Ok I still dont understand the whole Connie, Michael, and Fredo situtation. Did she know Michael killed fredo?

I believe that at some point, deep down inside, Connie knew. But she was probably in denial about the whole thing.


Don Cardi

I think that Connie definitely knew, and I think in the scene in GF3, when she's giving Michael his injection, she as much as tells him she knows, and that she understands his reason for killing Fredo.

Connie knew. She wasn't blind or stupid. Women knew, they could figure it out, they were just smart enough to keep it to themselves...they had their own code of honor, or omerta. Just like she knew about Carlo.

Just off point but still related to Connie...


At the end of Part 1 where Connie confronts Michael after Carlo was dead. She told Michael, "You and Papa always blamed Carlo for Sonny's death, and that's why you kept Carlo at the mall...."

Do you think Connie forgave Michael even it was never brought up in Part 3? Also could Connie accepted why Carlo had to be killed when he fingered Sonny to Barzini?

If you watch GF2 and the wake scene for Mama where Connie goes to the boathouse to ask Michael to see Fredo, she says I forgave you, why can't you forgive Fredo --- maybe not an exact quote, but close.

Do we ever have an explanation for Carlo's "disappearance"? (The old man had too much wine)

Connie knew, and she says as much in GF II in the scene where she asks to be close to him. She says "I was angry at you" and she says she did things to herself (like whore around) to hurt Michael, but then she says she now realizes he was just being strong for the family and she says "I forgive you." Then she says "You need me Michael." And they make their peace.

I have said this many times before, but IMHO Connie has perhaps the most interesting character development of anyone in the three movies. She goes from Spoiled Guinea Brat to an assassin (of Altobello) and a Kingmaker and really the closest family advisor to Michael.

DT - I agree with you re: Connie's development. She was the typical Italian female, almost a caricature, in GF1. When we first meet her, she is completely dependent on the men in her life, from her father to her husband to her older brother, with no self-identity. We begin to see her evolve in GF2, although again in a "typical" female role - that of caretaker of Michael's children. By GF3, she is definitely a strong and capable woman, although quite alone. I also found her to be one of the most tragic characters because of that aloneness.

Yes, Connie knew Mike had Carlo killed, and I think GF2 and 3 makes it clear that after some time of drinking and whoring to "punish" Michael she came to realize that, as she told Mike, she understood he did what he had to do to protect "the family." Also, she finally realized that Carlo was in fact responsible for Sonny's death, so she probably put that punk out of her mind, at least I hope she did.

Don, I agree, the development of Connie's character was the most interesting. For a time, After Michael's stroke, she was running the family, and how she ran it proved she was her father's daughter.

I've opined on this subject before; I'll reiterate here. I think that Connie exhibited a characteristic that is sometimes typical of hostages - they begin to identify with and even defend their captors. I don't necessarily understand the psychology of it, but I think that it has something to do with the hostage's inability to fully absorb the vulnerable position they are in. So they mitigate it by looking upon their captors almost like friends.

In Connie's case, she was unable to absob the enormity of her brother's fratricidal act, so she accomodated it by moving even closer to him.

Whats IMHO? I've never seen it before so what does that means?


I think you guys are right. Connie did forgive Michael in GF2 even she did not mention Carlo. After that, Michael began to trust his own sister and let her take care of his kids.

In my humble opinion!

I think she did know that Michael killed Fredo and she has come to accept that. In the first film, she is just another woman in the family, by part ii, she wanted revenge from Michael but at the end, she resumed the "typical" woman role and wanted to be Michael's side. She understood the business and by GFIII, she kind of gotten herself a bit involved by telling Michael to accept Vincent. And then ordering Vincent to kill Joey Zasa. Then killing Altobello.

Connie develops plenty throughout the trilogy -- that's why sometimes I find her character so fascinating.

she knew, but she didn't know...


...but she knew

Again, I just don't think it's a matter of forgiveness on her part. It was just reconciliation to the fact of fratricide that she was not in a position to do anything about.

