The Godfather is perhaps the greatest crime film ever made. One of the few films which can
wrestle this title from the film is the movie’s own sequel, The Godfather Part II. In Francis Ford
Coppola’s sequel, New York Don Michael Corleone is now the most powerful gangster in the country,
having handed over the responsibilities of running the old Corleone Crime family to his
capo Peter Clemenza. After Clemenza’s death, which occurs before the film takes place,
the reigns of the Corleone crime family are handed to Clemenza’s loyal capo, Frank
Pentangeli, also known as Frankie Five Angels. Though he doesn’t appear in the first film,
Pentangeli, we’re told, is a loyal capo and long-time member of the Corleone crime family.
Though he is rash and emotional, he is highly respected and well liked given his
loyalty to the family and his knowledge of the streets. As Michael says to him, “I like you,
you were loyal to my father for years”. And that loyalty was rewarded when Frank is given
control over the New York Corleone operations. The novel The Family Corleone, a prequel to
The Godfather which is based on an unpublished screenplay by Mario Puzo, tells us that Frank
Pentangeli worked for powerful crime boss Giuseppe Mariposa, who was at war with Don Vito Corleone,
but Pentangeli switched sides, and since then has remained fiercely loyal to the Corleones.
In The Godfather Part II, Michael is attempting to separate himself from the street world of New
York, having moved onto bigger and better things, such as a deal he is in the middle of with,
with businessman Hyman Roth regarding Casinos in Cuba. Pentangeli is dismayed when Michael refused
to intervene when Pentangeli’s turf is infringed upon by the Rosato brothers, gangsters who work
for Hyman Roth, as this might cause issues with Michael’s dealings with Roth. Suddenly,
an assassination attempt is made against Michael, and he spends much of the rest of the film trying
to work out who tried to have him killed, with the prime suspects being Pentangeli and Roth.
Eventually of course, Michael works out that Roth tried to have him murdered,
and he in turn tries to have Roth killed, but Michael’s assassin is murdered in the process.
Meanwhile, a senate committee on organised crime is investigating the Corleone family,
with Michael having to defend himself in order to avoid a lengthy prison sentence. Things are
made difficult for Michael with one of the committee members secretly working for Roth,
and in addition to this, Frank Pentangeli emerges as a witness against Michael,
as he believes Michael double-crossed him. Michael had asked Frank to make peace with the
Rosato brothers and Frank only agreeing to do so because Michael told him to, but when Frank meets
with them they attempt to kill him, with one of the goons saying “Michael Corleone says hello”.
A police officer who happens to stroll past intervenes, and Pentangeli escapes with his life,
but is frightened, feels betrayed, and thus he seeks protection with the feds,
agreeing to testify against Michael. Now, there is quite a confusing issue here, because if the
Rosato brothers wanted to kill Frank Pentangeli, what was the need to say “Michael Corleone says
hello” to a man you’re strangling and who will be dead in a few minutes. It’s a scene
which has concerned many, but that’s a topic for another video, one that I’m actually working on,
so feel free to subscribe to the channel and hit the notification bell to stay up to date.
What we’re concerned in today’s video is a remarkable instance that occurs during the hearing
proceedings involving Pentangeli, but before we get there it’s important to understand the finer
context. It’s worth mentioning that thinking he’s been betrayed by Michael is not Pentangeli’s only
motivation for flipping and going into witness protection, he had heavy charges against him also,
such as bookmaking, possession and murder, as Tom Hagen tells Michael. It’s also worth mentioning
that this character originally was supposed to be Clemenza, as I’ve talked about in more detail
in previous videos, but the actor refused to come back, so a new character, Pentangeli, was created.
Michael could have easily taken the 5th amendment during the proceedings, meaning
he could remain silent and avoid incriminating himself, as mobsters usually tended to do. But
he chooses not to, as he wants to clear his name of any wrong doings, as part of his bigger plan
to legitimise himself, hoping that his record as a war hero, his charity and business works,
and lack of incriminating evidence will clear his name. Talking of course puts him at risk,
and later in the film Tom tells Michael that he could be looking at 5 counts of perjury.
