At the end of Part III, Michael dies alone in the yard of his Sicilian villa. The death of his daughter, Mary, has sealed his fate, severing his ties forever with the rest of the family, the family that he tried to save and bring to legitimacy.
In The Godfather Part 2, Michael mentioned that as kids he and his siblings played together. He tells Frank Pentangeli they had to be very quiet when playing just outside his father's study. That seems to indicate that he wasn't isolated from his brothers growing up and, therefore, not lonely.
In an epilogue scene set in 1997, an elderly Michael dies in the same courtyard where he married Appollonia. In the December 2020 release of The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, a recut of the third film, the final scene is re-edited to portray Michael sitting alone in the courtyard.
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.
Once ensconced in the family business, Michael quickly established a reputation for ruthlessness to a far greater degree than his father. This behaviour was caused by the traumatic experience of having to watch his first wife Apollonia die in an assassination attempt, in which he was the intended target.
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.
Immensely talented and powerful, he is undone by tragic flaws: his insatiable desire for vengeance, which creates a web of violence and recrimination that he cannot escape; his illusions of omnipotence, which blind him to the fact that achieving legitimacy is impossible; and his sense of being perpetually at war, which ...
Fredo's decision is most likely a result of resentment toward Michael, by whom he felt he had been passed over. Michael was Fredo's "kid brother," and the fact that their father chose for Michael to take over the "family business" came as a great insult to Fredo, who was neither as intelligent nor as strong.
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.”
Even when they walk together and she briefly stumbles, Michael catching her can be seen as a metaphor for exercising control. Later, in The Godfather Part III, Michael has a flashback about Apollonia. While he states that he loved her, it isn't clear if that is actually an honest admission.
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. Michael is devastated by Mary's death, and screams in torment while cradling her dead body.
Vincent tells Michael that Altobello has hired Mosca, a veteran hitman, to assassinate Michael. Mosca, disguised as a priest, kills Corleone family friend Don Tommasino as he returns to his villa. While Michael and Kay tour Sicily, Michael asks for Kay's forgiveness, and they admit they still love each other.
We know from a scene in the first film what Vito's hopes for Michael were: He wanted his youngest and brightest son to become someone who pulls the strings in American public life as a powerful politician—a senator or governor.
Original question: “What is the weakest Corleone brother?” Obvious answer: Alfredo. The characteristics of all three: Alfredo: Not very smart, in fact probably very stupid. Sonny: Somewhat street smart, but lacked control of his temper and reacted from emotion rather than thought out planning.
Clemenza. No one was more loyal to the Corleone Crime Family than the first capo, Clemenza. Among his most iconic scenes was when he had the traitor Paulie executed and when he trained Michael on how to whack Sollozzo and McCluskey.
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.
Did Michael Corleone ever tell Kay about Apollonia?
Despite initially maintaining a loving marriage with Kay, he never informs her, feeling regretful and guilty over his past marriage. In the books, Apollonia is never thought about after her death by Michael, only in the movie "The Godfather iii", does Michael have a flashback about her.
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.
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".
Michael removes Hagen as consigliere in favor of having Vito fill the position, restricting Hagen to handling the family's legal business in Nevada, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Michael and Vito explain that the Corleones risk inciting a fight with the planned move to Nevada, and they need a "wartime consigliere".
Enraged, Sonny speeds towards Connie's apartment in Hell's Kitchen ahead of his bodyguards. At the Long Beach Causeway toll plaza, Barzini's men trap Sonny and shoot him to death. During a meeting with the other crime family dons to establish peace, Vito realizes that Barzini masterminded Sonny's murder.
Life Lesson: Don't get too sentimental or emotional when making decisions that could have devastating consequences. For example: Don't write someone you love out of your Will in a fit of anger unless you're 100-percent positive you want that to be a part of your eternal legacy.
Roth secretly plans to assassinate Michael, partly to avenge Moe Greene's murder (as depicted in The Godfather). Roth instructs Ola to befriend Michael's brother Fredo, who provides Ola (and Roth) information about Michael that enables them to make an attempt on his life.
