Art Of War, Chapter 9: The Army on the March
“Pass quickly over mountains, and keep in the neighborhood of valleys”--Sun Tzu
The Godfather (Mario Puzo): “Every man has but one destiny”
In this scene, Michael is still in exile in Sicily after murdering a New York Police Captain and a drug dealer. During his exile, he marries a young Sicilian woman named Apollonia. They are staying in the villa of a local Don who is a friend of The Godfather but for only a short time. Enemy spies are also in Sicily and Michael can’t stay in one place for long. His car is booby-trapped with a bomb that kills his new wife and this death of an innocent represents his baptism into his father’s world and seals his destiny to take over the Corleone empire. The Biblical metaphor here is that his love for Apollonia represented the one thing that could come between himself and complete unconditional surrender to his father’s will. Apollonia’s death and the poverty of his homeland enables Michael to fully understand his father’s determination to not be a puppet on anyone's string. Also, as explained in the previous clip, the Don had cleared the way for Michael to return to America and if Apollonia had not died, Michael may not have made the decision to return to America and stand by his father. Throughout this film, death complements life in some form or another.
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