Jump to content

Licio Lucchesi: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
No edit summary
Reverted to revision 96253687 by Essjay: Per AFD, this article was redirected, it should not have been recreated. (TW)
 
(8 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
[[Image:Lucchesi.jpg|right|Lucchesi in his final moments, as portrayed in ''The Godfather Part III'']]
#REDIRECT [[The Godfather Part III]]
'''Licio Lucchesi''', often referred to simply as '''[[Don (honorific)|Don]] Lucchesi''', is a fictional character in ''[[The Godfather Part III]]'', in which he is, along with [[Don Altobello]], one of the two chief antagonists. He is portrayed by [[Italy|Italian]] actor [[Enzo Robutti]].

== Biography ==
A powerful figure in [[Italy|Italian]] politics who never goes anywhere without a team of [[police]] [[bodyguard]]s, Lucchesi is the force behind the plot against [[Michael Corleone]]'s life. Having worked with the corrupt [[Catholic Church]] officials [[Archbishop Gilday]] and [[Frederick Keinszig]] to drain the coffers of the [[Institute for Works of Religion|Vatican Bank]] to the tune of several hundred million dollars, he now schemes to put it back before it can be missed by persuading [[Michael Corleone]] to purchase the [[Holy See]]'s 25% share in [[Società Generale Immobiliare|Immobiliare]], the world's largest [[real estate]] [[holding company]], which will give Michael control of the [[board of directors]].

Once Michael has transferred the money to the Vatican Bank, however, Lucchesi orders Gilday and Keinszig to stall the deal, claiming to be unable to ratify it without the signature of [[Pope Paul VI]], who is gravely ill. Meanwhile, Lucchesi — through his ally [[Don Altobello]], a [[New York City]] [[Mafia]] chieftain that Michael believes is still ''his'' ally — makes a deal with [[Joey Zasa]], the boss of the [[Corleone family]]'s criminal operations. In exchange for Altobello and Lucchesi's backing of his bid to become ''[[capo di tutti capi]]'' of the [[Five Families]], Zasa agrees to have Michael killed. Although Zasa's assassination attempt — a [[helicopter]] and [[submachine gun]] raid on a meeting of [[the Commission (mafia)|the Commission]] in [[Atlantic City]], which leaves most of the bosses dead — puts him in a position of power, he fails to kill Michael or his new protégé, [[Vincent Mancini]]. Shortly thereafter, Vincent (acting without Michael's knowledge) assassinates Zasa.

Soon thereafter, Michael, Vincent, and the rest of the family travel to [[Sicily]]. On Michael's instructions, Vincent presents himself to Altobello, claiming that he is dissatisfied with Michael and willing to defect. Altobello introduces Vincent to Lucchesi, who explains their whole scheme to him. As Vincent returns to Michael to tell him of the plot, Altobello (on Lucchesi's orders) travels to the small village of [[Montelepre]], where he hires the veteran [[hitman]] [[Mosca (The Godfather)|Mosca]] to kill Michael. Although Mosca's first attempt on Michael's life is unsuccessful, he succeeds in killing [[Don Tommasino]], the Mafia boss and old friend of [[Vito Corleone]], who served as Michael's protector in [[Sicily]] during the events of [[The Godfather|the first ''Godfather'' film]].

Days later, the Pope dies, and the reformist [[Cardinal Lamberto]] is elected [[Pope John Paul I]]. This frightens Lucchesi, who believes that the new Pontiff will authorize the Immobiliare deal, and also possibly fire Gilday and Keinszig and expose their criminal dealings. Lucchesi orders Gilday to arrange the Pope's death, by slipping some [[poison]] into his evening [[tea]]. Meanwhile, Michael has officially retired from the Mafia, passing the title of don of the Corleone family to Vincent, who makes ready take his revenge against Lucchesi and his coconspirators.

On [[Easter]], as Michael and his family attend a performance of ''[[Cavalleria rusticana|Cavalleria Rusticana]]'' by his son [[Anthony Corleone|Anthony]] at the ''[[Teatro Massimo]]'', Vincent simultaneously orders the assassinations of Lucchesi, Altobello, Gilday, and Keinszig. Lucchesi is the last to die. Calo, the former bodyguard of Don Tommasino, arrives at Lucchesi's office claiming to bear a message from Michael. After being thoroughly [[frisking|frisked]] for weapons, he is allowed to approach Lucchesi. Calo whispers to Lucchesi, "Power wears out those who do not have it", then stabs Lucchesi through the throat with his own [[glasses]]. Calo is then himself gunned down by his target's team of bodyguards.

== Inspiration ==
On the [[audio commentary]] for the [[DVD]] release of the film, [[film director|director]] and co-screenwriter [[Francis Ford Coppola]] states that the Lucchesi character could be very recognizable for Italian citizens. The thick-rimmed glasses, the official police bodyguards, and the message that Calo whispers to him before he dies are all said to be clues to the actual person Lucchesi is at least partly based on. This has led many to conclude that the character is based on [[Giulio Andreotti]], the seven-time [[Prime Minister of Italy]] who had proven links with the Mafia and who is the source of the saying "Power wears out those who do not have it."

It is also suspected that Lucchesi's first name, "Licio" (and, indeed, his whole character), may be a reference to [[Licio Gelli]], the prominent Italian [[financier]] and leader of [[Propaganda Due]], who played a leading role in both the collapse of [[Banco Ambrosiano]] and the [[Pope John Paul I conspiracy theories|various conspiracy theories related to the death of Pope John Paul I]], both of which inspired the plot of the film.

== External links ==
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099674/ The Godfather Part III] at [[Internet Movie Database]]
* [http://www.thegodfathertrilogy.com/gf3/ The Godfather Trilogy Fansite]

{{Godfather}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucchesi, Licio}}
[[Category:The Godfather characters]]
[[Category:Fictional politicians]]
[[Category:Fictional Italian people]]

[[it:Licio Lucchesi]]

Latest revision as of 15:07, 25 March 2013