Most Rewatchable Scene
Senator Geary negotiation; Havana sequence; Fredo and Michael scene
In the discussion (38)
Approx. transcript time · 00:46:54Read transcript
- Geary's insult and Michael's reply that his offer is nothing, not even the fee for the gaming license, show Michael has gone to another level; the line is often quoted between the hosts.
- Hyman Roth starts slowly, watching the real Notre Dame-USC game, before his Mo Greene speech about the man who invented Las Vegas.
- Michael pulling his chair close to Roth is a lesson in how men of that era learned a code; pulling a chair uncomfortably close to get the truth is called very effective in real life.
- Strasberg, a legendary acting teacher in his first film performance, is perfectly cast as a Meyer Lansky stand-in; Coppola fills the film with figures from movie history, such as Gazzo and Roger Corman.
- Roth is Michael's aspirational Vito figure yet lives alone in a small Miami house watching college football and eating sandwiches; a peanut-butter-and-jelly versus tuna fish mix-up is corrected.
- For Roth it is about power, not money; his "wise and considerate young man" really means Michael is a fool, and the scene plays differently on a second viewing.
- Shirtless Roth came from Coppola meeting Elia Kazan, who declined the role but was not wearing a shirt at their meeting.
- The banana daiquiri scene shows Michael never saw Fredo as an equal; it is called the most important scene rather than the most rewatchable.
- Part II scenes grow painful, so the Geary scene is the most rewatchable, with Michael still the Michael of the first film defending his family.
- Pentangeli drunk at the communion, blending Italian and English with "Cheech, aport," is a favorite rewatch that brings the old ways back into the room.
- The Havana sequence has Michael realizing Fredo betrayed him at the sex club, intercut with the Roth assassination going sideways.
- Roth's would-be assassin Bessetta wears one turtleneck outfit the whole film, even in Havana heat.
- The book tells how Michael recruited Rocco Lampone and Al Neri, and the Havana assassin is assumed to be a Sicilian executioner, like Furio before Furio.
- "I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart," with the kiss, is called the number one movie acknowledgment of betrayal; Coppola is the master of big noisy set pieces.
- Vito killing Finucci during the festa is praised for the rooftops, the white suit to track him, the oranges, the light bulb and the towel over the gun.
- Vito bringing home a single pear after losing his job and sharing it silently with his wife is a wordless moment that brings a viewer to tears every time.
- Themes of what comes from the earth, including oranges, the pear, olive oil and wine, are purposeful; Gordon Willis fought with Coppola over actors moving within the frame.
- In the Tahoe confrontation, Fredo could perhaps have saved himself by going straight to his brother the night of the assassination, but not by then.
- Michael banishing Fredo is almost worse than killing him; another view never felt bad for Fredo, since Johnny Ola's call proves the betrayal.
- Killing his brother is called the second-worst thing Michael does, behind having the innocent woman killed.
- The abortion scene is defended as rewatchable and Pacino's greatest scene, rewatched almost daily; his face after "it was an abortion" is called the greatest five seconds in a movie.
- Hagen must have known about the abortion because he would know the doctor Kay went to, which contributes to Michael's anger at him.
- A hottest take calls the abortion Kay's only good scene and Kay the worst character, dumber than Fredo; others defend Diane Keaton as a great dramatic actress and cite her other scenes.
- The abortion was Talia Shire's idea, and Coppola thanked her by adding her plea that Michael forgive Fredo.
- Talia Shire is praised as a smart actress and for looking great in Rocky 3.
- The Kay argument continues with Trump-style jokes about how many people agree.
- Vito killing Don Chitio with the 18-inch knife prompts questions about whether a knife could do that.
- Connie asking Michael to forgive Fredo ends with the hug and the menacing look to Al Neri.
- Tom and Frankie's prison scene with the Roman emperors story is called perhaps the best acting and writing in the two films, shot through the fence until Frankie is left alone.
- The scene ties to Clemenza talking about history and to Coppola's Patton script about warriors steeped in heritage, the idea that the empire ends.
- The final three deaths are rewatchable: Roth's high-difficulty murder, Frankie in the bathtub, and Fredo killed on the lake during the Hail Mary.
- The final flashback dinner is praised; the Sonny actor returned for the same pay, while Brando did not show up and the scene was rewritten, which is judged better.
- The rug theft by Clemenza and Vito is another pick, as is the Don Roberto rent scene, with a nail in the door that the actor could not open.
- The spaghetti scene shows Vito taking over from Clemenza.
- The Senate hearing, where Pentangeli recants after his brother appears and Hagen yells for an apology, is highly watchable.
- A final pick is the Senator Geary scene, which can be watched thousands of times.
- Another final pick is the Havana sequence, specifically the Michael-Fredo cafe scene and the recreation of pre-revolution Havana.
- Two more picks go to a Fredo and Michael scene; whether it is Cuba or Tahoe is left unclear.
