No other franchise can compete with The Godfather when it comes to the absolute talent taking up every role. Minor characters who only have five or six minutes of screen time are played by actors working on a different level to most, and some of the monologues they deliver stands next to those that come from the major players.
The sheer range of most of the performances is so impressive, but the actors partly have the material to thank. The screenplays for the movies, even including Part III, are fantastic, and the dialogue is so rich. Even the smallest of roles have the most memorable of movie monologues.
Joey Zasa Declares Michael His Enemy
The Godfather Part III obviously has a bad reputation, at least compared to its predecessors, but there's still a lot to love about the movie. One of which is Michael's new foe, Joey Zasa, even though a lot of people didn't like how fame-hungry and theatrical the antagonist was.
But in that respect, a lot of parallels between him and John Gotti can be drawn, which makes the character far more interesting. And with that in mind, his speech before the famous helicopter scene is fascinating, as he talks about how he's a bella figura, which means "to make a good impression." And right after complementing himself, he declares Michael his enemy and storms out.
Luca Brasi Thanks Don Corleone
Luca Brasi is the Godfather's best mob enforcer, as he's the most feared of all of them, even though that isn't exactly how it seems in the first movie. The way Luca is depicted is one of the biggest differences between the movie and the book, as the film makes him seem like a goofball.
Luca Brasi's monologue when he visits Vito during the wedding is one of the funniest scenes in the movie, as the character is so nervous to be around the mob boss. What makes the monologue even better is that he can be seen practicing it, mumbling to himself in the corner of the garden.
Jack Woltz Goes On His Tirade
Jack Woltz is a petty movie producer who doesn't deserve his fortune, and though the same could be said for most of the characters in the mobster series, the character is so vulgar in his racism. The way Woltz talks about Italians to Tom Hagen is disgusting, but it's delivered in such an impressive and impassioned monologue.
Jack leans over Tom, yelling about how he can't be muscled by the Corleone family, using all sorts of colorful language, and at that moment, audiences know it can't possibly end well for him. The next day, the character wakes up with his most prized horse's head in his bed, and he's lucky that's all that happened to him.
Kay Tells Michael She Had An Abortion
When it comes to powerful performances in the Godfather series, there's no doubt that everybody brought their A-game, whether it was Marlon Brando or James Caan. But the intensity between Al Pacino and Diane Keaton when Kay admits to Michael that she had an abortion feels real.
Kay screams at Michael, calling him blind and calling their unborn son "something unholy and evil." Keaton delivers the monologue perfectly, and every word feels like an uppercut to Michael's jaw. And Pacino's facial reaction as he's listening is terrifying, as he's visibly shaking.
Hyman Roth Speaks To Michael For The Last Time
As far as gangsters go, Hyman Roth is a very learned man, so when he opens his mouth to speak, everybody around immediately stops talking. It doesn't matter whether he's giving a monologue about his and Michael's business partnership or birthday cake (which was just as compelling.)
When he and Michael meet in Havana, one of the most iconic Godfather locations, Roth gives an earnest, bittersweet monologue about how he knows he's close to death, but also that he's excited about their empire. He ends with the classic line, "Michael, we're bigger than U.S. Steel." The idea that a mafia business partnership is bigger than U.S. steel, or at least was in the 50s, is a terrifying thought.
Signor Roberto Meets With Vito For The Second Time
The scene where landlord Signor Roberto visits Vito at his olive oil business in the 1910s is one of the most unique scenes in the whole series. For three minutes, The Godfather Part II turns into a comedy.
After finding out who Vito is and what he's capable of, Roberto becomes overly nice and falls into a nervous ramble that snowballs into him throwing money at Vito. He then struggles to open the door to leave, all the while the monologue is still nervously pouring out of him. It's almost like a Charlie Chaplin or even a Mr. Bean sketch, and it's helped by the fact that Roberto is played by Leopoldo Trieste, who was an Italian comedian at the time.
Sollozzo Speaks His Last Words
For most of the dinner between Michael, Sollozzo, and McClusky, Michael stays completely silent, just running out the clock until it's all over. And what follows is one of the most iconic murders in the series too, as Michael shoots both Sollozzo and McClusky dead. Michael knows that the conversation doesn't really matter, but Sollozzo and McClusky don't, so Michael has to keep the facade going.
Sollozzo speaks for a couple of minutes in Sicilian, and it isn't even translated. The tension builds as audiences know Michael's plan. And that's part of why the non-translated Sicilian doesn't even matter, because viewers are too caught up in the heart-racing tension to even pay attention to what's going on.
Fredo Argues That He's Smart
When people hear the word monologue, they think about powerful people who are well-spoken, standing up straight, and confident. But that couldn't be any more opposite when Fredo is coming clean and confessing to Michael that he went behind his back in The Godfather Part II.
Also known as the "I'm smart" monologue, Fredo is slouched back in a long chair, exhausted and angry that people don't respect him and think he's stupid. The fact that Fredo is the dumb brother of the Corleone family is one of the funniest Godfather memes, but it's so heartbreaking when he's helplessly sitting in that cabin in Lake Tahoe.
Michael Explains His Plan To Kill Sollozzo
The haunting portrayal of the way Michael slowly turns evil is one of the ways The Godfather still holds up today. And the very first glimpse audiences get of that is when he sits down in his father's office and thinks out loud. He brings up the idea of murdering Sollozzo and McClusky.
What makes the monologue even better is the way the camera slowly closes in on him as Michael explains the plan, building the tension. His brothers are shocked by the idea, as Michael's supposed to be the sweet war hero of the family. And even though he lays out the plan perfectly, in one of the few moments of levity in the movie, the whole family starts laughing at him.
Bonasera Goes To Don Corleone For Help
The Godfather trilogy is full of one amazing monologue after another, but the best of them all is still the very first one in the series. The very opening line of dialogue, "I believe in America," is iconic, and it begins Bonasera's request for Vito Corleone's help and sets the whole series into motion.
It's a two-minute speech that still sends shivers down fans' spines, and even though it doesn't come from one of the main actors, Salvatore Corsitto delivers it in such a believable manner. The actor depicts Bonasera as nervous for asking for such a request, but also passionate, as he still wants revenge on the man who raped his daughter. It will always be one of the best monologues in cinema history.