In Part 2, I feel bad for Michael. It's sad that his older brother, died and his dad died. His other brother Fredo is kinda flakey and his sister is loosing herself to men. He has to take over the family business but he wants a "normal" family life too. I guess it's the scene where they kill Carlo, and it's over and he is walking in the mall and he has this look that is so sad- almost like he is lost and lonely

He has no one but himself to blame for all this. The deaths of Sonny and Vito are uncontrolable, but Michael still turns his back on Clemenza and Tessio, leading Tessio to turn on him, kills Carlo which turns Connie into what she is, and even pushes away Tom.

Not to mention killing Fredo and practically ignoring his mother.

It is a sad thing, but Michael has no one to blame but himself. That is why he is a tragic figure. He had all the tools to be a successful person outside of the family business, but was destined for what happened to him.

Don't forget Sophia that in Part II, Michael finds out that Kay had an abortion & that she wants to take their kids away from him & get a divorce.

I don't get the impression Michael 'ignored' his mother. She had her own house on the Nevada compound & he took care of her until the day she died.

It's just that Mrs. Corleone was a minor character or more of a 'background' character in both GF and the current day scenes of GFII...so there would be no purpose in showing interaction
between herself and Michael. In fact one of the main reasons for that little fireside chat between Michael and mama may have been to have just ONE moment between the two of them...much like the final one with his father in The Godfather.

Apple

Its a hard job but someone had to it and that someone was Michael. He had a choice his family or the business and he chose the business.

DBC--I must've missed this. I knew he turned his back on Tessio, but when did he turn his back on Clemenza?

"That was no heart attack." - Willie Cicci - Godfather part 2.

A Possible hint.

I don't think he turned his back to Clemenza, Clemenza and Tessio ask for permission to start their own family because they think Mike can not protect their territories from Barzini's men but Mike tells them they have to wait. While Tessio makes the smart move, Clemenza waits. Clemenza got to have his own family in New York and Mike moved to Nevada so whatever territory that belonged to Corleone family was left for Clemenza. I'm not sure if it was his very own family since Mike told Frankie that his family was still called Corleone but the sure thing is Mike had nothing to do with the death of Clemenza, if anyone was involved in his death, I could think of Rosato brothers who were working for Clemenza and were connected to Hymen Roth.

hmm.. interesting topic.

At the end of the first Godfather, I really did pity Michael. His father and older brother Sonny were both shaky towards his military life and his girlfriend.. Then when Tessio's men weren't at the hospital, Michael felt compelled to fight for his father and let his need for revenge overcome him.. which eventually led to his transformation into a mafia lord.

The deaths of people close to him also would've been really painful. He lost Apollonia to his bodyguard that he had trusted with his own life.. he also lost Sonny without seeing him for over a year. His last goodbye to his older brother was when he was about to go through with the 'confirmation'.

In The Godfather Part II, I can't argue the fact that Michael does indeed play the cruel part and his actions aren't justified, but I still think that a horrifying past and sudden entrance into this most sinister Mafia world would turn anyone into a new person.. He turns against Fredo after pretending to forgive him, which is horrible, considering that he was never intentionally trying to hurt Michael. He subtly pushes away from Tom.. He doesn't speak to his mother with any form of love.. Even Connie gets converted to the 'dark side'.. hehe...

I think that the nature of the flashbacks with Vito and his natural ability to gain friends and strengthen his family really contrasted with Michael's corruption as the new Don..

To conclude, at the end of the first film, perhaps I did pity Michael because of the events that caused him to act, but after seeing the second film, Michael has gone past the level of strict mafia don to more of a sinister, cold-blooded dictator..

It's definitely tempting to feel sorry for Michael, especially by the time of that very last closeup at the end of GFII. This isolated figure was once a young man who definitely did NOT intend for his life to turn out this way.

I think Michael Corleone subconsciously built a protective wall around himself, one that forced others to percieve him as the monster he became. I think he became that monster out of a sense of duty...first to his father, then to his 'Family' which he was destined to take over after the death of his brother Sonny. Also lets not forget circumstances which further hardened him like the killing of his young Sicilian bride...via a car bomb he knew was meant only for him.

Yes, it is quite easy to feel sorry for Michael. Because even though he did in the end choose the life he led and the decisions he made & had to live with...he almost had NO other choices. For as his famous line in GFIII surmizes...every time he tried to get out (or sway things in a different direction)...some event or betrayal by another PULLED him back in.

Perhaps this is why FFC and Pacino chose to portray the older Michael in GFIII the way they did. To suggest that the real true Michael Corleone was not the icy one we saw almost entirely throughout GFII - but the one we saw in the early parts of GF - who by the 1970's had perhaps come full circle.

It's really an evolution of a single character that has rarely been captured on film...and Al Pacino deserves alot of credit for it.

Apple

I'd like to revise my statement. In Parts I and II, it's hard for me to feel sorry for Michael.

But by Part III, he is a changed man and has had time to think about his past actions and he truely looks like he is going through some turmoil over them. Whereas in Parts I and II he simply looks like, business is business and what needs to be done will be done.

I have often said that the Michael in Part III is just Pacino giving one of his modern day performances. It is, in some way, but I think Pacino also did an excellent job showing Michael as an older man riddled with guilt.

And in Part III is where I see the sadness, which is why I balled for hours on end after the first time I watched it and why I still get misty eyed after each viewing.

So yes, in the end, it is sad for Michael.