One could argue that the failed assassination attempt on Pentangeli, ordered by Roth, was
manufactured to fail, and thus send Pentangeli to the feds, either that or Roth has taken advantage
of this opportunity. Either way, this entire trial is part of a chess game intended to finish Michael
and send him to jail. Willie Cicci also testifies against Michael, but as there are buffers in the
family insulating Michael, Cicci’s testimony is ultimately not enough. But Pentanegli worked
directly with Michael, and his testimony is the key, it’s the one thing that has Michael pushed
back against a corner. He can’t even try and kill Pentangeli, as he’s being held in a guarded army
base, and even if he did have Pentangeli killed it would be obvious who sanctioned the murder,
destroying Michael’s reputation in the legitimate world. Michael didn’t even know Pentangeli was
alive before the committee made it clear to him they had a witness, and when question Tom,
Tom says “Roth. He engineered it Michael. He played this one beautifully.” Michael, a man
who outsmarted the 5 families of New York, the wildcard who proved to be more cunning
than everyone else in the game, is stuck, cornered and out of ideas, and facing defeat at the hands
of perhaps his most cunning enemy, Hyman Roth, who is pulling the strings from the shadows.
But at the trial, the day when Pentangeli is set to testify, Michael walks in with an unknown man,
later identified as Vincenzo Pentangeli, brother of Frank. Frank is relaxed and joking,
but when he sees his brother his face instantly drops, the brother himself is making a transfixed
expression which does not appear readable. We get a quick cut to Michael’s reaction, the man who
has ocastrated this moment, who looks between the two brothers, assessing Frank’s reaction
And following this, Frankie, who turns around to look at his brother when being questioned,
denies he was ever part of any Coreone crime family and murdered on behalf of Michael.
The entire court is sent into a frenzied uproar, adjourned, and as Frank walks out, his brother
Vincenzo nods to him. And thus, Michael after looking like he was out for the count, is free.
So what on earth made Frank, who seemed like such a cocksure character,
instantly double back on his statement and change his mind, with all it taking being a simple glance
shared between him and his brother? When Kay asks Michael, he simply said “it was between
the brothers Kay. I had nothing to do with it” So, in other words, it appears the movie leave
sit up to the audiences’ imagination, but there are clear indications, once the culture of La Cosa
Nostra is taken into account. You have to also remember the film is set at a time, in fact the
film was made at a time, when mobsters becoming federal witnesses was not a regular occurrence.
The first major instance, the first major violation of Omerta, the mafia code of silence,
was Joseph Valachi, who became a state witness only a few years before The Godfather book was
even published, and funnily enough, like Pentangeli, it is thought that Valachi also
thought his mob bosses were out to kill him. So, within the context of the films setting,
the idea of a mobster, a high ranking one at that, testifying against organised crime, is unheard of.
One interpretation is that Michael was silently showing Frank that he was in possession of
his brother, that if he went ahead with testifying, he would kill his brother.
One could make an argument that Vincenzo has a look of fear on his face, a look of pleasing
towards his brother not to go ahead with what he is doing. But in my opinion, this is a rather weak
interpretation, and not the most powerful around. Plus, it’s implied that Vincenzo is a powerful
member of the Sicilian mafia, so it’s unlikely that Michael actually possessed the power to take
out Frankie’s brother without facing repercussions from the Sicilians. Perhaps Michael is telling
Frank that he didn’t try and kill him by bringing his brother – in other words, in other words,
would your brother and I walk in and sit together if I had tried to have you killed?
Another possible reason for bringing Vincenzo is that Michael is showing
Frankie how far his reach is, that if he can get to Frank’s brother, he can get to his children
and other members of his family. We know how much Frank’s family means to him,
as later in the film it is only after their safety is guaranteed that he agrees to kill himself.
