"Beyond redemption"

Rating: 5/10 (3 May 2011)

Any series of movies, no matter how excellent it's beginnings, can easily descend into mediocre sequel hell. This is even the case when many of the original cast and crew members remain the same. The first Godfather movie was an exemplary classic, the second a little weaker but still largely deserving of the honours it received. Their director Francis Ford Coppola became a respected and influential man about Hollywood, although he was never quite able to recapture that success. It was almost inevitable that, after a series of disappointing features in the 1980s, he would begin flogging dead horses' heads again.
Al Pacino's 80s career had been somewhat paltry as well. Not that he lost his touch - there just simply hadn't been the right roles available to him. And sadly a return to the character he portrayed in two of his finest performances isn't the much-needed booster one might expect. Aged up somewhat, he piles on the weary, decrepit mannerisms just a little too thickly. It basically looks as if Michael Corleone has got a bit of a bad back, and sounds like he has a cough. Fortunately his younger co-stars are a little more up to the game. Andy Garcia plays a hot-headed mafia scion with a degree of subtlety not normally seen in such parts. Sofia Coppola, the directors daughter, received a lot of bad press for her performance (including a Razzie), but she is really not that bad.
And her father is still showing all his usual prowess as a director. Those early scenes after the award ceremony show Coppola's superb handling of mood and rhythm. His camera typically hangs back from the action – a passive observer. There are few movements or close-ups and the editing all soft cuts from one similar shot to another. Even business within the frame is fairly restrained, carefully orchestrated bits of movement, no character too animated. Eventually it becomes apparent that the whole thing is set to the languid pace of the aging Pacino. Compare this to scenes where Andy Garcia is in control, in which the action is far more jumpy, the dialogue snapped out and the players closer to the camera. The rhythmic control is carried through in the neat sequencing of events to the music of Cavalleria Rusticana and the final revenge sequence, which is almost as good as the one in The Godfather, even if it is no longer original.
And a lack of originality is really what brings this movie down. Coppola's motivation for re-opening the Godfather series - supposedly he felt Michael Corleone hadn't suffered enough - is itself rather a dubious reason to make a motion picture. The Godfather Part III doesn't really make much sense if you aren't familiar with the previous instalments, and is filled with blunt references to the original that don't really add much except nod to fans of the series. This even carries as far as the shot compositions and staging. For example Pacino's meeting with the corrupt cardinal is an obvious redoing of The Godfather's famous opening. It seems Coppola and his co-writer Mario Puzo were so intent on working in this sort of business, they forgot to put in the intriguing plot and strong characterisation that made the originals what they are. And by sacrificing his real-life daughter in the role of Mary Corleone it even looks as if Coppola is trying to make some dreary statement about his "art". Coppola's formal style may be modest and tasteful, but his symbolic point-making isn't.