The Godfather Tour in Sicily Dr. Law Chi Lim Readers of this column who were teenagers or young adults around the 1970s must have heard about and most likely seen the three Godfather movies that were released in 1972,1974 and 1990 respectively. These movies received a total of 29 Oscar nominations and won 9 of them. The original Godfather movie was considered to be one of the greatest films in world cinema , and ranked as the second greatest film in American cinema ( behind “Citizen Kane”) by the American Film Institute.

Summary of the story This is an epic tale of a of Sicilian immigrant ( with Marlon Brando as Don Corleone Godfather) to New York in the 1940s and his struggle to become one of the most important Mafia family in America. In the first movie, the Godfather’s second son ( Michael , played by Al Pacino) was exiled to Sicily after killing a corrupt New York policeman. There, he met and married a local girl ( Apollonia) who was soon murdered by a car- bomb . Michael subsequently returned to New York and became the ruthless leader of the family. In Godfather III, Michael returned to Sicily to attend an opera performance by his son , and witnessed his daughter murdered on the steps of the Opera House there . At the end of the movie, he died a lonely old man in the court yard of the same house he lived in before during his exile days. Since the release of the movies, fans have flocked to the movie locations in Sicily. Most of the locations are conveniently located within half an hour’s drive from the tourist town of Taormina which is also a popular port of call for Mediterranean cruise ships.

Castello degli Schiavi This medieval castle was built in the 1700s and has been in the Platania family since. When we visited the castle earlier this year , we were received by the Baron himself who was a very elegant and hospitable gentleman. This castle featured prominently in all three Godfather movies. This was the house where Michael lived in exile during his time in Sicily , where Apollonia was blown up in the car ,and also where Michael finally died at the end of Part III . We had a lot of fun posing for pictures . A particular good one was putting in a small chair in the exact spot where Michael died and getting someone to sit there slumping in the chair. What was missing, of course, were a walking stick, an orange, and a lone dog which apppeared in the movie. At the end of the tour , the Baron treated us to cocktail and cakes and showed us a specially edited video with scenes from the movies featuring this castle. He was still a young man in 1972 when the movie was made , and there were pictures of him posing with the movie stars. He also confided in us that the bedroom scene for the wedding night of Michael and Apollonia was in fact shot in his very own bedroom.

Savoca Even to this day, and in spite of having been a Godfather pilgrimage site for fans of the movies for the last four decades, the hill-top village of Savoca has maintained many of its medieval charm, with narrow cobbled stone alleys and old stone houses. The Bar Vitelli with its splendid terrace looking down to the sea is an obligatory stop. Just outside the bar, five of us posed for pictures just like it was in the movie when Michael discussed his proposed marriage to Apollonia with her father. A group of local Italians looked at us in amusement and one of them asked us if we knew that this was not the original Corleone village. Of course we did. Savoca was chosen as the “Corleone village” in the film because by the 1970s, the original Corleone Village ( which was in fact on the other side of the island) was too built up. A short walk uphill brought us also to the small church where Michael and Apollonia was married. It is rather unfortunate that the church has now been renovated and has lost a lot of its rustic appearance in the original movie.

Forza D’ Agro Compared to the above two sites , this town only has one church that was featured many time throughout the Trilogy. In God father II , the Godfather as a young boy was seen passing by the church , hidden in a bag and carried by a donkey. Michael, as an exile , also walked around the church , and he also took his American wife ( played by Diane Keaton) to visit the church.

Need to Know 1. To avoid the cruise ship crowd , try to go to Savoca as your last stop late in the afternoon when the crowds are gone. 2. Avoid weekends and public holidays when the traffic around the areas can be jam- packed. 3. Bring along the Godfather movie original music scores to play in the car while you are travelling from one site to another . This would set you in the mood properly.