There is an implication that Frank’s children were living with Vincenzo in Sicily,
so they may have been harmed or disowned if Frankie testified, not by Michael, but by Vincenzo
himself, which brings us closer to the true reason why Frankie changed his mind about flipping.
Vincenzo lived in Sicily his whole life, he is part of the Sicilian mafia through and through.
He endears his country and his culture’s values and lifestyle so much that we are told he even
leaves and goes back to Sicily after the trial without having dinner, and the proceedings
were so important to him that he came at his own expense. Frank also mentions that he could have,
if he wanted to, come to America and start his own crime family, but nothing can keep him away from
his country. Vincenzo lives and breathes Omerta, he likely has never known life without it. What
Frankie was doing was against mafia principles, to talk to the police, American police at that,
to go against your people, your principles and traditional values, and brazenly in front of
hundreds of people, thousands if you count those watching on television, would be sickening for
Vincenzo, so he must’ve come to America as soon as he heard. No doubt Michael played his part in
getting word to Vincenzo. It was an embarrassment, it bought dishonour upon Frank and his family,
he would be instantly disowned by his family back home and if an opportunity rose where they could
get their hands on him, they would kill him. And the Sicilian mafia is thought to be much
more vicious than the Italian-American one, so they would likely target Frank’s children
much like how Don Corleone was targeted as a child in the flashback scenes by a mobster.
Seeing Vincenzo remined Frank of the code these men followed and grew up believing. Michael
Corleone has appealed here to Frank’s old school principals, making him an offer he can’t refuse by
reminding him who he is and where he comes from. Remember the scene towards the end of the film
between Pentangeli and Tom Hagen, where Frank says “he’s 10 times tougher than me, my brother. He’s
old fashioned”. He clearly loves and respects his brother. Now go back to the scene with Vincenzo,
look at his expression, and imagine being looked at like that by your older brother who you respect
and love. Look at his expression with this context, look at the shock, the disappointment,
the disgust, and quite frankly, the hurt, at what Frankie has done. It’s like he’s saying,
just with his face - “How could you do this Frank? How could you dishonour yourself”?
It’s a very deep scene, and considering it’s so integral to the film’s plot it’s a testament to
the film that the audiences’ intelligence is not insulted by a character having to explain
this occurrence in the film. The closest we get is Tom saying something in Italian to
Vincenzo after the trial is adjourned, which I believe roughly translates to
“it’s alright, your family’s honor is intact.” I’m reminded of Don Vito Corleone’s line in the
first film - “A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man” - a man is
not emotional, a man protects his family, a man does not talk to police. By making the emotional
decision to rat, Frank is not protecting his family, thus, in the eyes of Vincenzo,
the mafia, and himself, he is not a man. In this moment, he is reminded of who he is,
and subsequently rights his wrongs. This scene also resonates with broader themes in
the film, namely that of brotherhood and loyalty. You have, for example, Fredo betraying Michael to
step over him, Tom being the only brother Michael can trust despite not being a blood brother,
Michael actually killing a blood brother. In fact, all things considered, Frankie died with honour,
having stuck with his ancient code of silence, and I always kinda felt sorry for him because
he legitimately thought he was double-crossed by Michael. His sins are wiped clean, so to speak,
he died with honour, whereas Michael lives with dishonour, having gone against a much
more fundamental code by killing his own brother, the most sickening taboo of the Godfather films,
the breaking of a blood bond. It harks back to the flashback at the end of the film, with Sonny
saying “Country ain’t your blood”, after learning that Michael as joined the marines, with Michael
replying, “I don’t feel that way”. Ironically, the one man to congratulate Michael is Fredo,
with Michael here going down a path against his family’s wishes, much like Pentangeli does,
though Pentangeli stops himself before it’s too late. Michael eventually comes back to
the family with the events of the first film, but he still does things his own way, going against
La Cosa Nostra traditions, and it destroys him, leading him to become a lonely, broken old man.
So why do you think Frank flipped after flipping? Do you have an
interpretation of your own? Let me know in the comments below, and thanks for watching.