Great Character: Michael Corleone (“The Godfather”)

This month, the focus is on anti-heroes. A guest post by Jason Cuthbert:

Francis Ford Coppola, the co-screenwriter and director of the 1972 epic mafia masterpiece The Godfather, had already won his first of three screenwriting Academy Awards a year before with the World War II biographical drama Patton. But with The Godfather, derived from the best-selling novel by Mario Puzo, Coppola kicked off his critically acclaimed directorial and screenwriting command over the entire 1970’s decade, which also included: The Godfather II, The Conversation and Apocalypse Now.

In spite of the audience limitation caused by its “R” rating, The Godfather still granted Hollywood with its first film to gross over $100 million in North America. Al Pacino’s portrayal of Michael Corleone, the educated military law abider turned deadly mob don, cracked his unprecedented career wide open in the 70’s with The Godfather before continuing to flourish with Serpico, The Godfather II, …And Justice for All, and Dog Day Afternoon.

The Godfather plot summary from IMDB:

The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.

This extended family narrative rests on the shoulders of Michael Corleone, as he soon must balance a double life — the legal side he strategically cultivated with his girlfriend Kay (Diane Keaton) and the illegal mob life that has consumed his entire family. Even his own father, Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) the don of their crime family, wants Michael out of the family business that has already recruited his older sons Sonny (James Caan) and Fredo (John Cazale).

Michael Corleone is a refreshingly complicated protagonist, in that his journey is frankly the opposite of what most people would root for — military war hero to crime family boss. Ironically, Michael is literally going from having to kill people for his country to killing people for his family. Even if organizing gangland slayings makes Michael appear to be an unsympathetic monster, who can’t relate to protecting their family from the threat of violence?

Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo were wise enough to not make Michael’s mob transformation an easy decision. We first meet Michael as a loved and respected outsider at his sister’s wedding. Among slickly suited dark haired gangsters, dressed in black, Michael pops up in his green military uniform, with his blond non-Italian girlfriend Kay by his side. We are initiated into the ways of the Corleone family right along with Kay.

MICHAEL: My father made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
KAY ADAMS: What was that?
MICHAEL: Luca Brasi held a gun to his head, and my father assured him that either his brains or his signature would be on the contract.

What separates Michael from his hot-tempered brother Sonny and his painfully passive brother Fredo is his ability to not think with his emotions. He is a negotiator, a decision-maker, and a brilliant planner — even under pressure. The same smarts that Michael benefited from in the military also serve him well in the mob. He has complete confidence in his ideas, even if he has to make believers out of everyone else in the room.

Michael refuses to take “no” for an answer once he has his sights set on anything, including a local Sicilian’s beautiful daughter. He introduces himself, and his romantic intentions, to this gentleman by fearlessly informing him that he was forced to hide out in Sicily, Italy. Check out Michael’s intelligent matchmaking negotiations at work.

MICHAEL: Some people will pay a lot of money for that information; but then your daughter would lose a father, instead of gaining a husband.

In fact, Michael can even use his brilliant deductive powers to prevent himself from being gullible — and holds his mental abilities in high regard.

MICHAEL: [speaking to Carlo] Only don’t tell me you’re innocent. Because it insults my intelligence and makes me very angry.

What Michael Corleone may initially lack in criminal background, he clearly compensates for with his “thinking-on-his-feet” trouble-shooting ability and his lion heart to back up what he says. As Coppola has his camera slowly push in tighter and closer into a calmly seated, fractured jawed Michael Corleone during his plot to assassinate McCluskey and Sollozzo, we are witnessing his complete conversion into the ranks of his crime family.

With Michael completely at the helm of the Corleone Family, he wields his power firmly, minus the aggressive trademark “roar” that Al Pacino would soon become known for. Not only is hearing “no” still not going to work for Michael, neither is Fredo’s perceived disloyalty to the family.

Thanks to the clearly stated juxtaposition of Michael’s devotion to the family business and Michael’s “American Dream” girl Kay pulling him back towards the legal life that she thought they both signed up for, we are given a three-dimensional narrative about family and loyalty. Not only are we shown the difficult circumstances that force Michael to choose sides, but we are also exposed to the consequences to every decision that he makes.

Michael is forced to change his entire worldview and get it in alignment with his family — whether he likes it or not. When is his risk no longer worth the reward? Can he agree to disagree with your his family? Are his “wrong” actions okay if he has the “right” intentions? How deep can Michael go into a criminal lifestyle and still be able to look himself in the mirror? Can he just stand there quietly with his eyes closed while his family is in danger? For the constant life-or-death dilemmas that Michael must undergo in order to commit himself fully to his family — Michael Corleone is an incredibly GREAT CHARACTER.

Is there a more nuanced, multidimensional Protagonist straddling ‘good’ and ‘bad’ than Michael Corleone? See you in comments to discuss.

Thanks to Jason for the post. Next week, another antihero.

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