I'll start the ball rolling with one that literally just happened to me. I've seen The Godfather countless times (Really... countless) In all the years I've watched it, I missed such a subtle nuance that it hit me like a ton of bricks today.
Michael comes to the hospital to find that Vito had been abandoned, & the stage had been set to finish his murder. He keeps a cool head, moves his father, tells him "I'm with you now", a double entendre hinting at now being a part of the organization
But the real surprise comes when he recruits the unwitting baker, Enzo, to join him in pretending they're armed guards, so to dissuade the attackers from making their attempt. The ruse succeeds, & what could've been a blood bath is averted. In the aftermath, Enzo the baker, is visibly rattled, so much that he can't even control his trembling hands enough to light his own cigarette. Michael takes the lighter & lights it for him, with a hand that is steady as a rock, unlike Enzo's.
What I've missed all this time is Michael's quick downward glance, where he notices that very thing, that he, unlike Enzo, is not rattled at all. He has a realization that this ice veined man is who he is. It's literally the birth of Don Michael, & I've never caught it before, because it's so damn fleeting.
Michael comes to the hospital to find that Vito had been abandoned, & the stage had been set to finish his murder. He keeps a cool head, moves his father, tells him "I'm with you now", a double entendre hinting at now being a part of the organization
But the real surprise comes when he recruits the unwitting baker, Enzo, to join him in pretending they're armed guards, so to dissuade the attackers from making their attempt. The ruse succeeds, & what could've been a blood bath is averted. In the aftermath, Enzo the baker, is visibly rattled, so much that he can't even control his trembling hands enough to light his own cigarette. Michael takes the lighter & lights it for him, with a hand that is steady as a rock, unlike Enzo's.
What I've missed all this time is Michael's quick downward glance, where he notices that very thing, that he, unlike Enzo, is not rattled at all. He has a realization that this ice veined man is who he is. It's literally the birth of Don Michael, & I've never caught it before, because it's so damn fleeting.
