Don Vito’s advanced age. But such an analysis depends on a mentally gathered version of the Don for whom there is a clear distinction between family and business spheres. As was apparent from the first scene, the Don has blurred this line throughout. The conflation between family and business adds poignancy to Don Vito’s death scene. In an extended, softly lit scene, the Don and his grandson play among the tomato plants. Vito is very sweet to the boy, and comes across as a kindly, loving, playful grandfather. He plays the part of a monster, cutting teeth into an orange peel and wearing it in his mouth like dentures. He is engaging in real familial tenderness. At one point, his grandson chases Don Vito with a water pistol, and Don Vito suffers a heart attack and dies (2:31:15). The irony is powerful. The crime boss whose rivals could not kill him despite multiple attempts dies while playing the part of a bad guy and mimicking violence with his own grandchild. In this final scene of Don Vito’s life, it is an act of familial love that kills him, where all the malicious intent of his “business” rivals could not. Business and family have become so conflated that even in their seemingly purest forms, they produce the same outcome. Conclusion Taking over from Vito, Don Michael Corleone rains down retribution on rival families with merciless efficiency. Scenes of these assassinations are cut into with Michael’s remarks at the baptism his sister’s son. In the final scene, he lies to his wife Kay about his activities, denying he had anything to do with the murders. These final scenes show how far Michael has fallen. He is a loving son, brother, husband, and father. But he is also a ruthless criminal, willing to go to extreme lengths to maintain power. The audience has followed Michael on a journey from a state of “innocence” (to recall William Lunch’s use of the term). He trusted the “legitimate” power structures and judged his family for their “illegitimate” activities. Eventually, however, he questions the motivations of the systems he served, and recognizes them as morally corrupt in themselves. Michael evolves into the role of godfather, initially motivated by the instinct to protect his family. However, even if family is the initial motivation, it is also the pretest for “Business” – an escalating and murderous spree aimed at entrenching the Corleones as the most powerful crime “family” in Long Island. Against the backdrop of American involvement in Vietnam – and the rhetoric of family used to sell it to the American public – the film asks compelling questions about the ways the idea of family can be used to justify moral transgressions. This is not to suggest that The Godfather is an anti-war film. However, it is interesting to consider it as an exploration of the “heart of darkness” that precedes Apocalypse Now, which would more directly address the war in Vietnam. Though The Godfather was released 69
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