1. Overview
Emilio "The Wolf" Barzini is a powerful fictional character who serves as the main antagonist in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather and its 1972 film adaptation. As the formidable leader of one of New York's Five Families, Barzini plays a central role in orchestrating the conflicts and power struggles that challenge the Corleone family and reshape the landscape of the Mafia underworld throughout the narrative. He is portrayed in the film by Richard Conte.
2. Background and Status
Don Emilio Barzini heads one of the five dominant Mafia organizations in New York City, making him the second most powerful Mafia don in the entire country, only behind Vito Corleone. While maintaining a facade of friendly relations with Vito and his organization, Barzini harbors deep suspicion and vigilance towards the Corleone family's continuous expansion. His extensive criminal enterprises encompass narcotics, gambling, and prostitution. Driven by a relentless ambition for growth, he actively seeks to expand his criminal empire, particularly eyeing Las Vegas to capitalize on the Mafia's highly profitable casino rackets.
3. Role in The Godfather
Emilio Barzini's strategic machinations and ruthless actions are pivotal in shaping the narrative of The Godfather, directly instigating conflicts that lead to devastating consequences for the Corleone family and ultimately consolidating his own power.
3.1. Initial Dealings and Conflict
Don Barzini first appears as a guest at the wedding of Connie Corleone, Don Vito Corleone's daughter. Shortly thereafter, he sets in motion a plan by arranging for his associate, the notorious drug lord Virgil Sollozzo, also known as "The Turk", to meet with Don Vito Corleone. Sollozzo presents an offer to involve the Barzini and Tattaglia families in the burgeoning narcotics trade, specifically hoping to leverage Vito's extensive political connections for his operations. During this meeting, Sonny Corleone, the Corleone family underboss, expresses keen interest in the lucrative deal. However, Don Vito firmly rejects the proposal, deeming narcotics a "dirty business" that he wishes to avoid. Following Vito's refusal, Barzini approves Sollozzo's plan to have Vito murdered, anticipating that Sonny, upon succeeding his father, would be more amenable to accepting the drug deal. When Sonny adamantly refuses to enter the heroin trade after his father survives the assassination attempt, Barzini secretly orchestrates a broader conspiracy. He conspires with the Tattaglia, Cuneo, and Stracci families to wage a brutal gang war against the Corleones, aiming to force them into a truce and open up their traditional territories to illicit drug trafficking.
3.2. Orchestration of Sonny Corleone's Assassination and Expansion
To achieve his objectives and further weaken the Corleone family, Emilio Barzini secretly conspires with Carlo Rizzi, Don Vito's bitter son-in-law. Barzini leverages Rizzi's resentment to draw Sonny Corleone into a meticulously planned ambush. While Sonny is driving to his sister's house, Barzini family hitmen assassinate him. This pivotal event shifts the power dynamics significantly. Following Sonny's death, Don Vito Corleone, seeking an end to the brutal gang war, reluctantly agrees to lend his political protection to the narcotics enterprise and publicly forgives the other families for their role in his son's murder. Initially, it appears that Don Philip Tattaglia is the primary architect of the anti-Corleone alliance, but Vito Corleone soon deduces that Barzini is the true, insidious mastermind behind the entire scheme. Unsatisfied with the Corleones' submission, Barzini initiates an even grander strategy to fully absorb their territories into his own, systematically chipping away at the Corleone family's various criminal rackets and sources of income.
3.3. Confrontation with Michael Corleone and Demise
At Don Vito Corleone's funeral, Barzini attempts his final decisive move against the Corleone family. He exploits his mole within the family, caporegime Salvatore Tessio, to approach Vito's successor, Michael Corleone, with a request for a "peace meeting". Barzini's true intention is to assassinate Michael during this meeting and ultimately dismantle the Corleone family. However, Barzini is unaware that Michael is fully cognizant of his plot. Before his death, the elder Corleone had explicitly warned Michael that the family's enemies would attempt to kill him in precisely this manner-at a supposed peace meeting-and that whoever suggested such a meeting would inadvertently expose themselves as a traitor. Michael had been meticulously planning to eliminate Barzini and the other conspiring Dons for some time, deliberately allowing Barzini to believe the Corleone family was weakened to lull him into complacency. Shortly thereafter, Barzini is assassinated alongside the other conspirators as part of Michael Corleone's calculated "baptism" purge. Corleone enforcer Al Neri, disguised as a police officer, waits for Don Barzini outside the New York Supreme Court building at Foley Square. Under the pretext of writing a parking ticket for Barzini's car, Neri guns down Barzini's bodyguard and driver. He then shoots the fleeing Barzini twice in the back, causing his corpse to tumble down the stairs as Neri swiftly escapes in a getaway car.
4. Influences
The character of Emilio Barzini draws inspiration from several real-life mobsters, reflecting various aspects of their criminal careers and personalities. His fervent desire to gain complete control over the New York Mafia is notably inspired by Vito Genovese, who made a similar, albeit ultimately unsuccessful, attempt in the 1950s that culminated in the disastrous Apalachin meeting. Barzini's distinct mannerisms, his shrewd management skills, his masterful machinations, and his significant influence over the Five Families are all inspired by figures such as Frank Costello and Lucky Luciano. All three of these influential real-life mobsters served as bosses of the formidable Genovese crime family.
5. Portrayals in Other Media
Emilio Barzini's presence extends beyond the original novel to other adaptations of The Godfather series. In Francis Ford Coppola's acclaimed film adaptation of The Godfather, Barzini is portrayed by veteran actor Richard Conte. Interestingly, Conte had previously been considered for the iconic role of Don Vito Corleone. Barzini's character also features prominently in The Godfather: The Game, where his role is expanded. In the game's storyline, set in the 1930s, Barzini personally oversees an ambush that results in the brutal public murder of Aldo Trapani's father, who was a rising caporegime in the Corleone family. This event leads Aldo Trapani to swear revenge against Barzini. In a significant divergence from the film, the game depicts Aldo Trapani, rather than Al Neri, as the assassin who ultimately shoots Barzini dead on the courthouse steps.