and his wife, showing how Geary is used to the public display of insincerity. Michael, however, has spent most of his life in the shadows, and now wants to fulfill his father’s wish that the family move into legitimacy. He is in denial about how it is impossible to achieve his goal given the Corleone past.

In contrast to the brightness of the outside public festivities, we have a dark scene in Michael’s private office, with adopted brother, lawyer Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall). This juxtaposition is similar to the opposing settings at the onset of the first film that takes place during another religious ceremony, the outside wedding of Connie and Carlo, with Vito granting nefarious favors in the office in his New York home. (The Holy Communion event, which sounds like a gathering of righteous people gives way to a sort of satanic conclave inside). The humanitarian display at the ceremony is followed by the corruption evident in a government figure in the person of Senator Geary. He points out that Michael already owns three hotel/casinos in Las Vegas and Reno, but for the fourth he needs a gaming license that was not grandfathered in. The senator wants upfront money and a cut of the revenues of all the casinos. Geary reveals he is exploiting the situation not only for the cash, but out of bigotry. He says he doesn’t like Michael’s “kind,” meaning Italian, dirtying up “this clean country” with “oily hair” trying to present themselves “as decent Americans.” Obviously he is not one to talk, since he is not fighting against organized crime here, but instead is using it for his own gain. Geary says he despises the Corleone “masquerade” of looking presentable while acting dishonestly. Michael keeps his cool, but accurately tells Geary that “we are both part of the same hypocrisy,” as the senator also portrays himself as an upstanding citizen while hiding his corrupt nature. Michael feels he can make the distinction that Geary does not, which is that Michael’s dirty business activities do not desecrate the members of his family. Geary wants to keep his facade of respectability by not dealing directly with Michael, and only wants to use an intermediary. Michael tells Geary that he won’t give him anything, and expects the senator to put up the twenty-five grand for the gaming license. The senator just smirks at Michael dismissively, and then walks out of the room. Geary puts on his genial facade as he is hypocritically cordial to Kay, who is with his wife.

Michael has his hands full with his family and business associates. One of his mob lieutenants, Frank Pentangeli (Michael V. Gazzo) is drunk and unruly. He wants to see Michael about the death of Clemenza, one of the friends of Vito Corleone, Michael's father. The death may not have been by a heart attack according to Willi Cicci (Joe Spinell), Pentangeli’s associate. Pentangeli is not thrilled to have to wait so long to see Michael, which hints at how that anger will be used later to try to frame Michael.

Johnny Ola (Dominic Chianese), who works for Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg), a gangster who was Vito’s business partner, makes an appearance. Al Neri (Richard Bright), one of Michael’s bodyguards, greets Johnny and ushers him into a meeting with Michael and Tom. (Ola brings an orange from Florida as a gift from Roth. Oranges were used in the first film and are employed here, too, as ominous symbols of approaching death. (They have been used since the Godfather in other movies as deadly forecasters, such as Children of Men and Identity). Michael dismisses Tom saying he is only involved in certain aspects of the business. This slight obviously hurts Tom’s feeling, and shows how the criminal life requires Mike to be paranoid in his carefulness to the point that his slights to his own family members can come back to hurt him, at least in the case of Fredo later. Ola says that Roth will back Michael in taking over the casino he wants. Ola says that they are losing a number of organized crime’s members by death, “natural or not,” prison, and deportation. His words emphasize the business’s hazards. He says Roth has survived because “he always made money for his partners,” stressing the need to spread the wealth and not foster anger and mistakes because of greediness. His statement may be a veiled threat that Michael should not try to gain too much individual power.

Connie meets with Michael and says she wants to book passage on a cruise to Europe since she and Merle are to be married. Michael is upset since she was just divorced and he sees her as out of control, hooking up with a gigolo. He lectures her about a lack of concern for her children, since she sees them only on weekends. He tells his sister that her son was picked up in Reno for stealing. Again, he feels his big crime dealings should remain separate from the lives of family members, who should conform to ethical rules. Such is the duality in the Italian American criminal world, which is used as an allegory here for the double nature of the political-economic sector in America. Connie admits that she needs money and that is why she has come to Michael. He says that she can live within the confines of the family estate with her children and be deprived of nothing. But, there is a price to pay, because she must do what Michael dictates, which is to not marry Merle, who Michael talks about dismissively as if he isn’t there. Michael is right that Connie is at sea before she even sails, but he acts like a controlling parent dealing with a child. He says that if she doesn’t do what he says, “you’ll disappoint me.” In any other family that would not be so ominous.

As the Holy Communion celebration goes into the night, Michael and the family, which includes Deanna (Marianna Hill), Fredo’s wife, have dinner together. She is obviously not Italian, since she doesn't know the toast “Cent’anni,” which means they should live for a hundred years, which Connie says might happen if their father were still alive, implying Michael is not a worthy successor. The back-and-forth in time format of the film is set up to compare Vito’s life and actions as he went from Italy to New York with Michael’s further westward movement to Nevada in a compromised type of immigrant journey westward to search for the new Eden in America. Michael’s plans meet numerous hurdles, which include Geary and Pentangeli, and Deanna’s drunken spectacle of herself on the dance floor. She questions Fredo’s masculinity when he tries to intervene, and Fredo admits to being incapable of dealing with his wife, since the men here seem to be required to control the females. Again, the public display of unruliness, such as Pentangeli’s spilling wine and Deanna’s actions, spoil the appearance of respectability. Even though Michael tells his brother that he has nothing to apologize for, Fredo’s feelings that Michael is ashamed of him leads to his betrayal later.

