How Vito Stopped Luca Brasi KILLING Tom Hagen | The Godfather 

*Why Luca Brasi wanted to kill Tom Hagen | The Godfather:* ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RkPeDU6RT-Q.html

I especially agree that Luca was always given the toughest assignments that required sheer force of will. The book makes it clear that Luca’s loyalty to the Don was beyond question. That alone is very useful. Luca inspired fear, and no one would cross him. Even Sonny was nervous around him, and the Don never felt quite at ease. The film does well, but only in the scene where the Don listens to Luca’s speech at the wedding do we get a sense of how important the man is to Vito. It is clear that the Don is uncomfortable and inconvenienced, yet he makes sure to focus all his attention on Luca. It is perhaps one of the few times the Don does not seem comfortable in his own skin.

Luca Brasi was Don Vito’s enforcer - he was tough, ruthless, sadistic, psychopathic, so much so that Vito actually feared him. But he also knew that Luca was extremely loyal to him. Somebody in Vito’s position needs an enforcer like Luca - one who works alone, doesn’t leave traces or witnesses, and would rather die than implicate him. And the Don gave his toughest assignments to Luca. The Jack Woltz (studio head) assignment wasn’t a typical Luca assignment but it was tricky. He had to sever the horse’s head in the stable without waking the house staff, find a way into the house, into Waltz’s bedroom without waking him up, place the head at his foot without waking him up and then leave in secrecy and silence. Luca had the brawn for it and he demonstrated brains by the finesse with which he executed it. The horse’s head in the bed was a cinematic masterstroke both inside the film and outside of it. It made Don Vito a legend the Godfather a legend. The reason I have attached the clip is to show Don Vito’s distaste for the assignment. Vito had strict codes of personal behavior and he considered Johnny Fontane’s fooling around with the “actress, this child” an “infamia”. But more than that he was bound by the godfather-godson covenant which Sicilians considered very sacred. Therein lies the significance of the title of the film.

In the book The Don says this about Luca after pointing about that there are lots of people in the world with short tempers looking for conflict and death: “ Luca Brasi was such a man. But he was such an extraordinary man that for a long time nobody could kill him. Most of these people are of no concern to ourselves but a Brasi is a powerful weapon to be used. The idea is that since he does not fear death and indeed looks for it, then the trick is to make yourself the only person in the world that he truly desires not to kill him. He has only that one fear, not of death but that you may be the one to kill him. He is yours then.”

What a brilliant tactical move by vito corleone to ally himself with el diablo, Luca Brasi. Anyone else would have lashed out in anger and had him killed. Certainly any of the Don's enemies would have played that stupid ploy. Instead he deposed Mariposa, who dreaded Brasi and turned him into his personal hatchet man. Literally. Anyone who read that fabulous book knows that Brasi hacks an Al Capone hitman to pieces with an axe in an abandoned warehouse. His accomplice swallowed a towel stuffed in his mouth in sheer terror. Such a man in the words of vito has no fear of death only that you may be the one to kill him. Vito like his son Michael was a true puppet master, bending his friends and enemies to his will.

Luca Brasi rehearsing his wedding wishes for Don Corleone as he waits outside the Don’s office is actually Lenny Montana rehearsing his lines, and his classic, stammering homage to the Don (“And I hope that their first child be a masculine child”) is actually the result of the wrestler’s blowing his lines, in a way no trained actor could ever have accomplished. “We were doing the scene in the office where Luca Brasi comes in and says, ‘Don Corleone, I am honored to be here on the day of your daughter’s wedding,’” says James Caan, and the hulking Montana froze. “Francis comes to me and says, ‘Jimmy, loosen him up or something.’ So I grabbed Lenny and said, ‘Len, you’ve got to do me a favor. Stick out your tongue, and I’m going to put a piece of tape on your tongue, and it will say “Fuck You” on it.’ And Lenny says, ‘No, Jimmy, stop. Don’t make me do this.’ And I said, ‘Lenny, you’ve got to trust me. We need to get laughs in here. Everybody’s going to sleep.’ He had a tongue like a shoebox. So I put this tape on his tongue, and I said, ‘Remember, when you say, “Don Corleone,” stick your tongue out.’ So everybody got set up, and Francis says, ‘Roll ’em.’ Boom! Lenny goes, ‘Don Corleone,’ sticks his tongue out, and ‘Fuck You.’ Everybody’s laughing. Brando was on the floor. Luca got loose. The next day, he comes in and goes, ‘Don Corleone,’ and Brando went, ‘Luca,’ sticks his tongue out, and he has ‘Fuck You, Too’ on his tongue.”

