In Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, we follow Don Vito Corleone, the head of one of the powerful
5 New York crime families, as he looks to protect his family from all harm. With him
growing older and sicker, he transfers control of his dynasty to his son Michael Corleone,
who succeeds his father and builds on his work, cementing control over the entire New York
underworld and then moving on to expand the empire with casino ventures in Nevada and in Cuba.
In The Godfather Part II, we follow the continuing tribulations of Michael but simultaneously the
rise of Vito Corleone from humble immigrant grocery worker to small time crime boss,
to mafia don. Through our encounters with young Vito, we see that though he isn’t afraid to use
violence and force when necessary, his connections and his power is built through respect,
and he values family and friendship above all. This is in stark contrast to Michael,
who admits himself that the people who work for him are businessmen who are working for money,
and his reign is one of ruthlessness and coldness, with Michael inadvertently pushing
away and destroying his family in the name of, ironically, protecting his family, such as the
alienation of his wife Kay and his son Anthony. One could argue that Michael perhaps faced tougher
tests than his father Vito, so the comparison isn’t strictly fair, but that’s a discussion
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In the second film, an assassination attempt is carried out against Michael who narrowly escapes.
Michael works out that it was his business partner Hyman Roth who tried to have him murdered,
and this is something he supposedly works out very quickly. What Michael spends much of the
film’s runtime trying to figure out is who within his own administration worked with Roth’s people,
who among his own betrayed him. And of course, it turns out that the traitor is none other than
Fredo Corleone, acting mainly out of spite and jealously that he was stepped over and his younger
brother was put in charge of the family, with him now having the chance to do something himself.
By now Michael is a very changed man from the one we saw arrive at Connie’s wedding with Kay
all those years ago in the first film, and given events and pieces of dialogue in the second film,
even after ostensibly forgiving his brother, there is a strong suggestion that Michael will
actually kill Fredo for his betrayal. But surely he won’t go that far, dear viewers? But of course,
in the end, after his mother is dead, he does, and once Fredo sleeps with the fishes we are
treated to a flashback when the family was like the Roman empire, and we end with a shot
of Michael sitting alone in contemplation. Michael killing his own brother Fredo is the
most shocking event in The Godfather Part II, a completely stunning act of merciless coldness.
We can debate amongst ourselves whether killing Fredo was justified or not, whether Michael had
to kill him otherwise he’d be shown to allow betrayal, but ultimately, the murder of his
blood brother is what destroys Michael. From here there is no return. From starting the movie
telling his wife the Corleones will be legitimate in several years to throwing his wife out of the
house and ordering the death of his brother – Michael Corleone has truly lost his soul.
What I wanted to discuss today is an interesting hypothetic situation. And that is,
what if Fredo’s betrayal had occurred under Vito Corleone, while he was in charge of the family?
Obviously, if Vito was alive but in the semi-retired phase he was in at the end f
the first movie, no doubt Michael would wait until his death before making his move against Fredo,
but what if Vito was in charge of the family – how would he handle Fredo’s betrayal? How would
he punish him? Would he murder his own son? Now right off the bat it’s important to make
a point. Fredo was an idiot and its possible he didn’t understand the full repercussions
of his betrayal, but as later revealed he was motivated by a desire to do something by himself
for a change, resenting the way everyone thinks of him as dumb, highlighting that he’s aware of his
reputation. He reveals his resentment at being stepped over after Sonny’s death, with Michael
being groomed by his father as the next don of the family. So there were clearly ulterior motives;
it wasn’t just a case of Fredo being dumb. Now the point I am making he’s motivated by
jealousy of his brother becoming the don. So if Vito was in charge, and Fredo was working under
Vito, he wouldn’t even have the motivation to betray the family in the first place, so the
argument is actually redundant. Plus, you would imagine, given his excellent judge of character,
that Vito would have kept Fredo close to him, kept him under his wing, like having him as his driver
with Fredo looked comfortable with. He’d keep an eye on him, and if he noticed any resentment
creeping up in his son’s character he would deal with it accordingly. Vito was always 3 steps
ahead, and he knows his children – he knew Sonny was fooling around with a girl, for instance,
and the book actually tells us that when Michael went off to fight in World War II Vito was
still pulling the strings from a distance, ensuring his son was as safe as possible.
Vito would have seen all the angles and accounted for them – Fredo would likely never have wanted to
betray the family under Vito, he wouldn’t have the audacity in the first place, and if he did,
Vito would nip in the bud. But let’s say it happens anyway.
