He then flees to Sicily, where he falls in love with Simonetta Stefanelli's Apollonia. Tragically, she's later killed in a car bomb planted by Michael's bodyguard Fabrizio (Angelo Infanti), who betrayed him to his enemies. While Michael gets revenge on those who ordered the hit, Fabrizio is never seen again.
Michael has become a true Corleone (embracing both Italian culture and mob affiliation), and his marriage to Apollonia signifies Michael's official acceptance of this change and what it means for his future. When Michael marries Apollonia, he is wedding himself not just to her, but to Sicily and his father's values.
The hit was engineered by Emilio Barzini after Carlo, angered at the loss of his income and at the fact that Sonny had beaten him, helped set it up. Shortly afterward, Barzini got word that Michael was hiding in his father's hometown of Corleone, Sicily.
An interesting side note is that there is no indication in the novel or the first and second movies that Michael or anyone ever tells Kay that Michael had been married in Sicily let alone how his first wife died.
They would have been married for almost a year. She would have been pregnant with his child and would have learned how to drive. Sadly once she was killed, Michael was never the same after that.
Why Did Fabrizio Betray Michael Corleone? Did Michael Get Revenge?
Did Michael actually love Apollonia?
The Godfather's Michael Corleone may have loved many things, but his first wife Apollonia wasn't one of them. The pair were wed in Sicily in the mid-stages of the groundbreaking 1972 Francis Ford Coppola film, not long after Michael took refuge there after murdering police captain McCluskey and Virgil Sollozzo.
After Michael and Kay are dancing in the communion party, we see Fabrizio ("Fred Vincent"), leaving his pizzeria in Buffalo, New York, and starting his car, at which point a previously planted car bomb explodes. He stumbles out of the car, then dies. This was Michael's vengeance upon Fabrizio for killing Apollonia.
By The Godfather Part II, Kay has decided that Michael is a cold, distant, inattentive husband and father, but only after an attempt is made on his life in the family home does she resolve to rebel against him. At first, Kay's rebellion is silent and private: she aborts the child she is carrying.
Michael asks her to reconsider, but Kay reveals she aborted their unborn son because she refused to bring another of his children into the world. Enraged, Michael hits Kay in the face and severs ties with her, taking custody of Anthony and Mary.
He is also mentioned many times throughout the film; the dialogue makes it clear that Michael is tormented with guilt over ordering his brother's death, and that it has alienated him from his ex-wife, Kay (Diane Keaton), and his son, Anthony (Franc D'Ambrosio), both of whom know the truth about Fredo's death.
Betrayal. While in Havana, Michael learned that Fredo betrayed him when Fredo accidentally let it slip that he and Johnny Ola had been to a sex show in Havana. He confronted Fredo at a New Year's party in Havana, telling Fredo that he knew he was the traitor and giving him the "kiss of death".
When she started the car to drive towards him, she unknowingly ignited a bomb planted in the car, intended for Michael, the subsequent explosion killed her instantly. The attack was orchestrated by Michael's trusted bodyguard, Fabrizio, who was paid off by the Barzini family from New York.
His place of birth is listed as Hell's Kitchen, New York. And even though his death comes in the third installment (which was released in 1990), the closing events take place in 1997. This means Michael is 77 years old at the time of his death.
Michael's pursuit of Kay was partly motivated by the fact that she was free-spirited, she was the humanity in Michael in which he lacked. Michael was desperate to have a white-Americanized life Ironically, Michael himself would be used in the same way, when he married Apollonia Vitelli.
Toward the end of the film, Michael names Vincent as his successor, on condition that he break off his relationship with Mary. After her brother's debut concert, the assassin Mosca tries to kill Michael. One bullet grazes Michael's shoulder, but the other accidentally hits Mary in the chest, fatally wounding her.
lisbethblom said: Al Pacino in 1990: “Michael loved Kay when he met her and he loved her throughout his life and he loves her to this day. He not only loves her but he also admires her.”
The third and final film in the Godfather saga, The Godfather: Part III, set in 1979, explains that Hagen had died a few years earlier. His son, Andrew, is ordained to the priesthood, and is assigned to the Vatican on Michael's recommendation. While talking with Andrew, Michael remembers Hagen fondly as a great lawyer.
During his stay in Sicily, Michael married a local girl named Apollonia Vitelli (Simonetta Stefanelli) and, after her death, he returned to America where he married Kay Adams (Diane Keaton). He and Kay went on to have two children, Anthony (Anthony Gounaris, James Gounaris, and Franc D'Ambrosio) and Mary.
Upon their mother's death, and at the urging of their sister Connie, Michael relented toward Fredo and seemingly offered reconciliation. However, it was only a deception to draw Fredo in so as to have him murdered by Al Neri.
Kay had no business asking Michael about Carlo's death. We assume Kay was unaware of Carlo having set up Sonny to be killed, so she was unaware of the need to exact vengeance on Carlo regardless of how Connie felt.
Fredo's betrayal and subsequent demise in The Godfather Part II was due to his resentment towards Michael for being passed over. The decision to kill off Fredo was not originally in Mario Puzo's novels, but added by director Coppola for emotional impact.
Despite this, the two of them maintained a loving relationship in 40 years of marriage, and Vito never sought a mistress or ever found the need to strike his wife. Carmela diligently managed the household in times of both peace and trouble, knowing the schemes of her sons and the nature of husband's associates.
