moodywritings

Movies|Books|Series Reviews and thoughts

[moodywritings]

Anatomy of a fall

I watched Anatomy of a Fall today. I really liked it—there’s just so much to unpack, so much to talk about, so much to try to understand.

And that’s the thing, isn’t it? Our need to understand everything that happens to us. Samuel’s death came as a shock. How could it happen? How could it be so simple? But the truth is—we never really know. We can’t.

And does not knowing make it easier? It doesn’t. It only becomes a matter of what we choose to believe.

What struck me was how hard it was for the court—and the people around—to believe that someone could take their own life. It’s easier to look for someone to blame than to understand someone’s pain.

They couldn’t grasp Samuel’s state of mind. Was he playing the victim, or was he desperately trying to be understood? A person is so complex. And when someone makes the decision to end their life, that complexity makes it nearly impossible for others to make sense of it.

His own therapist couldn’t understand him. Then who could?

It makes you ask—can one person ever truly understand another’s pain, their suffering? But even more than that—can you help someone who isn’t ready or willing to accept help?

[moodywritings]

Michael Corleone was always meant to rule — but that’s what destroyed him

sharing something i wrote after thinking about The Godfather again. i’ve always seen michael not just as a character caught in fate, but as someone who was always meant to rule—just in a different way. here’s my reflection:

i don’t think michael was ever dragged into the family business—he was always meant to rule. it was in him. people say he found happiness in sicily, but i don’t believe that. even there, he was using his name, his power. he wasn’t hiding, he was waiting. waiting for the right moment. the calling was already there.

apollonia’s death didn’t bring him back—it just cut off the last string tying him to a different life. he would’ve come back anyway. he was made for it.

don vito loved him deeply, but maybe that love became a kind of blindness. he wanted better for michael, so he kept him away from the mess. but michael didn’t want safety—he wanted control. and when he finally took it, he held on too tightly. he never let go. and that’s how he ended up powerful, but alone.

i always go back to that one scene—the flashback, where the family’s talking about michael joining the military. and he’s there, quiet, on the side. not part of the decision. not included. maybe if vito had brought him in from the start—mentored him, trusted him—michael could’ve changed everything. made the family clean. he had that vision, that calm, that mind.

they would’ve made a great team. but they never saw eye to eye.

and maybe that’s why the godfather is what it is. it’s not just a story about crime or power—it’s a tragedy. it shows you how your choices shape you, yes, but also how your circumstances do. and how, even in all that mess, you still have the power to change.

that’s why it stays with me. because michael could’ve been so much more.