Would Vito kill his son? Well, you may disagree, and let me know in the comments below if you do,
but though I feel Fredo’s betrayal would emotionally shatter Vito even more so than what
it did to Michael, it would devastate him and he would never look at his son the same way again and
it might even prompt a change in Vito’s character, but I cannot see Vito killing Fredo, in any way
shape or form. In fact, if Vito would kill Fredo, it undermines the entire point of The Godfather
Part II with Michael committing this unholy act. If his dad would have done it in the same
situation it defeats the purpose of the film, that Michael went too far, that he gains the world,
but he lost his soul. That’s one of the whole points of the film – Michael murdering his family,
to protect his family, an irony that was lost on him due to his tunnel vision and blindness.
What would be the point in showing Vito’s rise to power and the importance given to family if
he had been willing to have his own son whacked. Vito’s philosophy was rooted in love and respect,
and it’s likely his children would have maintained these core family values under
him. It was only after the patriarch’s death that the Corleone family began drifting apart,
so again, Fredo wouldn’t have had the urge to betray the family under Vito. But killing a son
would be considered an infamina, and Vito would have never even considered it as it defeats the
purpose of what he does in the first place. It's highly implied that Vito was aware Carlo
betrayed the family and set up Sonny to be killed, and he chose not to exact revenge as not to make
his only daughter a widow. So if he wasn’t willing to kill a scumbag like Carlo, why would he kill
his own son? Regardless of his faults, regardless of his weaknesses, his failure to protect his don,
Vito’s anger at Fredo’s lifestyle in Vegas (which the book tells us), Vito loves his son. Think back
to the devastation on Robert De Niro’s face when young Vito sees Fredo with pneumonia crying.
I somewhat remember an interview – can’t seem to find it now - by Coppola where the director,
who by the way agrees that Vito would not have killed Fredo,
imagines a scene in the afterlife where Vito and Michael meet and Vito confronts Michael,
asking him if he listened to his heart as well as his head – with that being a key difference
between the two men – Vito thought with his head and heart, Michael with just his heart.
So if not murder then what? Well, I have heard one suggestion that Vito might guilt Fredo into
killing himself, Hara-kiri style. But I don’t really see that happening either, I don’t see Vito
making his wife lose another son if he can help it. It could be that Vito forces his son to make
amends, by going against Roth, perhaps sending him on a suicide mission like Rocco Lampone in
the second film where he makes up for his mistake but likely dies in the process. But again,
Vito wouldn’t willingly have his son killed, plus Fredo would probably botch the job anyway.
I can see Vito publicly accepting Fredo’s excuse of him not knowing it was gonna be a hit. It could
damage Vito’s credentials, but he’s made similar sacrifices for his family before. He’d accept
Fredo’s excuse, but deep down would know the soul-crushing truth, but would not bring himself
to harm his son given his sentimental weakness for his children, as he mentions in the first film.
The most likely outcome I can see is that initially Fredo would be given a stern talking to
by Vito. While Fredo blubbers, Vito would extract from him just what Roth wants and how much he
knows, and once this is done Fredo would be exiled. Perhaps he would be sent to Sicily,
never to see his family again. It does seem like a popular destination for the Corleones when
someone needs some time out. Fredo would likely be dismissed from both his family and the family,
a bit like what Michael did anyway with the “you’re not a brother, not a friend” speech,
before Michael feigned forgiveness and then killed Fredo. Maybe Fredo would be given a business far
removed from the main Corleone enterprise, where he couldn’t hurt anyone, but seeing as though
they pretty much did that in the first film, that option had already been exhausted. Perhaps then
a small job in the legitimate world, dismissed from all family business and forced to work the
working man’s life. Perhaps over the years Vito’s anger towards Fredo, which I’m not
undermining by the way, I think he would be livid that Fredo put everyone’s life in danger
and went against Vito’s values – I mean, rmeber the scene after Vito was shot when Fredo enters
the bedroom and Vito doesn’t even look at him? But after many years, if he was still alive,
Vito’s anger at Fredo may have dwindled, maybe he would be allowed at future family gatherings and
such, but Vito would neve trust him again. All in all, I think exile would be Vito’s
decision, most likely in Sicily where Fredo would perhaps live in disgrace. How do you think Vito
would handle Fredo’s betrayal? Let me know in the comments below. I don’t see him entertaining
the idea of killing Fredo. I think a far more ambiguous question is what would Sonny do if he
was Don and Fredo did what he did – but that’s a video for another day. Thanks for watching.