With filming well under way, the part of Luca Brasi, Don Corleone’s ruthless henchman, was still not cast. “After I made the deal with the league, some of the guys used to come around,” says Ruddy. One day, one of the young dons was accompanied by his bodyguard, a six-foot-six, 320-pound behemoth named Lenny Montana. He was a world wrestling champion who moonlighted in various jobs in the Mob.

The key elements of his usefulness were Luca could not be reasoned with, frightened off, bribed or extorted. He doesn’t care about anything or anyone other than his choice to be loyal to his Don. He doesn’t need or want any help in committing murders. So there’s less chance of detection or arrest. In the back of their mind anyone who opposes Vito or gets on Vito’s bad side has to worry about Luca shoving them into an oven or chopping them up or insert horrible death here. Having Luca around keeps people in line.

Lenny Montana was a pro wrestler he liked to hangout out at OTB on Long Island and was associated with the Columbo CRIME family.

From the book we know that even before he met the Don, Luca had a foul reputation which culminated in the murder of his child and the mother of his child. Afterwards the Don used him as a psycho for hire, judiciously unleashing him as a particularly savage Rottweiler might be used. Luca’s murder and mutilation of the Capone hoodlums ‘convinced’ Capone to stay out of Vito’s affairs. During the Don’s attempts to cull the organized crime milieu of independents, Luca by himself murdered the entire Irish gang who had resisted Vito. Luca also murdered another Family boss who had tried to interfere. Presumably there were many other murders. Even the kill crazy Sonny doesn’t match Luca’s malevolence or body count.

I really appreciate your understanding and insite on the movies and books of "The Godfather." Your passion and love for these mythos is obvious by the way you describe your perspective and your understanding of these great fiction and perhaps somewhat nonfiction stories. And I look forward to more of your insightful comtent; Brilliant Bro

Lenny Montana (Luca Brasi) was so nervous about working with Marlon Brando that in the first take of their scene together, he flubbed some lines. Director Francis Ford Coppola liked the genuine nervousness and used it in the final cut. The scenes of Luca practicing his speech were added later.

Hi there...!!! I really like your videos...can you please make video on what were the business of Corleone family in detail and what were operated..like rackets,etc..please ???

Cineranter, you the real mvp man. I love your videos, and your voice relaxes me.

Aside from the other things that Luca did (the many hits, the horse’s head), the reaction to Luca’s absence tells us that he was very useful. When the Don was hit, Tom tells Sollozzo that no one can call off Luca Brasi. In the book, Tom is surprised by Sollozzo’s nonchalant reaction. Sollozzo seemed more concerned with Sonny, who was indeed fierce, but he did not equal Luca, and Sonny knew that. Sonny kept having people call Luca on the phone. Aside from the Don’s condition, people wanted to know where Luca was. Sollozzo made sure to neutralize Luca so that he would not have to deal with him. So that should tell the viewer plenty. Sollozzo’s one mistake was not realizing that the Don was just not ready to die. And really, how could he know such a thing? But he accounted for everything else, especially Luca. So when everyone finds out that Luca is swimming with the fishes (in the book, it is Tom who explains the symbol to everyone else), Sonny and the capos are devastated. Luca only cared about one thing: taking care of the Don. Losing that with his physical prowess, intimidation and ability to carry through on all promises is useful indeed. Neri became Michael’s Luca Brasi when he took over the empire.

I'm not aware of this book you're referring to, but I'm going to look for it. This angle of Luca, and the pregnant girl has already been used. Or, revealed I should say. Either in the original book by Puzo, or in one of the extra scenes versions. Though in that, there's no mention of Tom Hagen being involved. The midwife tells Michael about her involvement being forced to by Luca Brasi.

Can't wait for the next episode!!!!

You really do excellent accurate work

Seems like a different Brasi then the one at the wedding

What a difference the Luca in the book & Luca in the movie

Too bad Vito sent Luca on a stupid spying assignment that got him killed. Anyone could have seen through that fake rouse of betraying Vito. I thought Vito did that to intentionally get Luca killed off.

Coppola fell in love with him immediately, and he was cast as Brasi. “He used to tell us all these things, like, he was an arsonist,” says Frederickson. “He’d tie tampons on the tail of a mouse, dip it in kerosene, light it, and let the mouse run through a building. Or he’d put a candle in front of a cuckoo clock, and when the cuckoo would pop out, the candle would fall over and start a fire.”

