By the time "The Godfather II", Mike has completely lost the tenderness and greenness of his youth. At this time, his facial expressions are often cold and firm. He looked at people's deception, hypocrisy, and betrayal coldly, and then eliminated the enemy without hesitation. He is like a god, looking down at all the illusions in the world from a high place, but he often complies with the old saying: "The high place is not cold." He is like a sharp blade, cold light out of its sheath, killing people in a moment, but the sharp blade also isolates him from all warm things such as family affection, love, friendship and so on. So he can mercilessly use his righteous brother Tom as a chess piece, he can close the door coldly in front of his wife, or stand in front of the window and watch his brother fall behind the gunshots. He talked about "business", so he was rejected by family members outside of business. His life has become a cup of self-pouring bitter wine. In fact, this is also the reality of most people: because of reality, we have to embark on a road that deviates from our nature to obtain achievements that were not what we originally wanted; then, tired of these achievements, we have to deviate even more. By nature, we are in a hopeless endless loop. In the end, we became our own burdens, our own enemies, and our own murderers. Whose fault is it? This question can actually be rephrased: whose choice is it?
All the endings were written at the moment Mike raised the gun to kill, and there was no turning back. The so-called "change" is nothing but consolation for self-deception in despair.
Then there is the old godfather who became famous in "The Godfather III", he even won the church medal, but on his old face, only weakness and exhaustion appeared. I just watched the beginning of this movie, but I also experienced the sadness and helplessness of what is called "the end of a hero." Perhaps the final death was a kind of salvation for Mike-he struggled all his life and finally got relief. It was the sadness of his doomsday that ultimately saved the movie: it is no longer a glorious ode to a gangster, but a sad tribute to a man who is borne by himself under the cruel wheel of fate. He was born in nothingness and died in nothingness, leaving behind a history full of filthy, sinful, extravagant, and prosperous.
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