Pentangeli finally meets in private with Michael, and is angry that he must give the gangster Rosato brothers territory to run in New York. He tells Michael that Clemenza did not promise the brothers anything and hated them. Michael wants him to cooperate because the Rosato brothers are pals of Hyman Roth, and he doesn’t want to hinder his dealings with Roth. Pentangeli feels that Michael has lost touch with what’s really happening because he is now out of New York and living in luxury in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, an image suggesting Michael has elevated himself too high above his workers. Pentangeli says that the brothers are disrespectful, doing “violence in their grandmothers’ neighborhoods.” The thrust here is that you can be violent in the proper course of gangster business, but not if it spills over into the lives of the civilian family members. What these men don’t want to face is that it is impossible to prevent the overflow of violence from one world into the other. Pentangeli reflects the bigotry of his times, and uses ethnic slurs to criticize the Rosato brothers for hiring Hispanic and African Americans. He says that the Rosato brothers make money off of whores and selling drugs, leaving gambling, a lesser vice, as the least important source of income. Thus, in the gradation of criminal activity, Frankie lives up to the “-angeli” part of his name, since he is more noble than the newer types of criminals. He wants the Rosato brothers dead, but Michael insists that he can’t allow that. He reminds Pentangeli that Vito worked with Roth and respected the man. But Pentangeli says that Vito never trusted Roth. Pentangeli makes an exaggerated display of loyalty saying that there won’t be any trouble from him, but his manner of announcing his compliance shows his unhappiness with the decision.

Michael asks how the baby inside of Kay is doing. He asks if she thinks it’s a boy, and she gives him the macho answer he wants, saying yes. But, she has a troubled look on her face. She reminds him that he said (in the first film) that the Corleone family would be completely legitimate in five years, but seven years have passed, and he is still a mobster. He says, “I’m trying,” but his task is insurmountable. He later goes to a place of supposed safety, his bedroom, with his wife in bed. His son has drawn a picture of his dad wearing a black hat and riding in a limo. It is interesting that he sees his dad as a big shot in a long car, not as a person who is at the family dinner table or other place with his wife and children, despite Michael’s adulation of the idea of family. The picture shows him away, on business, in a car, but the child is too naive to see things critically, and only looks at things literally. Kay is awake and asks, “why are the drapes open?” Michael is attuned to the possibilities of treachery, so he immediately drops to the floor and pulls Kay there as bullets riddle the bedroom. Michael still won’t concede that he can’t keep the danger inherent in his criminal world from bleeding into his private life.

Michael knows this attack must be an inside job since the curtains were drawn open, allowing for clear shots. Michael tells his henchman, Rocco, to use the many guards to keep the shooters alive so he can find out who is behind the attempted murder. Inside the house, Kay is with her children and gives Michael an accusing look, and this violent assault may be what eventually leads her to break with her husband.

Michael tells Tom that he kept things from him, but it’s not because he doesn’t love him. He says he admires Tom, and he may have been trying to keep him untouched by the dirty business Michael was involved in. Michael says to Tom that he knows he is the only one he can trust following the shooting. What he is saying is the withholding of information turned out to be a test of Tom’s loyalty, since without knowledge of certain operations Tom had no reason to betray Michael. He says Fredo, although having a “good heart,” is “weak” and “stupid,” so he can’t rely on him in matters of “life and death.” As it turns out the continual slighting of Fredo becomes a flaw in Michael’s strategy. Tom, almost in tears, says he always wanted to be considered a real brother to Michael, since his non-Italian background and being adopted, has, despite always being valued, made him feel somewhat like an outsider. Michael tells Tom he will take over and be the Don. Michael knows that the shooters are already dead, killed by a traitor who wants to shut down any chance of being found out. When Tom finds it difficult to believe that men such as Neri and Rocco could be involved, Michael says that those around them are “businessmen,” and “their loyalty is based on that,” which means when money is involved, connections to people are secondary. However, Michael believes that loyalty can be found within the family, which turns out to be incorrect, but this miscalculation turns out to be due to Michael’s own actions. He says that their father said think like people around you think, and on that basis, “Anything is possible.” Given that suspicious belief system, which derives from existing in a selfish environment, one has to be constantly on guard against individual agendas.

The bodies of the two shooters are found, as Michael suspected. Michael goes inside to comfort his son, Anthony, but he really is denying the danger he puts his son in by diverting him from the dark side of Michael’s livelihood. He tells his son everything will be okay, which is not true, and asks him if he liked his party, which is a weird thing to say to a child after his father was almost shot to death. The boy says that there were a lot of presents from people he didn’t know, whom Michael calls “friends,” but who were really there out of obligation, to make money, or afraid not to attend. Michael tells him he has to leave the next day because of “business,” which is used a great deal here, as in the first film, to emphasize that the word encompasses all sorts of sins. Anthony wants to go with his father and says, “I could help you,” which is what a boy wants to do for his dad. But he must be denied, not only because of his age, but because Michael’s “business” precludes innocence in any form. Michael’s response of, “Someday you will,” is ominous, given how unscrupulous behavior is carried down through the generations of lawbreaking families.

There is a shift back in time to the adult Vito Corleone in New York City in 1917, where Vito comforts his young child, as did Michael. (The sepia coloring provides a sense that we are looking at a moving photograph album containing old pictures). Vito’s friend takes him to an Italian theater where his girlfriend has a role. The show portrays a longing for Italy and an Italian man’s attachment to his mother. The son has undermined his love for his “Mama” by coming to America, which symbolically means that the immigrant has lost maternal protection by leaving his native country to be an orphan in another land. The girlfriend’s character is considered a tramp by the man since she lured him away from his love for his mother. America symbolically is a dangerous seductress here. The show is a bit Oedipal, and does not present women as love interests in a positive light. Vito’s friend talks about how beautiful the actress is, but Vito believes in rules and proper conduct when it comes to the family, saying the woman may be beautiful, but, “for me, there’s only my wife and son.” The family is what is supposed to be most important, so the desire to separate the criminal activities from one’s home life is an old tradition.

