I have seen the Godfather trilogy more times than you can imagine. I just love it. I do have an observation for people that have not seen it too many times.
Yes, they drink wine all the time. Remember Clemenza at the wedding, drinking wine from a pitcher. Wine was mostly a dinner/social beverage. “I like to drink wine more than I used to” – Vito. My focus at this time is on the beverage Anisette. It has greater meaning. Often times deadly, some times to soothe one’s nerves in a stressful situation.
Below is a description:
Anisette is a very sweet, colorless, licorice flavored Italian liqueur made from anise seed.
Seems like a nice beverage on a special occasion. Well, it actually served many purposes in the Godfather trilogy.
1. If you were very upset, somewhat respected and not a threat, you would be given a taste of Anisette to soothe your nerves. Remember Bonasera , the undertaker breaking down in front of Vito because his daughter was severely beaten and he wanted revenge. The Anisette was poured, Vito got his respect and vengeance would soon be had
2. If you were very upset and not respected, Anisette was used to calm you down and make you feel safe, like everything would be all right. All you needed to do was provide some information to Michael. Once Michael got his information, the Anisette was taken away. It served its purpose. Carlo was thrown out of the family business and ultimately strangled.
3. Anisette was also used as a business meeting/social beverage. Remember the meeting between Michael and Johnny Ola in Part 2. “Johnny, what can I get you?” , “Anisette” (said Johnny).
I hope you see that anisette came with a price tag. Respect, Kiss the Ring, Your Life or the goal of a business meeting.
What a wonderful beverage, I think.
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2 Responses to The Godfather And the Power of a Cocktail.
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In my ” family” we drink Sambuca..similar to annisette in both it’s use in social situations and it’s deadly potency…many times we have gone to what we call ” ‘bucaland”..and it is not a pretty place…
There is another beverage that I have used for many years, also with many purposes.
If you were a pretty girl, I would give you some to make you think i was funny and handsome – the goal being to get you to sleep with me
If you were unattractive I would drink the beverage myself, to make you appear more interesting and attractive – the goal being to get you to sleep with me.
Sometimes I would serve the beverage in large quantities to large numbers of people. Everyone would get happy and lose their sense of good judgement – the goal being to get someone to sleep with me
I have consumed this beverage liberally at ball games, social events, and even alone (sad, yes, but who are you to judge me!) The beverage has made me happy, sad, angry, wistful. It has made my muscles feel really big. It has given me grace and style on the dance floor. It has made me believe that I am the most interesting person in the room, and that there is no way that someone in the place would not want to sleep with me!!
What is this magical potable? Why, it’s none other than the traditional Irish nectar – beer. And thank God for whoever invented it. After 4 years in college, and countless trips to bars, clubs, weddings and wakes, it still has not worked in getting someone to sleep with me – so I’ll just keep on drinking it and passing it around – you never no!!