51 GREATEST FICTIONAL BAD GUYS

#2. DON MICHAEL CORLEONE from THE GODFATHER SAGA.

In probably the thesis statement that is THE GODFATHER (I, II and III), Michael asks his mother if by being strong for his family he risks losing it. I suspect he already knows the answer.

Michael Corleone is one of my favorite characters of all time, in what I believe to be the greatest film narrative of all time (yes, even more so than STAR WARS, Nolan’s Bat-Saga or ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS). I’ve revisited the Corleone family every Christmas since 1994. My mom told me once she read the novel when she was pregnant with me. Something must have stuck.

As much as I adore the first film, the heart and soul of the saga’s theme is in THE GODFATHER PART II (the less said about PART III the better. While I don’t hate it, it does pale to the other two, making it the undeniable Fredo of the trilogy).

In PART II, we get to see Vito build his family (both his heirs and his enterprise). He begins as a refugee (uneducated and alone) but soon comes into his own using cunning and opportunity. Michael is, by far, more ruthless and strategic than his father. He sits, scrutinizes and schemes. He rarely shows emotion, making it tremendously unsettling when he does (namely when he lashes out at Kay over her abortion). He never indulges in the vices he profits from (he refuses party girls, is rarely seen drinking, doesn’t gamble). His only weakness (other than nicotine and occasional banana daiquiri) is Family, and like all good stories, the one thing he wishes to have most he inevitably loses.

Michael orders a hit on his brother-in-law. He has his own brother murdered. His sister sees him as a monster. He shuts out his closest confidante. His wife chooses abortion over bringing another would-be heir into the world, and Michael’s glacial front soon alienates the children he does have. He is a master deceiver, lying to his sister, lying to his wife, lying to himself. He may be his father’s successor, but his father ruled his family and business with strength and respect; Michael rules both with secrecy and intimidation.

THE GODFATHER is as much about the mafia as STAR WARS is about dogfights in space. It’s just window dressing. The Corleone history is an American opera. The Corleone’s do what they have to do to attain (and keep) a piece of the American dream. Coppola does his best to balance their criminal endeavors with our empathy. If innocents are killed (like Mary and Appolonia), they are done so by the “real” thugs. Only one innocent person gets killed on Michael’s behest: a hooker carved up by Al Neary to frame and politically manipulate a senator. All the other corpses are made up of hitmen and goons — people who consciously made the beds they slept in.

There are three decisive moments in the trilogy that serve as turning points to Michael’s destiny. The first is when he visits his father’s hospital and manages to make a car full of button-men reconsider their assignment. On the stairs, Enzo the baker can’t light his cigarette, his hands badly shaking from realizing what could have been. Michael’s hands are calm. Here he learns that this, this is his element.

The next moment is when he loses his first wife from a car bomb. If she were to have lived, Michael’s business and life orientation would have been much different. It’s after her death he becomes cold and calculating in all his dealings. Even his marriage proposal to Kay has no life to it.

Lastly are the final scenes of Part II where Michael remembers his father’s birthday many years ago. Telling his family he is off to fight in World War II, he is met with obstruction and ridicule. Only Fredo supports him. And Michael is left alone at the table… as he is left alone at his compound at the picture’s end. No more brothers, no more wives; no more parents, children or confidantes. The head of the Family, Michael is in control of no one and is left to meditate on what’s he’s lost and what he’s become.

What cost the world if you lose everything you hold dear?

Michael Corleone: “My father taught me many things here – he taught me in this room. He taught me: keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DZNDEqcSi0