Amerigo Bonasera.

If there’s any character in the “Godfather” that I have truly hated & was offended by, then it is the undertaker Amerigo Bonasera. Talk about a weasel of a man. First off he goes to Don Vito asking for murder on Connie’s wedding day because his own daughter was roughhoused by a couple of guys. Then Vito reluctantly agrees to a somewhat more tamer solution by having “a couple of the boys” do something to the daughters attackers, where he informs Amerigo that he may come to him & ask of him a favor one day.

Then you see Amerigo talking behind the Don’s back like a dog, espousing his hatred of Vito & his family. If he found them so distasteful then why approach the Don for a favor if being associated with the Corleone’s was as detestable to him as he expressed?

Then came the day when Sonny was killed & Vito asked of Bonasera a favor. What was the favor that was asked? All he asked Bonasera to do for him was………his job. To apply his skills as a undertaker on Vito’s or rather Sonny’s behalf so that his mother & Vito’s wife wouldn’t have to see her son in the casket full of holes. Seems to me Amerigo got off rather easily as he wasn’t asked to do anything that was crazy but to do the job that was his profession & utilize all his skills to make Sonny presentable for his wake. Heck it’s not like on top of that he wasn’t paid for it & Vito expected him to do it for free.

To add insult to injury we see Bonasera yet again expressing his disdain & hatred for Don Vito & the Corelone clan just before meeting him to discuss Sonny’s funeral arrangements. The emotion shown by the stalwart & grieving Vito towards his oldest boy being murdered is some of the best acting of the series. He didn’t know it, but he was taking to a man who couldn’t have cared less about his loss but as a father should have.

Amerigo Bonasera is one of those impotent, bitter & hateful men that many of you may know or be acquainted with in your lives. One that’s too weak to control their own destinies & vicious enough to lash out at everyone else behind their backs but smile to their faces.

His two faced & dishonorable personality iis why I consider him one of the more vile characters in the Godfather universe. At least as bad as some of the other people were, it can be argued they knew who they were & had no illusions about it. Amerigo put up a front & pretended to be a concerned & honorable father while he was totally something else. He had the nerve to judge the Don & his family who obliged him for a favor that he had no right to ask but they did. He judged them for what they were but not himself for who or what he was. Truly the hallmark of a coward if there ever was one. Hope he burned in hell for it in the end.