Overlong and unnecessary

Rating: Null/10 (21 July 2011)

One thing everyone knows about each of the three 'Godfather' films (even if they haven't seen them): that the first is the classiest piece of soap opera ever made, that the second is the most successful sequel ever made, and that the third is spoilt by the poor performance of Sofia Coppola, the director's daughter (who, of course, subsequently gave up acting altogether for a career as a director herself). For once, all of these pieces of conventional wisdom are true; moreover, all (and not just the last) are pertinent when answering the question, why isn't the third film (made after a long interval) as good as the other two? Because the complete answer isn't just Sofia's fault: it's fair to say that, after two epic movies, the whole idea has started to run out of gas, and the plot (based on the short reign of Pope John Paul I, and the death of Roberto Calvi), which appears tangential at best to the overall story of the American mafia, is itself one indicator of this. In effect, the central story has been told already, and it feels as if Coppola is cranking out one more episode of a soap, and no longer in a good way.
The movie isn't all bad, but it loses further points for its bizarre ending, a lengthy sequence set during a night at the opera during which almost every character appears to be killed, including many whose particular role in the plot is not at all clear to the audience. Indeed, at times, the symbolism almost appears comically obvious - opera singer picks up a knife, man in the audience gets stabbed, opera singer picks up a rifle, man in the audience gets shot, etc. - and it's impossible to argue that less grandiosity, and more editing, would have benefited the whole finale. Ultimately, there's a reason why sequels aren't usually very good (if a story is told well, it is told and then it is done); and while Coppola managed to defy this rule in making 'The Godfather Part II', sixteen years later he came decidedly down to earth.