well i don't know... i wanted to know more things, and poor michael dies alone

Welcome serge. I guess for now, what happens between Mary's death and Michael's death is up to you. We all would like to know more and the best way that can be done is by making a GF4 which there is an entire other message board if you wanna discuss that.

However, by seeing how Michael died alone, it shows how different he ended up from his father despite trying to be like him and be strong for the family. Michael always tried to keep the business strong for the family, the people around him he loved very much. In the end tho, he died alone with only a puppy nearby. Vito died happy while playing with his grandson and family around. Kay and Anthony most likely never talked to Michael again and blamed him for Mary's death leaving Michael with basically nothing. It's your choice to believe what it is tho until GF4 comes out if it does.

interesting.. btw i saw gf3 for the first time today, and gf1 and gf2 last week ,AWESOME saga

good boy Serge you know it makes sense

As for GFIII ending, well good point about Mike ending up different from his father despite displaying all his qualities of cunning in the earlier movies, but like Sonny he got consumed with power and a desire to wipe out his enemies, the end of part 2 is so effective i often wish it was left there, just the isolated alone Mike.

But the one thing i like about GFIII's ending was Mike's Silent scream which effected even Kay, great acting, and the whole operatic theme to the ending was surprisingly effective, but Sofia Coppolas pitiful acting ruined it

I've always believed that the overriding message of the GF Trilogy is: crime doesn't pay. Michael--brilliant tactician, numero-uno gangster, global crime bigshot--lost his family and died alone, attended only by a little dog. His losses are reinforced by his primeval scream when his beloved daughter dies, and while (as that moving Intermezzo Sinfonico from "Cavalleria Rusticana" plays hauntingly) his memories of happy times with Appolonia and Kay swirl around. It's telling us: look how this supposedly all-powerful pezzanovane ended up.
Crime didn't pay for Vito, either. True, he dies in his tomato garden, playing with his grandson. But that earlier, touching scene with Michael shows him exhausted by life after losing his eldest son and having his youngest, on whom he'd pinned such high hopes, forced into a life of crime.

It is an incredibly sad ending, but no, not at all satisfying!!

TPM

I love the ending. It is the most fitting way to end the saga. GF3 truely is the fall of the Corleones.Even though Mike passes on the power to Vinnie, the Corleone legacy dies with Mike. It is satisfying and probably the sadest ending I have seen.I'm not one to easily break into fits of tears, but my eyes have tears in them at the end.

cant agree with you there, it was distinctly unsatisfying, i like part III but i always wish the supreme ending of part II was left as it was

The Godfather III ending, u could say was a rehashing of the ending from GF II. They both end with michael sitting in a chair, alone, after he has a flashback that brought him to this point.

In GF2, the flashback was the family together again, before Sonny, Tessio, Carlo, and Fredo get killed, 3 of which Mike ordered.

In GF3, the flashback were of the women he loved and loss: Apollonia, Kay, and Mary.

With this version in GF3, i guess it pretty much says he has tried and ultimately failed, regardless of how much he tried to get out of it. I felt it was appropriate. Didn't have the strong impact like when Vito died, though i guess it's to symbolize how alone he truly was.

When Vito died, they had the royal funeral, when Mikey died, it cut to black.

I loved the ending to GF3. Michael had a chance to stay out of the family business, was pulled in, and it ruined his life by killing off his family. What else is there to learn? I mean we really learned this at the end of Part 2.

I also like the irony in the end of GF3. Vito dies while playing with his grandson - which in all honesty, isn't a bad way to go. At least he was with family.

Mike dies with a lap dog by his side. Probably the only friend he had after Mary's death.

Sure we could have a GF4 or had some more scenes showing what happened after Mary's death in Part 3 - but by then, everyone responsible for killing Mary and turning against Michael is dead, and everyone has abandon Michael. I am sure Vincent continued on, but is there really any meaning in showing what he did afterwards? He's not even a real Corleone.

If there ever is a Part 4, the only reason I would see it is to see how Michael reacts to Vincent still in charge of the family. Pacino's role could be small, almost a consigliere, but he would be so depressed and saddened by Mary's death that he wouldn't be able to offer any valuable advice. However small, it would be a demanding role to play, filled with a lot of emotion - from rage to regret.

Although everything isn't wrapped up and handed to the viewer in a gift box - I believe that the endig to Part 3 is great and fitting.

I found the ending to be immensley tragic and sad. To me the film ended as sadly as GF2 did, and that was a brilliant movie.

As he said to Kaye at the start of GF3 Michael spent his life protecting his family. He didn't want to be the head of the family but the circumstances of GF1 put him in that position.

After the events of GF2 he tries to redeem himself by legitimising the Corleone Family but after all this, after over 30 years of being a target, after having the lives of his family at risk and then finally getting out of the business he loses one of the most precious things in his life - his daughter.

In the end it was all for nothing, Michael still lost and for all we know he may have even chosen to exile himself from everyone after that moment to live the rest of his life alone.

I thought the ending was spectacular. It was short and simple, it showed how despite everything he did to safeguard his family and existance, he ended up tragically alone and blind. His daughter was dead, he was probably hated by his (ex)wife and son, and he retired to a life of geriatric mafioso whereupon he ultimately died. The scream is an awesome scene, moving itself, but coupled with the final images of Michael and the flashbacks, the ending did what the entire movie was meant to show: The Death of Michael Corleone.

almost all have been said. with regards to Mr Al Pacino's acting in the end. . .
Perfecto!

GoodFella

Personally I loved the ending. It's a fitting end to the movie and to the trilogy. It's definatly the most ambitious ending of the whole trilogy and is dramatic and moving, esepecially the climax.

The ultimate lesson of the GF Trilogy is one's sins can always come back and haunt you in a very real and legitamite way. Imagine the horror of the 3rd GF, as Michael who has done everything he could to make amend with his past.

Sorry forgot to finish that

.... and his daughter dies and he is thrust back into the life he tried to be off with.

Is he really blind or did he wear the dark shades for the dramactic effect? I don't think he was necessarily physically blind.

I always wondered if he was supposed to be really blind. I think he is, only because he sort of slides the shades onto his face, like he needed to make sure they went over his eyes correctly.

Sometimes people wear shades when they are blind to make other's more comfortable due to the fact that people when talking to a blind person are sometimes uncomfortable when they look at their eyes fluttering or staring off blindly into space. Usually it's done for social reason. Also I think certain types of blindness are actually acute photosensitivites and thus shades would greatly reduce the lack of detail and unpleasentness of this condition.

I have to agree with Finochio, I found it unsatisfying as well. I was good to see how Michael spent his last days. With all of Vincent's manuvering to be on Michael's good graces, I thought is would be more interesting to know how Vincent felt about being Don. Was it worth it?

Michael had a type II diabetes for a while, one of the complications of that is slowly losing your eyesight. I believe most people who goes though this type of blindness have eye pain when exposed to direct sun light. Dark glasses helps. We see Michael wears glasses when he is outside on a sunny day.