Death of Don Ciccio (Spoiler)
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strntz — 9 years ago(November 08, 2016 05:11 PM)
Don Ciccio was already half dead and didn't even respond to his belly being sliced until halfway when he made the moan, LOL
I know. It's always bothered me that Don Cheech was so old and feeble he was barely aware of what was happening.
While it's likely a man of his age would be physically feeble, he could still have had all his mental faculties. My mom is 92 and is sharp as a tack. Try arguing politics with her and you'll get an earful.
My point is that I would have made Don Ciccio far more mentally capable. I would have loved to see that realization and fear in his eyes when Vito told him his father's name was Andolini, and he knew that the retribution he feared was about to come true. Could have been a far more powerful scene IMO.
Is very bad to steal Jobu's rum. Is very bad. -
michael-judd — 9 years ago(November 09, 2016 02:36 AM)
Have to agree there. IMHO Vito didn't give him enough time for the name Andolini to sink in before he stuck the blade in, the old Don seemed almost still to be unaware of what was going on. For all he knew, it was just some stranger that stuck a knife in him. I would have loved to see the look of horror gradually appear on his face as he realised that this was the same small, quiet nine year old boy who had seemed so powerless when he ran away all those years ago.
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strntz — 9 years ago(November 09, 2016 08:49 AM)
YES!
How about Don Tommasino putting his hand over Ciccio's mouth so he couldn't call out to his guards. After Vito explains he's Antonio Andolini's son, Vito says: "You said that it wasn't my words you were afraid of. Well, you were right Don Ciccio". (pulls out the knife). I have something for you from my father, my mother, and my brother.
Is very bad to steal Jobu's rum. Is very bad. -
Stevicus-2 — 9 years ago(November 09, 2016 07:36 PM)
I thought the same thing while watching that scene. But then, I suppose the revenge killing was not strictly to get emotional satisfaction, but also to send a message to anyone else still living to not mess with Don Vito. Don Ciccio was half dead anyway and probably senile too, so even if he had spent his last moments on Earth with the knowledge that someone was getting revenge for some guy who was killed decades earlier, it probably wouldn't have made that much difference.
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BartlebyScrivner — 9 years ago(November 10, 2016 09:13 AM)
I always thought it was pretty quick, myself, for Vito to have felt any real satisfaction. I mean, what was the point in killing the guy if he had no clue WTF was going on? Depending on his physical state, the shock of what Vito did might've numbed/killed him before he even felt any pain. There's a good chance he didn't even really suffer, and that what Vito did was essentially a mercy killing for an ancient, decrepit man with little cognitive ability left. I've heard people argue, "Oh, it was for his own satisfaction," but, wouldn't that satisfaction come from (as others have pointed out) Ciccio both knowing why he was dying, and/or feeling himself die?
If there was any hard-and-fast logic to the scene I'm betting that Stevicus-2 is right in that it's more a message to Vito's enemies (or potential enemies) that he'll track you down and kill you decades later no matter what, so don't mess with the guy. -
michael-judd — 9 years ago(November 11, 2016 08:21 AM)
Have to disagree here, the man had his father, mother and brother killed. Killing Fanucci was a business move, killing Don Ciccio was about as personal as it gets. If the old man had died of natural causes, he would have "gotten away with it", escaped retribution for the killing of the Andolini family. Even though he is old and feeble, the satisfaction comes in that it is Vito that kills him, not cancer, not a car accident, not another mobster. In doing this, he honours the memory of his family, by not allowing their deaths to go unpunished, not to mention the emotional satisfaction of killing this man that he must've hated for so most of his life.
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OptimumTaurus — 9 years ago(December 14, 2016 01:58 PM)
It was definitely a matter of honor.
Yes, Don Ciccio was senile and had no idea what was going on. But even if that's the case, Vito had to kill him for the sake of his slaughtered family.
Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgment.
-Michael Corleone