The Godfather Part III might be the worst installment in the trilogy (by far), but it did succeed in finally giving Connie Corleone the larger role she always deserved. Connie is Vito’s only daughter and is often described as his favorite child besides Michael. The character was played by director Francis Ford Coppola’s sister Talia Shire, best known for her role as Adrian Pennino Balboa in the Rocky franchise. Shire earned plenty of critical acclaim for her performance as Connie (and even earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress), but she was often sidelined by The Godfather movies.
There are a few reasons why The Godfather Part III didn’t match the universal acclaim of its predecessors. Sofia Coppola’s performance as Mary was criticized for being wooden (although her acting has since been reappraised), while the narrative wasn’t as vital. But the threequel did do one thing right: it finally gave Connie a substantial role in the story. Shire was always one of the strongest performers in The Godfather cast, but she was used more as a plot device than a real character in the first two movies. In The Godfather Part III, she was given a long-overdue spotlight.
After 2 Movies In The Background, Connie Got A Proper Role In The Godfather Part III
Connie Became Michael’s Most Ruthless Advisor
After two movies as a glorified background character, Connie finally got a proper role in the story of The Godfather Part III. The other Corleone siblings took the spotlight in the first two movies, which meant Connie got sidelined. In The Godfather, Sonny’s rage at Connie’s abusive husband and his untimely death took up a lot of airtime. In The Godfather Part II, Fredo’s betrayal of Michael and his own untimely death became the focus. In The Godfather Part III, after the other two siblings had died, it was finally Connie’s time to shine.
After being disgusted by Michael’s cold-hearted actions in the first film, Connie became just as cold-hearted in the threequel.
Connie evolves into Michael’s most ruthless advisor in The Godfather Part III. For the majority of the film, she’s a mediator in Sonny’s illegitimate son Vincent Mancini’s feud with Joey Zasa. She even orders a hit against Zasa behind Michael’s back after an attempt on his life. When she discovers that her own godfather, Don Altobello, is the mastermind behind the plot against the family, Connie kills him with a poisoned cannoli. After being disgusted by Michael’s cold-hearted actions in the first film, Connie became just as cold-hearted in the threequel.
Connie Corleone Is One Of The Godfather Part III’s Real Highlights
Connie Has Some Of The Godfather Trilogy’s Strongest Character Development
The conclusion of Connie’s arc in The Godfather Part III gives her some of the strongest character development in the entire trilogy. Connie’s dark turn in the third film made sense after she started showing more loyalty to Michael towards the end of The Godfather Part II. In the first movie, Connie went from being the spoilt favorite child of her father to being the embattled target of her husband’s abuse. In the second and third movies, she tried to become the peacemaker who could put an end to all the violence.
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In The Godfather Part III, much like Michael in the first film, Connie finally relents and gives in to the family’s violent nature. She abandons trying to maintain peace and becomes a merciless killer. Along with Michael and Kay, Connie is one of the only characters who gets a complete dramatic journey from the first movie to the second movie to the third movie. In many ways, The Godfather Part III is a standalone story that doesn’t feel like an organic continuation of the first two films, but Connie’s development is consistent with the previous movies.
The Godfather Should Have Given Connie A Bigger Role In Part II
Talia Shire Still Scored An Oscar Nomination For The Godfather Part II
It was great that Connie finally got a bigger role in The Godfather Part III, but she arguably should’ve gotten a bigger role in Part II. The ending of The Godfather set up a compelling story for Connie. In the final scene of the first film, Connie confronts her brother about her husband’s mysterious disappearance. Michael pleads ignorance, but Connie doesn’t believe him. At the beginning of The Godfather Part II, Connie is still bitter towards Michael for what happened to Carlo, but the movie doesn’t really go anywhere with that conflict as it focuses on other storylines.
Connie appears as a supporting character in Mark Winegardner’s sequel books,
The Godfather Returns
and
The Godfather’s Revenge
.
Shire still earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her turn in The Godfather Part II — although she lost to Ingrid Bergman for Murder on the Orient Express — but the sequel doesn’t do enough with the character. It splits its time between the sequel timeline with Michael and the prequel timeline with young Vito, so only half of the movie is focused on the Corleone kids, but it still could’ve found more time for Connie. Fortunately, that was rectified when Connie got a big role in The Godfather Part III.
The Godfather Part III is the third and final film in Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy. The film again focuses on Michael Corleone, who is now in his 60s and looking for his replacement as the head of the family business. While still getting favorable reviews upon release, the film is often considered a significant drop in quality compared to its predecessors.
- Runtime
- 142minutes
- Franchise(s)
- The Godfather