Here is where Vito encounters the Mafia, or The Black Hand, in the form of Don Fanucci (Gastone Moschin), who stands up, blocking the girl from Vito’s friend’s view. He first calls the man a bum and tells him to sit. When Fanucci turns around, and Vito’s friend sees who it is, he is afraid and apologetic. When Fanucci walks out he passes the camera like a looming, dark presence, eclipsing others. Vito and his pal go around the back of the theater to see the actress, but Fanucci is threatening the owner of the theater and the actress, who is his daughter. Vito’s friend cowers, not willing to try to rescue the woman, and says they must leave. Vito holds his ground, seemingly not afraid, which foreshadows how he will be able to deal with the Mafia in the future. Vito says he doesn’t understand why Fanucci intimidates other Italians. But, his friend says that everybody pays Fanucci in the neighborhood for protection, supposedly since immigrants were discriminated against and did not always find equal treatment under the law. But, in the end, they paid so they wouldn’t be harmed by their so-called protectors.

Vito is preoccupied with what he saw at the theater, but will not discuss his feelings with his wife, which sets a pattern of keeping wives in the dark about their husband’s thoughts. As the couple eats, the young Clemenza (Bruno Kirby) calls into Vito’s window from another apartment. (The name "Clemenza" is an ironic one since it suggests "clemency"). He gives Vito a package to hide. Vito takes it, and finds guns inside. He does this behind the closed door of the bathroom, excluding his wife from what is going on. Later, when Clemenza asks if he peeked at the contents, Vito says he is not interested in things that don’t concern him. He is being deceptive, a tactic needed later when he is part of the criminal world. Also, he wants to show that he can be trusted with a secret. Vito does not seek the gangster life, but seems to be drawn into it by what occurs around him. When Clemenza acts like a friend of his is giving Vito a beautiful rug, it is obvious that they are breaking into a private home of a prosperous person to get the “gift.” The lesson learned here by Vito is that if playing by society’s rules gets one nowhere, laws must be broken in order to get ahead. Also, Clemenza says he knows how to repay a favor, which binds people to each other, and is a tenet in the criminal world, and, for that matter, in business and politics.

Vito works at the store owned by the father of the friend who took him to the theater. Fanucci visits the store where Vito works, and his friend says the Mafia man is now exploiting the citizens more, asking for twice as much in protection money. Fanucci gets Vito fired because he wants Vito’s boss to hire his nephew, which means that he must let Vito go. The owner tries to give Vito food, but Vito realizes that it is not the shop owner’s fault, and refuses the gift. He tells the man that he always treated Vito well, and he will remember that. Later, as is shown in the first film, the exchange of favors, but outside the confines of the law, is the foundation on which the gangster families became powerful.

As the story returns to the 1950’s, Michael goes to Florida to meet with Hyman Roth, who lives in a modest home. He tells people he lives on a pension, which again is a deceptive front. Roth, like the older Vito in the initial movie, looks like a harmless old man, but is quite the opposite. Roth has the TV on, watching sports. He says he likes baseball, which sounds mainstream American, but then he follows by saying he’s liked baseball “Ever since Arnold Rothstein fixed the World Series in 1919,” referring to the Black Sox scandal. His last name is Roth which resembles the famous gangster’s name, and shows how there is an underbelly of corruption that operates below the clean-cut surface of American competition. Roth says that he is glad Michael survived the attack, because good health is more important that success, money, and power. But, it is just a line, and Roth wants all of the above. Michael tells Roth that Pentangeli tried to have him killed for refusing to get rid of the Rosato brothers. He wants Roth to know nothing is more important than their plans for the future, which Roth agrees, and says they will be making history together. Michael asks if it is okay that Pentangeli is “a dead man.” Roth’s cold response is “He’s small potatoes.” The two compliment each other, with Michael telling Roth he is a “great man,” and that he can learn much from him. As we discover, this is all posturing, as these two are out to get each other.

The sunshine of Florida which pretends to reflect the warmth between friends is now exchanged for the snowy cold of New York, which accurately mirrors the harsh reality of what Michael knows about Roth. He waits for Pentangeli at his home, which is where Michael grew up, and to which he still feels attached. He says he was glad the house was not sold to “strangers,” so important are close relationships to Michael, but which, ironically, given his dealings, keep deteriorating. He shows his real anger when he yells how disgusted he is that he was attacked in his home, “In my bedroom where my wife sleeps! Where my children come to play.” It was a violation of keeping business and family life separate. He tells Pentangeli that he knows it was Roth who tried to kill him. He wants Pentangeli to settle his differences with the Rosato brothers instead of starting a war. He says his father taught him, “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” It’s pretty sad when you must place your friends further from you than your enemies. He wants Roth to see that he helped him with the Rosato brothers, which will make him confident that their friendship is strong. Michael says he wants time to find out who is the traitor in his family that set him up. Michael practices the art of deception to discover deception, but all of this dissembling just leads to more lies.

The next scene shows us who betrayed Michael. Fredo gets a call in the middle of the night from Johnny Ola, Roth’s man. He says he needs more help, and wants to know if Pentangeli is really trying to make a deal with the Rosato brothers, or is it a double-cross. Fredo has obviously been feeding Ola information, and Fredo tells him that they involved him in something that he did not bargain for. Did Fredo not know that there would be an attempt on Michael’s life? If so, who opened the drapes in the bedroom? And who killed the two gunmen? Was it Fredo? It seems unlikely he would be up to that task. If he wasn’t the killer, then that leaves someone else in the Corleone camp. We are never given a complete explanation. Perhaps the audience is left with the idea that in this world one never can know all of the conspirators. When Fredo’s half-asleep wife asks who called, he says it was a “wrong number.” Boy, is that right.

