Iām in no rush to see the Coda after hearing Coppola has cut my favourite moment - Michaelās death, which was so well handled as a wide shot in which he pathetically slumps to the floor, an orange rolling out of his hand. Sounds like the Coda versionās āspiritual deathā is a just a rerun of God IIās ending. But hey, maybe it allows for a Godfather IV, which might be Coppolaās secret reason for making this (shhh)
shareCompletely agreed about Michael's death.
I can say this-- since "Godfather Coda" was meant to be Coppola's *original* vision, I'm not surprised. This is what producer Gray Frederickson told me about shooting the end of Godfather III:
"You want to know how he got that ending? Originally, Michael was just supposed to be sitting there looking sad like the end of Godfather II. Francis sets that up, shoots it, then calls a wrap. People start moving the equipment and all that, thinking we'd finally finished the film. Suddenly, Francis turns around and goes, 'Goddammit, I don't want to do 'Godfather IV'... Al, fall over'!"
So, I've never ever heard Coppola cop to this but Gray was there for shooting the whole time. I believe him.
Wow, thats really interesting, never heard that before. I'm about halfway through Coda and do agree that it feels like a much tighter film. Very curious to see the ending now.
shareI get why they showed his death, but honestly the way he fell out of that chair was laughably bad. Glad to hear they cut it.
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