(ANSA) - NEW YORK, DECEMBER 03 - Francis Ford Coppola rewrote one of his most discussed films from beginning to end.
Thirty years after being flayed by critics at the release of "Godfather-Part Three", the American director is preparing to distribute the "director's cut" of the third and final episode of the celebretrilogy in a limited number of theaters and on home video.
For the return to the limelight starting this weekend, Coppola has also changed the title.
"Mario Puzo's The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone" pays homage to the writer and co-writer by restoring the one chosen by both and which was instead changed by Paramount to recall the success of the first two films.
The 81-year-old director has made adjustments everywhere to clarify the plot centered on the themes of mortality and redemption.
"Coda" now begins by going "in medias res" with the scene in which Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) negotiates a multi-million dollar loan with the Vatican Bank, while in the end, instead of killing the elderly Godfather, the new montage shows him old but alive: "When Sicilians wish you 'Hundred years' ... means 'long life' ... And a Sicilian never forgets ", reads the screen before the credits.
The new ending leaves Michael Corleone in a 'purgatory' of his total creation: "Leaving Michael alive is the true tragedy", commented Al Pacino giving, together with Diane Keaton (Michael's wife, Kay Adams), his imprimatur to the " director's cut ".
(HANDLE).