Carmine Rosato (Carmine Caridi) meets with Pentangeli at a bar where they are supposed to close their deal over sharing the territories. But, the other Rosato brother, Tony (Danny Aiello, who will go on to do many memorable roles), tries to strangle Pentangeli, saying, “Michael Corleone says hello.” (Apparently, Aiello improvised his line, but it plays well in the story line). They drag Pentangeli to the back. A cop comes in wondering why the bar looks dark and closed, but people are in there. The Rosato brothers leave Pentangeli on the floor as a shootout takes place outside. Were the Rosato brothers not planning to kill Pentangeli, but just wanted to make him think Michael double-crossed him so he would become Michael’s enemy? Probably not, but since Pentangeli survived the attempt on his life, Roth later uses Pentangeli to try and bring down Michael.

We then move to a bordello operated by Fredo. Tom Hagen appears and goes into a room where Senator Geary is with the bloody body of a dead hooker. She is handcuffed to the bed. Geary remembers nothing, only that he woke up on the floor and says that he would never hurt the woman. Tom exchanges looks with Neri, Michael’s henchman. It is implied here that they set the senator up so as to manipulate him. The deceiving continues to multiply, along with the dead bodies. Tom says that it was lucky that Fredo runs the place and Tom can now clean up the incident. Tom says that Geary’s alibi is that he stayed as Michael’s guest at the Lake Tahoe residence. Tom informs Geary that the woman has no family, and it will be like “she never existed,” and he waves his hands, like a magician making someone disappear. He says to Geary, “All that remains is our friendship.” They preyed on the senator’s weakness for sex, made it look like they did him a huge favor, and allowed him to still appear to be wholesome. The Corleones will ask for payback concerning the gaming license, and whatever else the mobster family needs. As Michael told Geary, the politician and the gangster are part of the same hypocrisy.

Kay wants to take the children to New England, but Tom says she can’t leave the Lake Tahoe compound for her own safety. She views her confinement as a type of imprisonment. She has compromised her life to the point where because of her marriage to Michael, there is a threat to her life and that of her children no matter where she is. The quality of her life has become diminished because of her husband’s criminal activities.

Michael is in Havana to meet with Roth at a gathering hosted by the government of people investing in Cuba. Michael and Roth sit at a table with corporate heads, so the movie links criminals with corporations when it comes to trying to make a profit. They pass around a gift to the President of a solid gold telephone from United Telephone and Telegraph, a symbol of how businessmen try to imitate King Midas, who, of course didn’t turn out well in the story, since acquiring material wealth at the exclusion of all else is self-destructive.

Michael and Roth meet with other crime bosses as they gather to divide up the spoils (with the film using the obvious metaphor of cutting up a cake with the island of Cuba decorated on it) derived from having a government that they can control for their own profit. Roth implies that they are like any other corporations that make contracts with nations when he says, “This kind of government knows how to help business, to encourage it.” Cuba is contributing money along with the Teamsters Union and the crime bosses in a type of unholy alliance to turn Havana into a casino town with hopes of being more profitable than Las Vegas. Again we have the equating of illegal organizations with supposedly upstanding entities as they all work together for personal gain. Roth drives home the point when he says that they have what they always wanted, “real partnership with government.” But Michael questions the soundness of investing in Cuba since he saw a rebel explode a grenade, killing himself and policemen rather than being arrested. Roth is not happy about Michael casting doubt on their enterprise, and asks what that incident meant to Michael. He says the rebels are fighting the country’s government for a cause, not money, and are willing to make ultimate sacrifices that may allow them to win their fight. Roth tries to downplay the significance of the event, his greed blinding him from considering Michael’s keen insight.

Later in his hotel room, Roth points out to Michael that he didn’t want the fact that the Corleone upfront two-million-dollar investment not arriving yet reflected Michael’s worrying about the rebels. The old man keeps acting like he is ready to die, and he wants to ensure that he hands off his wealth to those he cares about. It is a pretense, since Roth is making himself appear more fragile than he is to hold off enemies who feel they can just wait for his death to rise to his place of power. Roth appeals to Michael’s desire to go legitimate by saying that there will be enough cash derived from their deal to fund someone who wants to run for the United States presidency. This suggestion is pretty scary, since it implies that a dangerous, unscrupulous person, by reason of wealth, can ascend to the highest office in the country. Roth says to Michael, “We’re bigger than U. S. Steel,” the story continually drawing similarities between criminal behavior and capitalism.

Fredo arrives with the money, saying he doesn’t know what the cash is for. Michael tells him about the investment in Cuba and that the two million dollars is a gift for the President of Cuba. Fredo says that Havana is a great town and asks if anybody they know is there. Michael says that Johnny Ola and Roth are there, but then Fredo lies when he says he doesn’t know them and never met the two men. They hang out together and Fredo says he wishes he would have married someone like Kay, instead of his erratic wife, revealing how he is envious of his brother. Fredo says he also wishes he could be more like their father. He notes that their mom said he was left on the doorstep by gypsies. These statements point to Fredo’s insecurities and how his family treated him as a failure. Michael tries to be positive, telling him he’s no gypsy. Fredo confesses that he was mad at Michael, probably for shutting him out of any real responsibility, and therefore not respecting him, which does coincide with what Michael told Tom about how he felt Fredo lacked intelligence and was weak. Fredo wishes he could go back into the past and “spend time” like they are doing now, so they could have been closer.

Michael tells Fredo that Senator Geary and other government officials will be flying in and he wants Fredo to show them a good time so as to pave the way to get government favors. He confides to Fredo that on the way back to his hotel from a New Year’s Eve party at the Presidential Palace (in a military vehicle, so he will feel safe, deception always employed in these schemes to throw the victim off), he will be assassinated. He says it’s Roth who is out to get him, and echoing his father in the first film about the hoodlum Barzini, Michael says, “It was Roth all along.” He says Roth has been lying about making Michael his successor, and really wants to live forever. So, he wants a powerful person like Michael out of the way so he can keep the profits to himself. Michael says that he has already made a plan to thwart the attack, and that “Hyman Roth will never see the New Year.”

