One of the heated debates Coppola had with the studio was over Pacino’s hair. He wanted Michael to look older and like a man in crisis, while the studio didn’t want to mess with Pacino’s distinctive looks. Coppola defends his casting of Sofia and feels that she delivered a “real” performance because she wasn’t an actor. Uh-huh. He also addresses the scathing criticism she received as in fact an attack on him. This is a solid track with good observations and analysis by Coppola—better than the film itself.

I wonder if Coppola recorded the three commentaries in one day? Probably not. Despite some pauses (they increase as the film goes on), this is a very solid and continuous commentary. He touches on the ongoing studio interference, as with many of his films he talks about cooking, in this case, making the gnocchi and his anguish at working out how to end the film after scrapping the original ending. He talks about how "Violence is a hard thing to do without repeating yourself". His commentaries are always screen specific, reflective, thoughtful and well edited. He mentions Godfather 4 at the very end and how he and Mario Puzo would have constructed it - unfortunately Puzo passed away.

Though Part III is the weakest of the Godfather Trilogy this commentary is well worth listening to: Coppola has done some of the best in the format (check out Pts I & II & the Apocalypse Now Dossier edition for more). He keeps a rigorous pace with the film & never once allows himself to get caught in the trap of "we shot this scene this way because...". He offers great insight into the production, technique, writing, etc.

After listening to his truly wonderful commentaries on Godfather 1&2 this was not a let down, it just a real downer. To hear the denial he still had about the choices he made (sophia) was a shocking. It reminds me that we are all human. He is still wonderful, warm, very informative but also sad.