Now I know why I never heard of Luca ever trying to kill Tom before - because it's not in the original novel (which I read) or any of the three movies (which I saw) before.

This was clearly written by someone who thought Luca was a lot cooler, and less damaged than he actually was.

Very good CineRanter..very good indeed!

Imagine this animated with like amazing animation and voice acting 🔥🔥🔥

Respect to Vito for not folding under fear or pressure from Luca. Luca's stance didn't make him crack or crumble or result to threats he just kept on playing until he won.

Vito sent Luca Brasi to his own Demise.😂

Interesting info

you should record audiobooks bro, i was so zoned in when you were reading the book parts and wished youd kept going lol

I hope you cover more soon

Do you think it would be worthwhile for a writer to maybe write some prequel to the Godfather using some of these interesting fringe characters

He wanted Tom because of a woman....isn't that how most good men fell throughout history?

When Bettye McCartt broke her watch, a cheap red one, Montana noticed. “He said, ‘What kind of watch would you like?,’ and I said, ‘I’d like an antique watch with diamonds on it, but I’ll get another $15 one.’ A week passes, and Lenny comes and he’s got a Kleenex in his hand wadded up, and he’s looking over his shoulder every step of the way.” He placed the wad of Kleenex on her desk. She opened it, and there was an antique diamond watch inside. “And he says, ‘The boys sent you this. But don’t wear it in Florida.’”

Luca Brasi was the boss of a small gang that worked on its own. Luca and his gang were terribly feared by the other New York families because of the cruel, smart and incredibly fast ways to do business. Even Vito Corleone himself feared Luca Brasi and he talked with him several times trying to make an alliance so Vito can beat the Mariposa family’s Don: Giuseppe Mariposa, (which he could, but for different reasons). Luca Brasi said ‘no’ to Vito’s deals every single time because his interests were money and narcotics. But, one day, Luca Brasi had a child with his girlfriend, who Luca knew was having an affair with Tom Hagen, and he killed the girl, and threw the toddler into a heating oven and caused himself an overdose that damaged his brain so badly that he lost the abilities of talk properly or to think about something for more than 5 seconds. Vito saw that as an opportunity to talk to him and make a deal that involves Luca joining the Corleone Family and him forgiving Tom Hagen for the affair with his girlfriend. Luca said yes. With that deal done, the Corleone Family became the powerful family that we all saw on The Godfather I, mostly after a shooting involving Luca getting shot in the heart and surviving the wound because of a plate armor he was wearing. And that’s why the Tattaglia family and Virgil Sollozzo got rid of Luca Brasi as soon as they could

Harvey Kietel puts Luca in his place in the film "Fingers".😬

That's doggone interesting because I don't read the book three times call myself a true fans of The Godfather mainly wanted to and I don't remember hearing or reading anything about Tom sleeping with Luca brasi's woman I did briefly Luca Brasi and they didn't give you much about it but the book certainly did that's what what I must have really slept on special with Tom Hagen involved book tells about how ruthless and Luca Brasi was

It's Time for a full through godfather tv series

That's some Luca.

Finally found this

I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THEM MAKE A MOVIE ON THIS BOOK.

Thank you very much.

is this from the book

I would hate to have to wrestle the actor who played Luca Brasi, Lenny Montana. Hat's off to all the wrestlers who got in the ring with this huge man.

Any supposition by anyone other than Mario Puzo regarding the dynamics within the Corleone family is a ridiculous waste of time and should be discarded with the trash. Even Mario skirted around the truths he was exposing. While not approving of the closeness in the events portrayed, they did keep eyes and ears during the production. And this was respected by Francis Coppola. Any other input is purely speculative. Especially from one that has no direct contact or knowledge of the reality included within the novel framework. The unwritten and unsaid premise throughout the film is do not speculate, calculate.

Wow!

Thank you very much for removing that irritating screaming intro you used to have. Subscribed. :)

Ok

Capo Do Tutti I Cappi

Niccce

Luca was a "Special" I don't even think Luca had a Living ( Shylock or Numbers ), I may be wrong but I think he got a Fat Envelope Every Week Straight from Genco Olive Oil Co....

I've let it slide before, tho your last sentence was not only redundant, but contains a misspelling. you're way too intelligent for those kinds of mistakes. but the content is, as usual, great.

Long winded explanation.