Michael meets again with Roth, who knows Fredo came with the money. Michael wants time to think about investing, but he’s just stalling to carry out his assassination plot. He also wants to know who gave the order to kill Pentangeli, since he didn’t. The unspoken accusation is that Roth did. Roth counters with the story of Moe Green (who was in the first film) who was Roth’s partner a long time ago (and was modeled after gangster Bugsy Siegel, who helped create Las Vegas). Roth calls Green a great man of vision, and Roth loved him. But, he defied Michael and as Roth says, “somebody put a bullet through his eye.” Roth says he didn’t question who gave the order, “because it had nothing to do with business.” Here we have the acceptance of murder committed in the course of conducting business, so important is making a profit that a person’s life is secondary. As was noted in the initial movie, cruelty in the moneymaking world is “not personal,” the “person” part of that word being negated when business is transacted. Roth doesn’t give Michael any more time, saying they will be partners if the money is on the table when he wakes up from his nap; otherwise, their relationship will be terminated.

Fredo and Michael entertain some senators and a judge at a club, showing how gangsters and politicians intermingle well. Geary, not having learned from his overindulgence in his sexual appetites, tells Fredo he’s interested in hooking up with one of the local beautiful women. Johnny Ola is there and again Fredo acts like they have never met before. They go to a sex club, and Fredo has consumed a great deal of alcohol at this point. Geary asks Fredo where did he find this club, and Fredo lets slip, “Johnny Ola brought me here.” He goes on to say that Roth won’t go to these places, but Ola knows them well. Michael’s eyes shift toward his brother, realizing Fredo lied to him about knowing Roth’s henchman, and now sees his own brother as a traitor. This betrayal is especially painful coming from his immediate family, the place where he put all his trust. Now, Michael feels he can’t believe anyone who pretends to be his ally, suggesting that the lying that goes around comes around to harm the deceiver.

Later, Michael’s silent bodyguard/assassin (Amerigo Tot), dressed in black, looking like the angel of death, sneaks into Roth’s hotel room and kills Ola. But he must get out before murdering Roth since doctors are there preparing to send the old man to the hospital. The killer goes to the hospital, tries to smother Roth, but is killed by military guards. So, Michael has failed despite his intelligent plotting to stop his powerful nemesis.

Michael and Fredo are at the Presidential Place for the New Year’s celebration. But as Michael predicted, the rebels have the government on the run. Soldiers march in and the President announces his capitulation. The irony here is that Roth’s dream of welding together government and criminality into a type of capitalistic heaven is defeated by the communist forces of Fidel Castro. Michael aggressively hugs Fredo, telling him there is a plane waiting to take them to Miami, since Michael knew he would need to get away quickly if Roth was killed. He fiercely kisses Fredo on the lips, a combination of love and violence resulting from the realization of treachery. It's sort of a kiss of death. Michael tells his brother he knows that it was Fredo who is the traitor, and says, “You broke my heart.” Michael here acknowledges that his reliance on the love for his family is shattered. Fredo slinks off, afraid of his own sibling’s wrath. In the mobs of people trying to flee the revolutionary forces, Michael sees Fredo and tells him to come in his car to escape. But Fredo, who knows about his brother’s past acts of vengeance, runs off in fear. As Michael heads to the airport, the revolutionary forces yell “Fidel” which drives home the defeat of the “Gangsta’s Paradise” dream. (My apologies to Coolio for the reference).

Back in the states Michael meets with Tom, asking him what he bought Michael’s son for Christmas, so it will seem like he knew about the gift. Michael, the family man, has let his business take precedence over his connecting with his family on the most family-oriented holiday. But, of course, appearances must be maintained, so he will lie about previously knowing what was bought. Tom says that Roth used a private boat to get out of Cuba. He had a stroke, but recovered, the man seemingly having cat-like nine lives. He is in Miami. Fredo apparently made it to New York. Michael says he wants Tom to get in touch with his brother and tell him he knows Roth misled him and didn’t know they were plotting to kill Michael. What Michael says may be what he believes, but it really doesn’t matter to him. The fact that Fredo did something behind Michael’s back with a rival is enough to condemn him. Tom reluctantly tells Michael that Kay had a miscarriage, which strikes another blow against Michael’s need for a strong family foundation. He is angry that Tom can’t tell him if it would have been a boy, which is what he had hoped for to help carry on the manly Sicilian legacy.

There is then a shift to Vito, who is concerned about baby Fredo having pneumonia, indicating a time when the vitality of the family was paramount (no pun intended as to the studio that released the film). (The superimposing of images at the beginning of these time shifts into the past as Michael contemplates his situation could mean that he is actually thinking about his father’s early life, and is nostalgic about it. However, Coppola presented the two movies in sequential order for television, which would argue against these flashbacks just being in Michael’s mind). Fanucci, always wearing a white suit, presenting a fake benevolent impression since his intentions are always sinister, jumps onto Vito’s truck and informs him that he knows that he and his partners are stealing goods. He tells Vito that he needs to give Fanucci a cut of the action to be allowed to continue, since it is Fanucci’s neighborhood. If Vito doesn’t comply, the cops will be called to go after Vito, and he will be ruined. In another false appearance, instead of protecting his countrymen, Fanucci is actually exploiting them.

