Licio Lucchesi

Lucchesi in his final moments, as portrayed in The Godfather Part III

Lucchesi in his final moments, as portrayed in The Godfather Part III

Licio Lucchesi, often referred to simply as 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 Italian actor Enzo Robutti.

Biography

A powerful figure in Italian politics who never goes anywhere without a team of police bodyguards, Lucchesi is the chairman of International Immobiliare, the world's largest real estate holding company Having worked with the corrupt Catholic Church officials Archbishop Gilday and Frederick Keinszig to drain the coffers of the 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 Immobiliare. Michael is already Immobiliare's largest single shareholder, and with the purchase of the Vatican's share he will have controlling interest.

Once Michael has transferred the money to the Vatican Bank, however, Lucchesi orders Gilday and Keinszig to stall the deal by claiming it can't be ratified 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 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. Michael by this time realizes that Altobello has turned against him, and has Vincent present 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 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 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 not only approve Michael's takeover of Immobiliare, but expose his criminal dealings as well. The Pope does indeed approve the Immobiliare deal, and begins an investigation of Keinszig's financial 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 and passes leadership 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 by his son 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 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, 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 have 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 various conspiracy theories related to the death of Pope John Paul I, both of which inspired the plot of the film.

External links

• The Godfather Part III at Internet Movie Database
• The Godfather Trilogy Fansite