A Justification for The Godfather Part III

I don’t know what planet I’ve been on but I’d never seen Part Three of the Godfather before. The series is a guilty pleasure for me. As an Italian-American I should decry its depiction of Italians; as a movie lover I can watch it over and over. So why have I never seen the final episode until now?

One reason has to be the fact that it’s not very good. Performances are inconsistent; the focus unsteady; the plot unfolds in fits and starts. Its narrative does not enhance Puzo’s original story. Yet Part III is widely viewed. Is the collective taste of the American movie public so banal that people will throw their money at anything with the Godfather cache despite its merits? There must be a reason this film is important.

This question prompted some thought. At the center of all Italian culture is the FAMILY. Even though my family is not Sicilian, family-centricity is the keystone of Italian culture. The Godfather is certainly about family! Because this is an Italian family, the Roman Catholic family of Christ must add its woof to the weave. A sacramental sub-theme permeates all three parts of the series. Was this a conscious choice on Coppola’s part, or a ghost from a Catholic school past? I needed to consider how family, Sicily, and faith feature throughout the entire Godfather series in order to find justification for Part Three.

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In Part One the nuclear Corleone family frames the story. This necessarily includes Vito Corleone’s immediate family—more specifically his sons. In addition an extended, closely knit, mostly Sicilian, crime family is foundational to the story. These are the capos and soldiers of the godfather’s molecular family. Associated crime families of the greater New York area complete the picture. Difficulties arise when the concept of extended family seeks fulfillment beyond the molecular because the components refuse to bind.

The Corleone family has its roots in Sicily, where family honor and loyalty are paramount. It is Sicilian vendetta for the murder of his family that brings Vito to America. All three segments of the Godfather reflect an indivisible bond with the family’s Sicilian roots, both genetically and criminally. Sicily, the fountainhead, will provide whenever and however required. Sicilian ties bind tightly. The island’s history is far older than the Roman Catholic religion.

Sicily and its people endured. The triumph of their survival, after centuries of invasion and subjugation, is manifest because the only thing a Sicilian could rely on was family. The fierce loyalty and codes of conduct provided the Sicilian family with a narrow margin for survival. Sicilian survival becomes the metaphor for the immigrant’s struggle to survive in the United States.

This first segment of the Godfather begins with the wedding of the Don’s daughter. Marriages make and extend families. Matrimony is a sacrament in the Roman Catholic religion. Connie’s marriage enlarges the Corleone family in concrete and symbolic ways. Part One of the series elaborates on the sacrament of Matrimony and the ties that bind it to Sicily when Michael marries Appollonia who is murdered before he can return to the USA and his pre-ordained fate. Marriage continues to prompt the story when Michael marries again, this time to his American love, Kay. The Corleone family becomes a triune entity—personal, Sicilian, and American.

Matrimony is not the only Catholic sacrament featured in Part One. In a perverse sense, the Godfather co-opts the sacrament of Confirmation. When a Catholic is confirmed, he or she becomes a “soldier of Christ.” The Corleone crime family has its own soldiers. Confirmation creates the church militant to protect the faith. The criminal militants defend their Don and his anti-Christ Capos.

A third sacrament is notable for its absence. It is the Sacrament of Last Rites, also known as Extreme Unction. The church blesses the body of the dying person. External sense organs are anointed as the body is sent on its way to God. “Through this holy unction and His own tender mercy may the Lord pardon thee of whatever sins or faults thou hast committed by sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, walking, carnal delectation.” Vito Corleone and his son, Sonny, die without the spiritual comfort of this sacrament. After his death Vito’s unblessed body is prodded with a stick that his innocent grandson wields. The stick, a symbol of power, mocks the old man. In death Rome—not Sicily—has the last word.

There is yet another sacrament with a role to play in Part One. The sacrament of Baptism introduces the innocent infant into the family of faith. The child is reborn into the family of Christ. In this sacrament the godparents renounce the devil for the infant. They stand ready to protect innocence from evil. The godparents vow to become surrogate parents for the child. Puzo’s choice of the term “godfather” evokes the paternal sacramental role as well as the Sicilian connotation. Don Corleone is surrogate father to his crime family. Michael is surrogate father to his sister’s son.

In the baptismal sequence this sacrament becomes sacrilege as Michael sets in motion the maelstrom that will “settle all family business” at the same time that he stands godfather to his nephew. His actions embrace the devil; good is renounced. Sicilian vendetta sanctifies a baptism-in-blood that brings with it eternal death. Innocence is slaughtered. The baby’s father is murdered by his godfather Michael Corleone. Surrogation becomes usurpation. As Part I ends Michael is acknowledged as Godfather to the Corleone crime family.

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Part Two expands the idea of family, forming a national “brotherhood” of crime. The Corleones have moved west, but their interests extend to the East Coast, Florida, and Cuba. Its tentacles include national politicians, legitimate businessmen, and alien religion. The combination proves lethal. Can loyalty and trust survive strangers?

Michael initiates a “Cuban marriage” with Jewish mobster Hyman Roth. This marriage fails. Problems on the East Coast multiply. Familial ties suffer at a distance. They are diluted when non-Sicilians are included. Michael is reminded that his father did business with and respected Hyman Roth, but “your father never trusted Hyman Roth.”

There seems no way to establish lasting trust that is not based on the Sicilian model. The old ways and codes of loyalty lose their meaning. Americanization allows the ‘individual’ to intrude. Over-extension and self-interest strain loyalty. Corleone brother, Fredo, betrays the Family from within because he is looking for “a little something for myself.” The sin of fratricide rends the familial fabric irrevocably, as does Kay’s abortion. Vendetta turns in on itself.

Part Two’s sacramental feature is the Holy Eucharist, familiarly known as Holy Communion. Michael’s son, Tony, is the First Communicant. The sacrament symbolizes the unification of the church faithful who partake in the body and blood of Christ, the food that brings eternal life. Holy Communion is an important step towards joining the family of Christ once the age of reason has been reached. It can only be undertaken when the individual is capable of distinguishing right from wrong. The boy’s father seems not to value this distinction. Holy Communion is usually preceded by receiving the sacrament of Confession which will be introduced in Part Three.

The sharing of food in an Italian family has special significance. Communal meals are important; they affirm the family. Food renews life; family sustains that life. Italians have a proverb, “Se si mangia, non hai mai morire.” (If you eat, you never die.) In the Communion hymn, “The Supper of the Lord” by Laurence Rosania, there is the phrase, “you that eat this bread shall never die.” In the sacrament the Eucharistic participant is nourished by Christ’s body and blood. The Eucharist promises eternal life for the family of Christ. The Corleone Crime Family feeds on the food of corruption and death. [to be continued]

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