Here is a copy of my script outline that I wrote for college. Thought you guys might want a proper-gander...
This is where my ending with Vincent waiting by the phone came from...
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Script Outline for The Godfather: Part IV
The Godfather: Part IV is 3-hour + feature film, which serves as the final concluding chapter in the legendary Godfather saga. Staying true to the original films, GF4 will go back and fill in the stories, characters and time periods missing from the three earlier Godfather films. It will reveal many later characters origins and backgrounds and explain many mysteries of the earlier films.
The basic narrative structure of the film is very similar to that of The Godfather: Part II, with two stories running parallel to each other, but set over 50 years apart. The "modern' story revolves around Vincent Corleone and his decent into the world of narcotics in the year 1987, spelling the final collapse of the Corleone Empire. Characters such as Connie, Michael, Kay and Anthony also play a big part in the unfolding story.
Through the use of flashbacks, the film goes back over 50 years to 1935, where the coming of age of Santino Corleone on the streets is portrayed, while Don Vito Corleone expands his criminal empire even further. This story runs up to the beginning of The Godfather in 1945. Other flashbacks include how Tom Hagen became involved with the Family, the short time period of 1955-58 with the introduction of Deanna Dunn and the larger period of between 1959 and 79, which includes the death of Tom Hagen and the introduction of Vincent and Joey Zasa.
The role of the young Santino Corleone is used to show the changes in the mafia in America in the 1930's, with the introduction of the Irish mob and Al Capone etc. The story reveals how Santino (Sonny) "makes his bones' and gets revenge on the Irish for an attempted hit on his father. We see the introduction of characters such as Don Altobello, Frankie Pentangeli and Corleone assassin Luca Brasi. We also see how Don Corleone acquired the title of "Godfather' and the roots of Michael's reluctance to "be a man like his father'.
The "modern' story takes place in the year 1987, seven long years after the events of The Godfather: Part III. Don Vincenzo (Vincent) Corleone is now a multimillionaire, chairman of one of the largest real estate conglomerates in the world and patriarch of the Corleone Family. He has achieved total legitimacy in his business, but the pressures of organised crime loom ever over him. When hotheaded feud erupts between two local Mafia enforcers, the security of his Family is threatened, and Vincent is forced to delve once again into the narcotics trade to escape a full-scale war.
Under council from his Uncle Michael, a previous Corleone Family Don, he manages to resolve the situation with no blood spilt, but the damage is done. Because of a greedy drug dealers arrogance, The Corleone Family in once again in the centre of a war between the six ruling Mafia Families of New York. After years of mob violence and murder, a truce is arranged on neutral ground to discuss a treaty. But Vincent arranges the brutal murder of the heads of the five-families and has their empires dissolved. With the Corleone Family the soul Mafia Family in New York and the largest in the US, Vincent is now obliged to step back into the drug trade and become one of the richest men in the world.
The modern story ends with Vincent poised on the decision, which will either destroy his empire forever, or secure its future.
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Oh, and heres the ending to the film for those who missed it. It will dissolve from a happy time in the past e.g. Sonny getting married etc to the end of the 'modern' day Vincent story...
DISSOLVE TO:
INT.VINCENTS HOUSE – DAY
The VIEW slowly tracks towards Vincent's office doors.
INT.VINCENTS OFFICE – CONTINUOUS
The VIEW tracks over old photos from the Corleone Family history. We see Vito posed with his three sons. Michael and Kay and their children. Sonny, Fredo, Mary, Mama and Tom. We remember the Corleone family as it once was and now what it's become.
VIEW on Vincent sitting alone behind his desk. He stares in deep thought at the telephone in front of him. The call he could make will change his families' future forever. Slowly, he clasps his hands, leans forward and stares directly at us. His eyes filled with sorrow and despair.
FADE TO BLACK.
noledge
