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Godfather Part II question

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!, Nov 17, 2008.

  1. Watching the Godfather Part II yesterday...I got a question, maybe it was covered in Part III or in the novel. I don't know.

    But when Connie was talking to Michael after their mother's funeral.. You know, she talks about how she used to hate Michael and how she would now like to stay close to home. She also pleads with Michael to reconcile - or at least acknowledge - Fredo.

    OK, so she makes this passionate plea for poor Fredo. Cold-ass Michael goes out, hugs Fredo and also gives the nod to have him bumped off. FU Fredo. Don't ever take sides against the family.
    What is or would be Connie's reaction to this?
    Would she not hate Michael all over again for having Fredo killed. It wasn't like Fredo accidentally shot himself and drowned.
    Was this dealt with in III or in the novel or left unresolved?
     
  2. doctorx

    doctorx Member

    Connie believes Fredo drowned. Says as much in III.
     
  3. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    It's sort of addressed. At a later point in Godfather II, she later mentions that Fredo drowned, so she is unaware that Michael had him killed.
     
  4. I find it hard to believe she could swallow that he drowned.

    Thanks.
     
  5. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    Heck, Michael's wife is lucky she survived.

    Connie needs money so she needs Michael no matter what he does or did.
     
  6. Small Town Guy

    Small Town Guy Well-Known Member

    Yep, she thinks he drowned, although in III she should have been tipped off during Michael's stroke when he starts screaming "Fredo!" along with other things. It is weird she'd believe it since even Michael's son knows Fredo was killed under Michael's order, as his ex-wife tells him in part III.
     
  7. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member


    Maybe. She could just see what she wants to see.

    Her character is all over the place in the movies and books. When Michael has Carlo killed in GF I, she is resentful. She has a bunch of affairs and marriages and disappears from the family and only gets pulled back in when their mom dies in GFII. That is why that whole part of the movie has such a nice confluence. Michael is always plotting and two steps ahead of everyone. He had promised his mom that he would always take care of Fredo while she was alive, but the minute his mom dies, Fredo is as good as gone. Michael makes him feel safe and then offs him. Michael also uses the event of his mom's death to bring Connie back into the family and at the same time, while she is pleading with him to reconcile with Fredo, he is of course planning to kill him. Only Michael can pull that all off. Michael is in total control again and Connie and Fredo are just pawns to serve his purposes.

    What is weird about her character is that she seems so weak in Godfather I and vulnerable in Godfather II. By Godfather III (which admittedly shouldn't really count) she is a much stronger character and has a coldness about her. She turns into a killer, poisoning Don Altobello. She is now a part of Michael's world and almost like his consigliere and she is the one looking out for Vincent and persuading Michael to groom him as the new don. It's like she is a completely different woman by then.
     
  8. casty33

    casty33 Active Member

    Good points, Ragu, and that is at least part of the reason III was so irrelevant, not to mention poorly done. Connie's character is so completely off-character, if that makes any sense. As much of a fan as I am of both I and II, I just can't watch III these days. They should have never made it.
     
  9. I think I had a stroke watching Godfather III.
     
  10. tadwriter

    tadwriter Member

    As bad as GF III was, and it was really bad, it was at least good to see closure on Michael. To have not ended his life in some way would have left everybody wondering and wanting another sequel. It was especially fitting the way it ended, with his daughter being killed and then him dying. It paralleled directly to Sonny's death and Vito subsequently dying.
     
  11. hondo

    hondo Well-Known Member

    Before or after the incest?
     
  12. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    Godfather III never happened.

    Seriously, I like to think the story ended in Nevada.
     
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