Vito tells his partners, Clemenza and the younger Tessio (John Aprea), about Fanucci’s demands. Clemenza says they have to pay since Fanucci works for a higher-level Mafia boss who has connections with the police. Thus, the illicit connections between gangsters and law enforcement officers go way back, since money has always been used as a tool for corruption. Before eating his pasta Clemenza makes the Catholic Sign of the Cross, another example of how these hoods compartmentalize their ethical religious beliefs and their criminal actions. Vito declares that it is unfair having the fruits of their labor taken away from them. He could be sounding like any worker in the capitalist system who slaves away as big shots reap the gains of his labor. Vito says that they should each only give him fifty dollars for Fanucci. Vito says, “I guarantee he’ll accept what I give him.” He wants them to not have knowledge of his lethal plan, to protect them, maybe, but also because they would try to stop him from carrying it out. In English, Vito says, “I’ll take care of everything,” which shows how he is on his way to becoming an Italian American Mafia boss. He tells them that they should remember that he did them a favor, and so, he will expect reciprocity, which is, as was noted before, how alliances are formed in any business situation.

The Godfather movies use religious ceremonies as contrasting ironic backdrops during which violence occurs. In the first film, the ending has the assassinations of the heads of the warring Mafia organizations occurring at the same time as the baptism of Michael’s godson. Here, there is a religious procession in the streets. Traditional music mixes with the “Star Spangled Banner,” demonstrating the allegiances to both the old and new countries. After giving Vito the small amount of money, Clemenza asks Vito if Fanucci will go for the reduced offer. Vito responds with what may be the first occurrence chronologically of a version of the famous line when he says, “I’ll make an offer he don’t refuse,” a statement that carries a lethal underside to its falsely benevolent surface.

Vito meets with Fanucci and gives him the money, which the man is not happy about. But Vito smiles, acts congenial, and says he’s a little short for right now. Fanucci admires Vito’s “guts,” and actually offers Vito the opportunity to work for him. He even tells Vito that there are “no hard feelings,” and says, “If I can help you, let me know.” Vito could let it go at that, and join up with Fanucci, but he most likely feels he must honor his partnership with Clemenza and Tessio, and he no longer wants to be somebody’s puppet. Also, Fanucci still expects the rest of his payment.

Fanucci struts around the neighborhood like he owns it, accepting greetings from the intimidated inhabitants. He walks in the opposite direction of the religious pageant, which could suggest that his presence is demonic. He passes by a marionette show which depicts violence and which symbolizes how those in power manipulate others. But, Fanucci is carrying one of those ominous oranges, an indication that death is imminent. The religious statue that men carry through the streets has lots of donated money attached to it. The strange image combining the worship of the spiritual and the material at the same time is an appropriate image that reflects the attitudes of these Catholic gangsters. Vito stalks Fanucci from the rooftops, symbolically showing how he places himself above the laws of man and God. Vito has hidden a gun, wrapped in a towel, a disguise masking its lethal intent, similar to how Vito presented himself in his meeting with Fanucci. The hidden gun ties in with the stashed weapon that Vito's son, Michael, will use in the original film. Like father, like son. Vito waits outside Fanucci’s apartment and then shoots him as fireworks go off, drowning out the shots. As has been noted, the film is loaded with acts of deception. Even after the man is dead, Vito brutally desecrates the body by shooting Fanucci through the mouth to stress that who killed this scary man must be feared even more. After performing this homicidal act, which criminals would excuse as necessary to conduct “business,” Vito then assumes his other persona as a caring family man, telling the infant Michael, “your father loves you very much.” The family is waving American flags, another image joining domestic love with patriotism, but tinged with violence after what Vito has done.

In Michael’s adult world, there is a U. S. Senate investigation into organized crime where the senators question mobster Willi Cicci. The committee chairman asks if he is a member of the Corleone crime syndicate, but Cicci corrects the senator, saying he belonged to the “family.” His response shows that even though mobsters tried to keep their private family separate from their criminal affairs, they still built their “business” on a family model, expecting obedience to rules and the maintenance of loyalty. But, as Michael said earlier, money can’t buy true fidelity. Cicci admits that he was an assassin for the Corleone family, but says he never received a kill order from Michael personally. In an inappropriate manner, Cicci jokingly picks up on Senator Geary’s phrase by saying that there were a number of “buffers” between him and Michael. Cicci was Pentangeli’s associate, and since the Rosato brothers implied that Michael ordered Pentangeli’s death, Cicci may be testifying to get back at Michael.

Back at the family home in Lake Tahoe, Michael looks dejected and doesn’t let Kay know he is home. He is not even there to comfort her after the supposed miscarriage, almost as if he blames her for depriving him of another son, which turns out, in fact, to be the case. Later, Michael goes to his mother asking her if being strong to protect the family can cause one to lose it. He is talking metaphorically, weighing whether his actions have distanced himself from the family members, and exposed them to harmful forces. She says that he can’t lose his family, but she is being literal. He says times are changing and he means for the worse, moving away from the time when his father gained prominence.

The story moves, appropriately, to Vito’s time, before the changes that Michael bemoans. Vito is now known in the neighborhood as a man of power, and he appreciates others showing him respect. So, when a man offers him free fruit, he is willing to grant a favor in return for the act of goodwill. Vito’s wife wants her husband to help a neighbor, Signora Colombo (Saveria Mazzola), who was evicted by her landlord for keeping a dog that her son loves, but that neighbors complained about. The landlord is Signor Roberto (Leopoldo Trieste), known as a slumlord, and Vito confronts the man very politely, asking him to reconsider his actions. Vito shows his generosity by willing to pay the rent six months in advance. Roberto is belligerent, and dismisses Vito’s request to show compassion for a woman who is poor and has no family to help her. Vito tells Roberto to ask around about him, and he will find that Vito knows how to return a favor. Once the landlord discovers that Vito has mob connections, he comes to Vito looking worried and ready to apologize. The landlord now calls him Don Vito, showing how Vito has replaced Fanucci as the new, more compassionate crime boss of the neighborhood. After a few stern, wordless looks from Vito, Roberto not only allows Signora Colombo to stay with her dog, but agrees to reduce the rent substantially. He is afraid to stay any longer and comically has trouble opening the door to leave (the lock was rigged without the actor knowing about it, and he improvises wonderfully). Such is the power that fear can generate, but, when used nobly, as here, it can be a force for justice when legitimate channels are unresponsive to the pleas of the disadvantaged. Vito then raises the sign on his imports store, the legitimate front for his illegitimate business operations.