I'm on the fence about whether Connie's development is realistic or not. By GF3, Connie apparently has ambitions to preserve the Corleone empire even if it means doing away with traitors and enemies by serving up poison cannoli and directing Vincent to commit assassinations. I know GF3 takes place in a more modern era, but is it realistic, even in the 70s, for a woman to be so involved in the murder and retribution aspect of mafia business?

How is she even privy to the fact that Altobello is a traitor and that Joey Zasa is dangerous? Why does Michael allow her to hear and see so much, yet berate her for leading Vincent to kill Zasa? And if Connie has such ambitions to keep the crime legacy going, why does she champion Vincent as Michael's successor and not one of her own sons? (Granted, though, she may want to protect her own boys from the dangers.)

Where and how does she get this ruthless drive in her advancing years that leads her to care who Michael's successor is? Why not let Michael handle it? When Connie evolved from jet-setting rebel to sister penitent in GF2, it felt real; it was believable. It's just my personal feeling, but her next step to "co-don" in GF3 feels manufactured and unnatural.

Then I read olivant's post about Connie's possible Stockholm syndrome: her psychological need to identify with Michael, the natural dominator. Perhaps by immersing herself in Michael's business, she wishes to numb herself from the moral aspects of crime and killing until they're second nature and "strictly business" to her, just as they were for the men in the family. To hold on to her sanity, she must erase -- or turn a blind eye to -- the pain of losing Sonny, the pain of losing Carlo, the pain of losing Fredo, the pain and guilt of her role (even if inadvertent) in those losses. And most of all, she can ignore the painful task of looking squarely at Michael and clearly seeing what he has become.

So now I can see why the film makers had Connie evolve the way she did, but...

Her actual committing of crimes still feels a tad phony to me. Her denial of Fredo's murder and her propping up of Michael as family saviour who has no need of forgiveness all ring true psychologically and are rightfully included in the film. In order to cope, she is in denial. But the film could have still protrayed her as being in denial while fully witnessing the evils going on around her without her actually committing them, which I think would have been more realistic.

There any any number of ways that Connie could have been handled in GFIII Christina. Yours is one of them. But FFC might have been taking a page from real Mafia life where you have had some Mafia women assume a hands on role. On the other hand, perhaps he simply evolves Connie into the role from Stockholm syndrome to the next psychological step - you not only identify with your captor, but actually see otyhers as a threat to him. So, you actively participate in their defense. overall through, remember, she is a Corleone. The blood is in her veins.

I'm so glad to see so many others interested in Connie's character. Her transformation through to GFIII was stunning. And I too have wondered about what she knew about Fredo's death and how she really felt about Michael.

I think I'm satisfied with believing that she did know about how Fredo died. I do think she was afraid of Michael and she did love him truly. But I also think she knew the best way for her to live a comfortable life was to stay loyal to Michael.

As a mafia princess, what choices did she really have? She wouldn't have gone to school and didn't. She had no skills - except for survival skills. And she was totally dependent on the men around her. For most of her life, she was probably satisfied to be a wife, raise children, and not ask questions about the family business. It's too bad that she had the misfortune of marrying someone who did not remain loyal to the family. This was especially disappointing seeing as how Don Vito wanted to protect his daughter (as Michael eventually wanted to protect his) by keeing her husband clear of the business.

But by GFIII, she had learned to use her feminine and non-threatening wiles to become a pretty effective right hand of Michael. She involved herself in business matters. And even though Michael didn't always agree with her, he seemed to like this. She definitely knew her place. But she pushed and encouraged Vincent. And she killed a man that had cottled her for her entire life - Don Altobello. She, indeed, would've done anything for Michael. Even though she definitely loved the two men close to her that Michael had killed.

Excellent point.

I find Connie's character to be completely believable. Outside of Michael -- and maybe even moreso in some cases -- Connie is probably the most developed and fleshed out character in the entire trilogy.