The Godfather Trilogy: Key Facts

Full Title: The Godfather Trilogy (The Godfather; The Godfather Part II; The Godfather Part III)

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Lead Cast: Al Pacino as Michael Corleone (I, II, III); Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone (I)

Supporting Cast: Diane Keaton (I, II, III); Robert De Niro (II); Andy Garcia (III); James Caan (I); Robert Duvall (I, II); John Cazale (I, II); Talia Shire (I, II, III); Sofia Coppola (III)

Genre: Crime; Drama; Epic; Tragedy

Language English and some Italian

Writers: Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola (for all three films)

Producers: The Godfather: Albert Ruddy; The Godfather II: Gray Frederickson, Fred Roos, Francis Ford Coppola; The Godfather III: Francis Ford Coppola, Gray Frederickson, Fred Fuchs

Dates of release: 1972, 1974, 1990

Awards

The Godfather

Won: Best Picture (Albert Ruddy, Producer), Best Adapted Screenplay (Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo), Best Actor (Marlon Brando)

The Godfather Part II

Won: Best Picture (Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Roos, and Gary Frederickson, Producers), Best Director (Francis Ford Coppola), Best Adapted Screenplay (Francis Ford Coppola and Puzo), Best Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro), Best Musical Score, Best Art Direction

The Godfather Part III

Nominated: Best Picture, Best Director (Francis Ford Coppola), Best Supporting Actor (Andy García), Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction–Set Decoration, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Song (“Promise Me You’ll Remember” by Carmine Coppola and John Bettis)

Setting (Time & Place) The action spans the twentieth century. The Godfather takes places in the years after World War II. The action of Part II is set in two periods: the 1950s and the early twentieth century. There is also one scene set on the day Pearl Harbor was attacked, December 7, 1941. Part III is set in 1979. The action takes place in three countries: America, Italy, and Cuba. Most of the action in America is set in the New York metropolitan region and Nevada (Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, and Carson City), but there are also scenes in Los Angeles and Miami. The scenes in Italy take place primarily in Sicily, but Part III also has scenes in Rome. The Cuban scenes take place in the capital, Havana..

Major Conflict: The major conflict in the trilogy concerns the competing pulls of family and the business of organized crime.

Rising Action: The desire to bring prosperity and safety to his family pushes Vito and later Michael into a life of crime, but their chosen field of work, organized crime, often directly disturbs the peace and harmony of family life.

Climax: Each of the three films has a different climax. In The Godfather, it is the murder of the heads of the five families during the baptism of Connie’s son and the murder of Connie’s husband, Carlo. In Part II, it is the murder of Fredo. In Part III, it is the death of Mary on the opera house stairs.

Falling Action: Michael’s response to these three climaxes shows an increasing sense of guilt. In The Godfather, Michael seems untroubled by his actions as he coldly denies killing Carlo. In Part II, Michael’s sense of guilt at having Fredo killed leads to a period of brooding and painful memories. In Part III, Michael dies alone in the yard of his villa.

Foreshadowing: The fish delivered to the Corleones in The Godfather, which carry the message “Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes,” foreshadow Fredo’s murder while he’s fishing.