Due all the horrendous crimes he has committed, including killing his father and his own son, Luca Brasi is considered one of the most evil and dangerous antagonists of The Godfather franchise, despite his supposed loyalty to Vito Corleone.
In the book, we learn that Brasi was a crazed hitman, so hellbent on loyalty that he once killed a man who worked for the Corleone family because he thought he made them look bad. He also took part in the Olive Oil Wars, where he was in the room with six other hitmen and killed all of them in various bloody ways.
His almost fanatical loyalty to Don Corleone was unquestioned, and was said to have killed a Corleone soldier just for making the Corleone family look bad. Brasi often claimed that he'd sooner kill himself than betray the Godfather.
Vito Corleone was not afraid of Luca Brasi. Luca Brasi was the Don's enforcer and Brasi was fiercely loyal. That's why Vito's enemies wanted to eliminate Brasi. Off the leash he was a mortal threat to them.
Ultimately, Tessio betrays Michael by helping arrange his assassination at a peace summit with Barzini and Philip Tattaglia. The summit will be held in Tessio's fiefdom in Brooklyn, where Michael will presumably be safe. In return, Tessio was to inherit the Corleone family upon Michael's death.
Although Vito fears and dislikes Brasi, he eventually recruits the brutal thug into his crime family, knowing that Brasi's formidable reputation would intimidate the Corleone family's enemies.
He was reluctant to see Luca because, as Tom explained to his wife…”No Sicilian can refuse a request on his daughter's wedding day”. The Don was hesitant because he would have to honor whatever Luca might ask of him and was relived that no request was asked, just a personal 'thank you' for being invited.
Because Vito had become too good at his craft; he had tamed a human lion in Luca when no one else could; and the rest of the underworld had accepted they could never turn Luca.
Luca Brasi : Don Corleone, I am honored and grateful that you have invited me to your home on the wedding day of your daughter. And may their first child be a masculine child.
Lenny Montana (born Leonardo Passafaro; March 13, 1926 – May 12, 1992) was an American actor who played the role of feared hitman Luca Brasi in The Godfather.
Paulie has seemingly betrayed Vito—and thus the family—by selling him out. In The Godfather, this kind of betrayal is the worst of all sins. We see the matter discussed, in the Corleone family office, just before the viewer spends time in front of Clemenza's cozy abode.
Apparently, the studio executives thought Pacino was doing a poor job and described his performance as "anemic," he told the Washington Post.
Diane Keaton Recalls How Studio 'Didn't Want Al Pacino at All' Before Casting Him in' The Godfather'
This famous line is spoken by Peter Clemenza, played by Richard Castellano, in The Godfather (directed by Francis Ford Coppola, 1972).
Clemenza's strongest attribute to the Corleones was his stubborn loyalty, not his intelligence. Thus, regardless of his complaints about Michael, he would never have betrayed the Corleones. Clemenza was known as a superb judge of talent.
Of course he was a sociopath. He ran a major crime family, and a well-adjusted person with no mental nor emotional issues wouldn't be able to do that.
Autism? No. However, Don Vito had more of a Mustache Pete's point of view, seeing as to how he came from Sicily. He had formed his own way of thinking about the killing of family members since in the movie, his immediate family was all wiped out.
Before Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson was in the running to play Michael Corleone in The Godfather. But why did he turn down the iconic role? The Godfather is one of the most acclaimed and beloved movies of all time, which is arguably best remembered for its impressive ensemble.
Biography. A distinguished character actor, Richard S. Castellano was the highest earning actor in The Godfather, whose fame outside the saga included playing Joe Girelli in The Super. He also received an Academy Award nomination for his role in Love and Other Strangers.
Woodcut of Al Pacino. When Francis Ford Coppola and Paramount Pictures set out to cast the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather, they had a disagreement. The studio wanted Robert Redford, Warren Beatty or Ryan O'Neal.
Robert De Niro spent four months learning to speak the Sicilian dialect of Italian in order to play Vito Corleone. Nearly all of the dialogue that his character speaks in the film was in Sicilian. Originally, the actors in the flashback scenes wore pants with zippers.
Controversy surrounded the film from the beginning: Soon after Paramount Pictures announced its production, the Italian-American Civil Rights League held a rally in Madison Square Garden, claiming the film would amount to a slur against Italian Americans.
During a meeting with the other crime family dons to establish peace, Vito realizes that Barzini masterminded Sonny's murder. After Michael returns from Sicily, he assumes Sonny's place as Vito's heir apparent.
Michael and Vito might have placed some of the blame for Sonny's assassination on Tom. Though it turns out that Carlo Rizzi plotted with Barzini to set Sonny up, Michael and Vito probably believed that Tom didn't do enough to stop Sonny from leaving the safety of the family compound that day to find Carlo.