The final part of the Godfather trilogy is treated to a new cut by director Francis Ford Coppola. Drastically altering the opening and closing of the film and rebalancing the focus to make this a true epilogue to the first two films. Coppola introduces the film by stating that a coda is a concluding passage of music built upon the original piece and that is what this film was always meant to be. Coppola also confirms that the new title is actually the original title that the film had when he wrote it with Mario Puzo. 

The Godfather Part 3 has always been the most maligned of the trilogy and there are many reasons for that. Firstly the original two films set a ridiculously high bar and formed a complete story. Secondly because everyone hates Sofia Coppola’s acting performance. Thirdly because “Part 3” suggested there was a continuation of the story as opposed to the epilogue that Puzo and Coppola wanted. And it is this reframing of the film that makes this version of it work because this new director’s cut makes the film sing. 

The opening changes have perhaps the most impact. The film starts immediately with Michael Corleone’s (Al Pacino) meeting in Rome that tells us about his efforts to legitimise his business before cutting to the party that brings Vincent Corleone (Andy Garcia) front and centre to the story. There is no retread of the ending of part 2 cut together with Michael’s letter to his children and by moving the party to afterwards it immediately immerses us in the plot of the film quicker. In the original we had to wait 45 minutes to understand Michael’s plan for legitimacy. 

There are some smaller scenes excised in the middle of the film but the next major change is in the entire edit of the grand finale with the final scene cutting away slightly earlier to a Sicilian quote. Whilst the tension in the opera scenes work remarkably well I’m not so sure about the quote replacing Michael slumping to the floor. Although this is only a minor gripe in an otherwise successful recut. 

As with the other Godfather films there are some towering performances in here worth applauding. Pacino is fantastic again as Michael Corleone. Unable to  grasp or hold onto his dreams whilst trying to win back Kay (Diane Keaton) and keep his children safe. Andy Garcia gives probably his career best performance as the bastard child of Sonny Corleone and heir to the empire. Mixing Sonny’s famous temper and Michael’s scheming. Talia Shire is the Lady McBeth figure and Eli Wallach the ageing Don Altobello. And Sofia Coppola’s performance is not as bad as you remember it either. Although perhaps it’s just the reframing of the story that achieves this? 

An example of a director tinkering with their film creating a superior end result and one any fan of the trilogy must watch.