I think Vito gets way too much credit. He decided to follow a life of crime once he killed the Black Hand and became a mob boss. To get to that position he killed a lot of people and even two key people he helped to make rich, Tess and Roth both tried to kill Michael. Being a mob boss lead to Sonny wanting to be like his dad which got him killed. Fredo also wanted to be the head of the family and resented Vito picking his younger brother as the Don which almost got Michael and Kay killed. If they were killed, Fredo would have been left in charge and the rest of the mob families would have destroyed what was left of Vito’s family. The movie shows there is no loyalty. The last scene between Vito and Michael was his father told him men can never be careless. Both films for me was watching Michael trying to find a way to family legit with casinos in Vegas and Cuba, but people kept betraying him…including Fredo, his own brother. He could not be careless if he wanted his family to live. Vito’s kids lived with him because his wife turned a blind eye to how he raised his money and she enjoyed the lifestyle it provided. Kay wasn’t like Michael’s mom who was once poor and struggling. Kay comes off as coming from an upper middle class family who has enough money to follow the rules and has no interest living in a criminal world. Michael’s biggest mistake once he decided to take over the family was marrying Kay, not killing Fredo because he was always going to a threat to Michael. Fredo had a lot of information on Roth regarding how he was planning to take out Michael but said nothing. I think that was one of the reasons Michael told Fredo he was dead to him since Fredo knew a key member of the congressional hearing worked for Roth…but said nothing.
Makes me wonder whether, ironically, this failure of Michael's may made him more successful than his farther in bringing up their children. Both Vito and Michael are adamant that their firstborns become lawyers rather than follow their fathers into the mafia. Vito's son, Sonny, perhaps enamored with the criminal "family" his father had built up, decides to join it and is ultimately assassinated. Michael's son, Anthony, also drops out of law school, but, having seen what the mafia life had turned his father into, becomes an opera singer.
I think Vito gets way too much credit. He decided to follow a life of crime once he killed the Black Hand and became a mob boss. To get to that position he killed a lot of people and even two key people he helped to make rich, Tess and Roth both tried to kill Michael. Being a mob boss lead to Sonny wanting to be like his dad which got him killed. Fredo also wanted to be the head of the family and resented Vito picking his younger brother as the Don which almost got Michael and Kay killed. If they were killed, Fredo would have been left in charge and the rest of the mob families would have destroyed what was left of Vito’s family. The movie shows there is no loyalty. The last scene between Vito and Michael was his father told him men can never be careless. Both films for me was watching Michael trying to find a way to family legit with casinos in Vegas and Cuba, but people kept betraying him…including Fredo, his own brother. He could not be careless if he wanted his family to live. Vito’s kids lived with him because his wife turned a blind eye to how he raised his money and she enjoyed the lifestyle it provided. Kay wasn’t like Michael’s mom who was once poor and struggling. Kay comes off as coming from an upper middle class family who has enough money to follow the rules and has no interest living in a criminal world. Michael’s biggest mistake once he decided to take over the family was marrying Kay, not killing Fredo because he was always going to a threat to Michael. Fredo had a lot of information on Roth regarding how he was planning to take out Michael but said nothing. I think that was one of the reasons Michael told Fredo he was dead to him since Fredo knew a key member of the congressional hearing worked for Roth…but said nothing.
A Vito lo amaban, pero a Michael le tenian miedo
Makes me wonder whether, ironically, this failure of Michael's may made him more successful than his farther in bringing up their children.
Both Vito and Michael are adamant that their firstborns become lawyers rather than follow their fathers into the mafia.
Vito's son, Sonny, perhaps enamored with the criminal "family" his father had built up, decides to join it and is ultimately assassinated.
Michael's son, Anthony, also drops out of law school, but, having seen what the mafia life had turned his father into, becomes an opera singer.