The Godfather Part II
★★★★★ Rewatched 06 Jul 2020
Throughout the Godfather and the Godfather Part II, Coppola artfully juxtaposes secular law, the tides of capitalism, and Catholicism as the invisible hands shaping the fate of the Corleone family. In Catholicism, confessed sins are organized categorically. The most grievous sin variety is a Mortal Sin. Mortal Sins are believed to estrange the sinner so far from God’s grace that if they do not repent their sin before death they will be damned. In order for a sin to be considered mortal it must meet the three requirements of being: a grave matter (an act that is evil and and of itself such as murder or perjury), committed with full knowledge (the sinner knew full well that they were sinning), and also must have been committed with deliberate consent (the sinner deliberately chose to sin and was not circumstantially forced.) Michael, guilty of both murder and perjury amongst other sins (which he has committee with both full knowledge and deliberate consent) is undeniably a mortal sinner. He has even undermined his Catholicism so far as to utilize his status as a godfather, a church role, for “business.” In the ideology of capitalism, the equivalent of a Mortal Sin, is purposeful inefficiency or purposeful hindrance of monetary gain. These two varieties of sin (capital sins and mortal sins) have an inverse relationship. When characters within the Godfather series act more as mortal/Catholic sinners they are capitalist saints and in the rare moments where they do have appeals to morals, their reverence for Italy, family or God hinders business efficacy and makes them capitalist sinners. Vito, though undeniably a mortal sinner, does have occasional moments in which he makes business sacrifices for his own moral code. These “lapses in judgment” ultimately cost Vito his street credibility, his power and almost his life. Michael is aware of how it was instances of “softness” that cost his father in business so he hardens his heart and Coppola wants to make this clear