Back at the Senate hearings, Michael now testifies. Geary utters platitudes about his Italian American constituency, and makes the statement about how some of his “best friends are Italian American.” It has become a joke that when a person announces that members of an ethnic group are among his friends, those “friends” probably do not exist. Geary then starts to figuratively distance himself from Michael and the Mafia, saying that there should be no defaming of all Italian Americans because of “a few rotten apples,” Michael being one of the “rotten” ones apparently. Then he departs the committee to work on another one, literally disconnecting himself from the people who did him favors, but who now are politically dangerous to be associated with. Michael perjures himself, denying his mobster associations. Kay is there and has to publicly hear her husband accused of the murders he committed or ordered in the first story. Michael reads a statement to clear his “family name,” hoping to have his children live their lives “without a blemish on their name and background.” We again have Michael trying to accomplish the impossible task of trying to keep his family untainted by the poison of his unlawful life, and can only attempt to do so by being even more dishonest by pretending to be a law-abiding citizen.

The Senate committee chairperson announces at the end of the session that there will be a witness to corroborate the accusations against Michael. The next scene is a good segue since it shows Pentangeli in the custody of U. S. Marshalls. He has made a deal to inform on Michael, and lives in a comfortable, protected residence on an army base. But, he is dejected, probably because he has forfeited his freedom, feels guilty about betraying a fellow criminal, and feels that he will be marked for death after he testifies.

Michael’s people have found out that Pentangeli is still alive, and Roth was the one who engineered the attempt on Pentangeli’s life. Fredo is now at the Tahoe home, and Michael talks to him to see if he can learn anything from him. Fredo looks defeated as he appears collapsed in a chair. He says he didn’t know much about Roth. He confirms that Roth made it look like Michael was Pentangeli’s enemy. Fredo becomes angry when Michael says he always took care of him. He says he was the older brother and Michael disrespected him, giving him menial jobs. Fredo says that Johnny Ola had approached him and said if Fredo could make the deal between Roth and Michael go quicker there would be “something in it” for Fredo. Because Michael’s harsh business ways belittled his brother, Fredo sought empowerment from a man who turned out to be Michael’s enemy. Fredo reveals the corruption in the U. S. Government itself, because the Senate lawyer is Roth’s man. Michael makes no attempt to understand his brother’s pain. He tells him he is nothing to him now, not a brother or a friend. He tells him “I don’t want to know you, or what you do.” He doesn’t want him in his house and when Fredo visits their mother, he wants notice so Michael doesn’t have to be there to see him. Secretly, he tells his henchman Neri that he doesn’t want anything to happen to Fredo while their mother is still alive. Michael may want to spare his mother that grief, but he conveys that he will eventually order the execution of his brother.

At the Senate hearings, Pentangeli sees that Michael has brought his brother, Vincenzo Pentangeli (Salvatore Po), who, according to what Tom tells the senators, came at his own expense from Sicily to be there for his brother. Pentangeli’s subsequent testimony contradicts his sworn affidavit. He says he just made up stuff about the Corleones to make a deal. He admits he only was in the olive oil business with them. It is not made clear whether the brother’s presence was meant to convince Pentangeli that Michael was not his enemy, or whether Vincenzo would be harmed if Pentangeli testified against Michael. In any event, without his testimony, Michael is off the hook.

Kay tells Michael she and the children are leaving him. She no longer wants anything to do with him and his business. His power has corrupted him and he ruptures the wall that he erected to separate his criminal behavior from how he acts with his family. He now treats his wife the same way he does those in his world of crime. He orders her around, and will not tolerate opposition. She sadly admits that she feels no love for him at all. He says that he will change and that they will have another child. To make sure that he will want nothing to do with her, she tells him the truth about having an abortion, not a miscarriage. She says their marriage is an abortion, “Something that’s unholy and evil,” the opposite of what Michael’s religion teaches, and whose laws he only pretends to follow. She says that she didn’t want to bring another one of his sons into his demonic world. Her actions strike at the very core of Michael’s reverence for family and children, and his desire to have descendants carry on the Corleone legacy. It adds to his feeling that he is being betrayed on all fronts, and that he no longer can trust anyone, which is the risk of choosing the life he leads. He responds by striking Kay. Just like he told his brother, he no longer wants to see her. As he feared when he spoke to his mother, he is losing his family.

There is a return to Vito’s time, as he takes a trip to Sicily with his wife and children to visit relatives, which contrasts with Michael’s deteriorating family situation. But, Vito also has darker motives. He goes to the house of Don Ciccio, the man who murdered his family. Vito, as he did with Fanucci, throws his enemy off guard by pretending to be a respectful and congenial businessman, even kissing Ciccio’s hand, in the manner one greets a gangster boss. When the old man asks his father’s name he tells him it was Antonio Andolini. And then, Vito cuts him, killing the man who ordered the deaths of his father, mother, and brother. Ciccio was right to fear an older Vito. The Sicilians always follow through with their vendettas, so important is their commitment to avenge wrongs, and in so doing, perpetuating the state of violence.

Michael’s mother has now passed away. Fredo cries at the wake held at the Tahoe estate, and is comforted by his sister, Connie. Tom tells Fredo that Michael will not see him even on this day of grief when family members usually comfort each other. This fact shows how emotionally hardened Michael has become, his isolation deepened with the loss of his mother. Michael has his children there, and he told Kay that he would use all of his power so she would not take them. He has succeeded in his threat, but at what cost to their well-being. Connie tells Michael she would like to stay close to home now. She admits that she hated him, and acted in self-destructive ways so she could hurt him. But, now she realizes that he was just being strong, like their father. She says she forgives him, but hopes that he can forgive Fredo. She says he needs her now, and wants to take care of him. She is right, since she is the one family member who actually wants to be closer to Michael. However, they do not embrace, but instead she kisses his hand, which is more the act of a Mafia subordinate than that of a sister, stressing the impossibility of separating the worlds of criminality and family. This point is further made when Michael goes to Fredo and embraces him, as a brother should. But it is a false show of affection, as Michael gives Neri a cold look, reminding his henchman what Michael said about Fredo’s fate after Michael’s mother died.

