The Godfather Part III

The film stars Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Andy García, Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, Bridget Fonda, George Hamilton, and Sofia Coppola. It is the third and final installment in The Godfather trilogy. A sequel to The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974), it concludes the fictional story of Michael Corleone, the patriarch of the Corleone family who attempts to legitimize his criminal empire. The film also includes fictionalized accounts of two real-life events: the 1978 death of Pope John Paul I and the Papal banking scandal of 1981–1982, both linked to Michael Corleone’s business affairs.

Though Coppola initially refused to return for a third film, he eventually signed on to direct and write Part III after his two previous directorial efforts were commercial failures. Coppola and Puzo’s intended title for the film was The Death of Michael Corleone, which Paramount Pictures rejected; Coppola considers the series to be a duology, while Part III serves as the epilogue. Winona Ryder was initially cast in the role of Mary but eventually left production due to other commitments and nervous exhaustion. The role was ultimately given to Coppola’s daughter, Sofia which garnered much criticism and accusations of nepotism. Principal photography took place from late 1989 to early 1990, with filming locations in both Italy and the United States.

The Godfather Part III premiered in Beverly Hills on December 20, 1990, and released in the United States on Christmas Day, December 25. The film received generally positive reviews. Critics praised Pacino’s and Garcia’s performances, the cinematography, the editing, the production design and Coppola’s direction, but criticized the plot and the casting of Sofia Coppola. It grossed $136.8 million worldwide and garnered seven nominations at the 63rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (Garcia). It also received seven nominations at the 48th Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama (Pacino). In December 2020, a recut version of the film, titled The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, was released to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the original version.

Michael and Kay are divorced; their children, Anthony and Mary, live with Kay. At a reception in Michael’s honor at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, which follows a papal order induction ceremony, Anthony tells his father that he is leaving law school to become an opera singer. Kay supports his decision while Michael eventually agrees to let him go his own way. Kay reveals to Michael that she and Anthony know the truth about Fredo’s death. Vincent Mancini, the out-of-wedlock son of Michael’s long-dead brother Sonny, arrives at the reception. Michael’s sister, Connie, arranges for Vincent to settle a dispute with his rival, Joey Zasa, but Zasa calls Vincent a bastard, and Vincent bites Zasa’s ear. Michael, troubled by Vincent’s temper yet impressed by his loyalty, agrees to include Vincent in the family business.

The head of the Vatican Bank, Archbishop Gilday, has accumulated a massive deficit and Michael offers $600M in exchange for shares in Internazionale Immobiliare, an international real estate company, which would make him its largest single shareholder. He makes a tender offer to buy the Vatican’s 25% share in the company, which will give him controlling interest. Immobiliare’s board approves the offer, pending ratification by Pope Paul VI.

Don Altobello, a New York Mafia boss and Connie’s godfather, tells Michael that his partners on The Commission want in on the Immobiliare deal. But wanting to finally become legitimate, Michael pays them from the sale of his Las Vegas holdings instead. Zasa receives nothing and, declaring Michael his enemy, storms out. Don Altobello, assuring Michael that he can diplomatically resolve the matter, leaves to speak to Zasa. Moments later, a helicopter hovers outside the conference room and opens fire. Most of the bosses are killed, but Michael, Vincent, and Michael’s bodyguard, Al Neri, escape. Michael realizes that Altobello is the traitor, and suffers a diabetic stroke. As Michael recuperates, Vincent and Mary begin a romance, while Neri and Connie give Vincent permission to retaliate against Zasa. During a street festival, Vincent kills Zasa. Michael berates Vincent for his actions and insists that Vincent end his relationship with Mary because it is dangerous and they are first cousins.

The family goes to Sicily for Anthony’s operatic debut in Palermo at the Teatro Massimo. Michael tells Vincent to pretend to defect from the Corleone family in order to spy on Altobello. Altobello introduces Vincent to Licio Lucchesi, Immobiliare’s chairman. Michael visits Cardinal Lamberto, anticipated to become the next pope, to discuss the deal. Lamberto persuades Michael to make his first confession in 30 years, during which Michael tearfully confesses that he ordered Fredo’s murder. Lamberto says that Michael deserves to suffer for his sins, but can be redeemed. He gives him sacramental absolution, permanently forgiving all his past sins in the eyes of God. Michael discovers that the Immobiliare deal is an elaborate swindle, arranged by Lucchesi, Gilday, and Vatican accountant Frederick Keinszig.

Vincent tells Michael that Altobello has hired Mosca, a veteran hitman, to assassinate Michael. Mosca, disguised as a priest, kills Corleone family friend Don Tommasino as he returns to his villa. While Michael and Kay tour Sicily, Michael asks for Kay’s forgiveness, and they admit they still love each other. At Tommasino’s funeral, Michael vows to sin no more. Following the pope’s death, Cardinal Lamberto is elected to succeed him, choosing as his name Pope John Paul I. Subsequently, the Immobiliare deal is ratified. Later, Gilday kills the new pope with poisoned tea. Michael names Vincent the new Don of the Corleone family, in return for ending his romance with Mary. The family sees Anthony’s performance in Cavalleria rusticana in Palermo while Vincent exacts his revenge. Keinszig is killed and his murder is staged as a suicide; Connie poisons Altobello and watches him die from the opera box; Calò, Tommasino’s former bodyguard, kills Lucchesi and Neri travels to the Vatican, where he shoots and kills Gilday.

At the opera house during Anthony’s performance, three of Vincent’s men search for Mosca, but he overcomes them. After the show, on the opera house steps as they leave, Mosca shoots at Michael, wounding him; a second bullet hits Mary, killing her. Vincent shoots and kills Mosca. Michael cradles Mary’s body and screams in agony; the scene fades out into a montage of Michael dancing with Mary; Apollonia; and finally, Kay.

Years later, an elderly Michael, sitting alone in the courtyard of Don Tommasino’s villa, slumps over, falls to the ground, and dies.

The ending of the Coda cut is different. Michael is shown dancing with Mary, but not with Apollonia or Kay. The film then fades to black as he sits alone in the courtyard, and ends with the title card:

When the Sicilians wish you ‘Cent’anni’, it means ‘for long life’…and a Sicilian never forgets.