What's with the lady watching TV at the end?
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electronod — 13 years ago(October 28, 2012 10:34 AM)
What is her stage name? I want to research her. She's mentioned nowhere. The poor dear was the legitimate wife of Leo and had his child as mentioned in the Katz And Jammer Bar. (Was that really William Petersen behind the plank?) As Leo's wife of many years and mother of his child, she was well aware of his dealings and was probably aware of Barry's murder. She never discounted the possibility of a home invasion or other retaliatory events. And besides, what would you do if someone pointed a weapon at you? You would probably freeze like she did. Play it cool like she did. And in all likelyhood she probably ran for her life as soon as Frank progressed with his infiltration. But the real question is, why did Frank allow Attaglia to keep his pistol? I suppose Frank will collect on the insurance money and blame Leo and the local Mafia faction for the destruction of his house, his used car dealership and his bar. He'll probably hook up with Jessie and baby David and start anew in some thriving metropolis with a warm sunny climate, all the more wiser and free of his immaturity and will buy a photo album instead of a folded collage kept in his wallet.
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pHfactory — 13 years ago(March 31, 2013 10:01 AM)
Basically, this is Mann's third, and final statement on the relationships of successful criminals, and their wives. First, when 'Frank' picks-up 'Jesse' in the bar, and goes for a drive in the Cadillac, he point-blank tells her he's a straight-up thief. He never told his first wife that, and that marriage failed. Then in the all-night scene, when 'Jesse' is considering 'Frank's proposal, she states the dilemma of BEING a criminal's wife - "You don't know from one day to the next whether you'll killed, go home, or get busted." She'll have to accept this reality if she's going to hook-up with him. Finally, 'Leo's wife, who had MANY years ago accepted the very same ever-present danger, and spent a lifetime emotionally-preparing for exactly such a scenario, accepts the inevitable with complete detachment. She's likely played out this exact scenario, in her head, dozens of times over the years. So basically, Mann was saying that in that world, in order to have a long-term successful relationship, the wife must accept this is one of the hazards of the job, and part and parcel of the lifestyle. She knows where the money comes from, she's got a good idea what he does to get it, but he never tells her anything about his work, and she never asks. Her job is to create a home where he leaves his other world at the doorstep, raises their kids and gets an AMEX Gold Card for life. Because she's never been a part of 'Leo's 'work', in her mind, she's not even in the same room with Frank.
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Redux006 — 12 years ago(July 21, 2013 12:45 AM)
I figured it was the boss's wife. We all know what an a**hole the boss was, so probably after many years together she didn't care what happened to him. Couldn't even be bothered to stop watching TV when she saw someone coming to kill him. Also she was probably used to that sort of thing happening around there, so wasn't particularly surprised.
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chrisschock — 11 years ago(July 28, 2014 07:55 AM)
I think people are reaching a bit too far on this one. I would say she is Leo's wife. Her non reaction is probably a mix of apathy and understanding. Understanding that Frank is not there to kill her and if she keeps quiet she will be ok.
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artdoag2-180-159078 — 9 years ago(May 25, 2016 09:46 PM)
I replied to the OP about three years ago.
Watching parts of this movie tonite, I wondered if the "Leo's Wife" scene could have gone a different way. We all agree that in her two seconds of screen time, Michael mann attempted to convey quite a few concepts, which we have pretty much covered on this board these last few years. She knew what was coming, that Leo's ways would lead to something like this. Her bland stare sells it all. She steals the scene.
Here's a different way it could have been done, in hindsight:
Frank sneaks in, whacks the guy at the fridge. He advances down the hallway, and runs into the wife, and holds his fire. She gasps in fear and freezes, and without any prompting from Frank, nods her head or gently points in the direction where Leo has ran to. Frank acknowledges and continues on down the hallway.
I think this could have even more effectively told her story as she basically expresses to Frank,
I knew someone like you would show up one day. Geez, about time. Go on, I won't say a word. -
Noir-It-All — 9 years ago(November 10, 2016 12:42 PM)
In The Godfather novel, there is a brief scene where Tom Hagen watches Mama Corleone cook with the other women in the family when he knew that the Sonny Corleone vs Carlo Rizzi situation was about to come to a head. She acted as if nothing bad was happening.
He concluded that Senora Corleone chose "not to perceive" as a way of surviving the stress of being a don's wife and acting don's mother. Earlier in the story, remember when Sonny told her that "they shot Pop"? She was cooking peppers and just turned off the gas, took off her apron and said she would get read to go to the hospital.
And, she seemed to love the Don and Sonny.
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne