THE GODFATHER CODA
1990 OUT NOW CINEMAS, BD, DIGITAL HD EXTRAS Introduction
Coppola’s three-mix heads up the newest old releases, from Malick to Mothra.
Nominated for seven Oscars (including Best Picture), 1990’s The Godfather Part III had the unenviable task of following two cinematic masterpieces. Francis Ford Coppola’s re-edit, now re-titled The Death Of Michael Corleone, reframes the movie as an epilogue, with an intro from the director making clear this ‘Part’ was always intended to be a ‘coda’ to the Godfather story.
The differences between the two versions are slight. Cutting more than 10 minutes’ worth of footage – primarily the forced callbacks to the first two Godfathers – makes this new cut feel more precise and impactful. Nowhere is this more felt than during the climax, the meaning of which changes drastically thanks to a realigning of old footage.
But although an improvement on the original cut, the film still has faults. While her infamous performance is better than memory serves, Sofia Coppola still struggles with the weight of playing Corleone’s daughter Mary, despite less screen time.
Seeing Michael past his prime simply doesn’t enthral like the previous movies – and his hairstyle remains a baffling choice. To counter, there’s Andy García as aspiring gangster Vincent. Shifting from all-swagger to tender to threatening within a single scene, he delivers one of the series’ best performances. And he’s able to shine brighter thanks to this tighter edit. The changes are not miraculous, but time will be kinder to this epilogue. Sorry, coda.