Michael Corleone
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| Michael Corleone | |
|---|---|
 Michael Corleone, as portrayed by Al Pacino (right) with his father's consigliere Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) in The Godfather. |
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| First appearance | The Godfather |
| Last appearance | The Sicilian |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Year of birth | December 25, 1920 |
| Year of death | December 29, 1997 |
| Family | Corleone family |
| Relationships | Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone Kay Adams |
| Children | Mary Corleone, Anthony Corleone |
| Relatives | Vito Corleone (father) Carmella Corleone |
| Portrayed by | Al Pacino |
| Created by | Mario Puzo |
Michael Corleone (December 25, 1920 – December 29, 1997) is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's novels, The Godfather and The Sicilian. He is also the main character of the film trilogy that was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, in which he was portrayed by Al Pacino.
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[edit] Family
Michael is the youngest son of Don Vito Corleone (played by Marlon Brando in The Godfather and Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II). He becomes the new Don of the Corleone crime family towards the end of Part I, when his father becomes semi-retired and then finally retired. Throughout the book, as well as the movie, Michael tries to do nothing but have the family business become legit. Michael Corleone is a very significant example of Aristotle's "Tragic Hero"
[edit] The Godfather (Part I)
Michael Corleone's ascension to the head of the Corleone crime family is portrayed in Puzo's novel and the first film.
Michael initially wanted nothing to do with the Corleone's "family business," and enrolled at Dartmouth College in order to escape it. After the United States' entry into World War II in 1941, he enlisted in the Marines and fought in the Pacific. For his bravery, Michael was featured in Life magazine in 1944. Michael was discharged as a Captain to recover from wounds in 1945. He would later re-enter Dartmouth, where he would meet his future wife Kay Adams (Diane Keaton). However, when his father was nearly assassinated in 1945, he volunteered to murder the men responsible, Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo (Al Lettieri) and Captain McCluskey (Sterling Hayden), a police captain who was acting as Sollozzo's bodyguard. After committing the murders, Michael fled to Sicily under the protection of Don Tommasino and stayed in hiding for two years. While in Sicily, he married a young woman named Apollonia (Simonetta Stefanelli), but she was killed by a car bomb intended for Michael.
While in Sicily, he learned that his older brother Sonny (James Caan) had been murdered and he returned to New York in 1950. There, he reluctantly became involved in his family's criminal enterprises, taking over for his deceased brother as head of the family under Vito's supervision. He married Kay a year later. Michael tried to buy out casino owner Moe Greene's stake in the casino, intending to move his family to Nevada. After his father's death in 1954, he became Don of the Corleone crime family. Before his death, Vito had warned Michael that after he was gone, the head of the rival Barzini family would make an attempt on his life under the pretense of organizing a meeting in order to make peace between the two families. After his father's caporegime, Sal Tessio (Abe Vigoda), inadvertently revealed that he had conspired with Emilio Barzini against him, In one of the film's most iconic scenes, Michael arranged the murders of the leaders of the New York Mafia's other ruling families: Dons Emilio Barzini, Philip Tattaglia, Ottilio Cuneo, and Victor Stracci, as well as Greene, and Carlo Rizzi (Gianni Russo), his brother-in-law, who beat his sister Connie (Talia Shire) and sold out Sonny.
[edit] Parallel story: The Sicilian (novel only)
During his two-year exile in Sicily, Michael is eager to return home to his family in New York, but is told by his father, Vito, to escort Turi Guiliano safely back to America with him. As he learns more about the reputation and exploits of the legendary Guiliano, Michael becomes extremely intrigued to meet him, but due to Guiliano's later death, is unable to do so, much to his distress.
[edit] The Godfather Part II
By the time of The Godfather Part II a few years later, now in his mid-thirties, the now-Don Michael had tried to remove all criminal ties to his family, and made Peter Clemenza (Richard S. Castellano) head of the Corleone family in New York. His efforts at redeeming the Family were largely unsuccessful, however, as his many enemies kept him involved in the crime underworld. After beginning to work out a deal with business partner and rival Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg) over control of casino operations, Roth manipulated Michael's brother Fredo (John Cazale) into unwittingly providing him with information used to arrange an attempt on Michael's life.
Michael and Roth traveled to Cuba under Fulgencio Batista in order to forge a partnership with the Cuban government, allowing them to be free to conduct their operations in Cuba without interference from the authorities, in return for generous payments to Batista. In the midst of the chaos of the revolution of 1959, Michael discovered that Fredo had betrayed him, and severed all ties with his brother.
Back in the US, Kay became unable to accept her husband's criminal activities. Kay revealed she had aborted his unborn son because she did not want to give Michael another son and he cast her out of the family. Following the death of their mother, Michael ordered Fredo's murder to be carried out on New Year's Eve, an act he would later confess to the future pope.
[edit] The Godfather Part III
By the time of The Godfather Part III (the late 1970s) Michael, an old man now, had taken great steps to making the family legitimate, preparing to hand over his interests in gambling to the other Mafia families, setting up a charitable foundation, and even being recognized by the Vatican for his good works. This new connection to the church gave Michael the opportunity to purchase a controlling stake in the large property conglomerate, Immobiliare. He also began to rekindle his relationship with Adams, as well as taking Sonny's illegitimate son, Vincent 'Vinnie' Mancini-Corleone (Andy Garcia), under his wing. He found himself pulled back into the underworld, however, when almost the entire Mafia Commission was wiped out by an assassin as Michael prepared to hand over his criminal interests. Vinnie responded to this new threat against the Family with brutal violence, publicly gunning down Michael's rival, Joey Zasa (Joe Mantegna), who was thought to have ordered the hit on Michael. Vinnie also began a relationship with Michael's daughter, Mary (Sofia Coppola), a romance Michael strongly disapproved of.
At the end of the film, weary of the bloody, lonely life of a Don, he retired and made his nephew the new head of the family, on condition that he end the relationship with Mary. Realising that powerful interests in Italian politics and business were working to prevent the family's takeover of Immobiliare, Michael, with Vinnie's assistance, once again prepared to move against his enemies. This bloody wave of murders took place as Michael, reconciled with Kay and Anthony, watched his son perform in the opera Cavalleria Rusticana. That same night, however, Mary was inadvertently killed in an assassination attempt on her father, being shot to death in front of her whole family. After his beloved daughter's death, Michael retired to Sicily and died there, seemingly distraught and alone, of a stroke in the film's final scene.
[edit] Family Members
- Vito Corleone — Father; played by Marlon Brando in Godfather I, played by Robert De Niro in Godfather II
- Carmella Corleone — Mother; played by Morgana King
- Tom Hagen — Adopted brother & Consigliere; played by Robert Duvall
- Santino 'Sonny' Corleone — Eldest brother, Underboss to Vito; played by James Caan
- Costanza 'Connie' Corleone-Rizzi — Sister; played by Talia Shire
- Fredo Corleone — Elder brother, Underboss to Michael; played by John Cazale
- Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone — First Wife, played by Simonetta Stefanelli
- Kay Adams — Second Wife; played by Diane Keaton
- Anthony Corleone — Son; played by Anthony Gounaris in Godfather I, played by James Gounaris in Godfather II, played by Franc D'Ambrosio in Godfather III
- Mary Corleone — Daughter; played by Sofia Coppola
- Vincent 'Vinnie' Mancini-Corleone — Nephew and succeeding 'Don'; played by Andy Garcia.