Michael then plots the death of Roth, who has tried and failed to be allowed to live in several countries. His passport is only valid for a return to the United States, and he will be arriving in Miami. Tom sees no point in going after the man, since he is supposed to be terminally ill. Michael does not buy that the man’s death is imminent. Tom says it’s impossible to get at him, since Roth will be met at the airport by the IRS, Customs, and the FBI. Michael (while significantly eating one of those ominous oranges) says it’s not impossible to kill Roth. Michael’s dark, cynical view is that if it’s one thing that history has taught us, it’s that “you can kill anyone.” Tom says that Roth and the Rosato brothers are “on the run,” and he asks if it’s worth going after them. Tom says that Michael has won, and asks him, “Do you want to wipe everybody out?” Michael replies that he just wants to get rid of his enemies, but violence and greed seem to create new ones seeking revenge or power. Michael now even doubts Tom’s loyalty, wondering if he will leave to pursue an offer to be a vice president of a casino in Las Vegas. Tom says he turned down the offer, but just because he didn’t mention the job possibility, in Michael’s paranoid mind, it causes him to suspect Tom. Michael says that if Tom isn’t going along with the program, Tom can take his wife, family, and his mistress and move them all to Vegas. Tom is very hurt by the way Michael is now treating him, threatening exile from the family he has loyally served, especially after Michael earlier on told Tom he was the only person he could trust. 

Fredo is very sweet with his nephew, Anthony. Near the lake, he says that he used to go fishing with his father and brothers, and he caught a fish every time he said a Hail Mary prayer. His nostalgia, mixed with spirituality, speaks of a close family time that no longer exists. Fredo’s feeling of safety and love is really a cruel distraction, perpetrated by Michael, to prevent Fredo from seeing what is to come. Tom meets with Pentangeli and assures him that his brother has returned home safely. They, like Fredo, talk of times past, even going back to the ancient Roman period, which the Mafia modeled themselves after, using the same military terms, such as “regimes,” “capos,” and “soldiers.” Pentangeli compares the Corleone family to the rule of the Roman Empire, as he tries to elevate criminality to a level of greatness. During those times, men who failed to overthrow the Emperor were allowed to take their lives by slitting their veins in a bath, knowing that their families would be taken care of. This practice seems civilized to Pentangeli, and he takes comfort from the talk with Tom, which has communicated to Pentangeli what he should now do. Tom translates his name, calling him, “Frankie Five-Angels,” adding an ironic religious feel to their conversation that offers suicide as a way to seal the deal to protect one’s loved ones.

Kay is visiting with the children, but Connie warns her to leave soon since Michael is approaching, and if she doesn’t go she will face his anger. She makes it to the back door, as she is reduced to having to sneak about to see her son and daughter. She pleads for their son to kiss him before she goes. She had hinted earlier that Anthony was damaged by the terrible events that the family experienced. Michael appears and closes the door on Kay repeating what happened at the end of the first film, symbolizing how she has been shut off from the love and emotional connection she once hoped for.

Fredo is preparing to take Anthony fishing, but Connie says that the boy will be going to Reno with his father. This is another deception in order to isolate Fredo so he can be killed by Neri in the boat. It is heartbreaking to hear Fredo tell his nephew that they will go fishing together the next day, since there will be no tomorrow for Fredo. The movie reaches its climax like the first one, with several deaths. Roth is shot at the airport, and Pentangeli commits suicide. We see autumn leaves blow across the lawn, signifying the end of life. Fredo is killed on the lake, the murder following his reciting the Hail Mary prayer, containing words that, appropriately, make a plea to pray for sinners, and there are many of them here.

Michael sits alone in a dark room at the house. There is a flashback, this time probably a memory of Michael’s, to when the whole family was together around a dinner table, a fitting place for Italians to gather. Michael, along with his brothers, Fredo, Sonny (James Caan), and Tom, as well as Connie and her future husband, Carlo (Gianni Russo), are there, as well as Vito’s associate, the older Tessio (Abe Vigoda). It is right around the time of the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, and Sonny says that those enlisting to fight are “saps,” because they “risk their lives for strangers.” Michael says that is what their father would say. Sonny, like Vito, puts the family even above country, so tribal is the feeling perpetuated through the generations of Italian American mobsters. Sonny says one’s countrymen “are not your blood.” At this time, in contrast to what he later believes, Michael says he doesn’t feel that way. He announces that he has quit college and enlisted. Sonny is very angry, mostly because he fears losing his brother pointlessly as a soldier fighting a war that he sees as having nothing to do with the family. Tom says that their father had to “pull a lot of strings” to get Michael his deferment (the “strings” reference fits the marketing image for these films, with the crime boss being the puppet master who manipulates others). Tom says that he and their dad talked about Michael’s future, which Michael finds strange, since he wasn’t consulted about his own life. He says he has his own plans, but as we know, those plans never take place. Michael’s independence here seems at odds with his future immersing of himself in all things tied to his family.

Michael is left alone at the table as the rest go to greet their father on his birthday. Then there is a shot of Vito holding Michael waving goodbye on the train in Sicily. The final shot is of a solitary Michael at Lake Tahoe. The cumulative effect is a vision of a lonely man bereft of the family he treasured due to a combination of the life he inherited and the path he chose to follow.

The next film is The Night of the Hunter.