Luca Brasi
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Luca Brasi (1906-1945) is a character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather, as well as its 1972 film adaptation (portrayed by Lenny Montana).
In The Godfather, Luca Brasi is Don Vito Corleone's personal enforcer. The slow-witted, brutish Brasi is often mocked (behind his back) as weak, but his ruthlessness and his loyalty to Don Corleone means he is both feared and respected. Fluent in Italian and able to handle himself in any fight, Brasi is fiercely loyal to Don Vito. He has a dark reputation among the underworld as a savage killer.
Brasi's talent, it was said, was that he could do a job, or murder all by himself, without confederates, which made a criminal conviction almost impossible. He is also known for killing, in two weeks, six men who attempted to kill Don Corleone. These six deaths ended the famous "Olive Oil War".
Many years before The Godfather opens, Brasi impregnated a young Irish prostitute and later murdered her, but did not stop there; on the day of his daughter's birth, he forced the midwife, under pain of death, to hurl his own daughter into a furnace, an act for which she never forgave herself, describing him as an unholy demon that night.
Another early incident involved Brasi killing off two of Al Capone's henchmen hired to kill Don Corleone. Brasi subdued both of them and tied and gagged them with towels stuffed in their mouths. He then hacked one of them to pieces with an axe. When he went to finish off the other one, he found that the man had gone through a shock convulsion and choked to death on the towel.
Shortly before Vito Corleone is shot, Brasi intends to draw out rival mobster Virgil Sollozzo and the rest of the Don's enemies. Sollozzo, after promises of friendship and a job offer, rams a knife into Luca's hand, pinning it to the bar as an assassin garrottes him from behind. A Sicilian message is later sent to the Corleone family: a fish wrapped in Brasi's flak jacket. The meaning is made clear to the Corleones: "Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes."
It is mentioned in the novel and implied in the film that Brasi is perhaps the only man Vito Corleone fears and vice versa.
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[edit] Cultural References
[edit] Music
- The Washington, D.C. band, Urban Verbs had a song titled Luca Brasi.
- The song I Am The Mob by Welsh band Catatonia, contains the line "Luca Brasi, ah, he sleeps with the fishes".
- The song Come Get me by Nas contains the line "I'm like Luca Brasi, Vito's best hitman".
- The song Luca by Brand New is a reference to Luca Brasi, with the line "Unless you have friends among fish, there'll still be no air to breathe."
- The song Click Off Goneby Sleeper contains the line "Luca Brasi's got nothing on you"
- Luca Brasi is the name of a Uk Metal band.
- Luca Brasi is the original name of Swedish band, the Shout Out Louds
[edit] Video Games
- In the official game, the player is mentored by Brasi and both witnesses the murder of Luca and also has the chance to avenge him by killing the assassin.
[edit] Sports
- Professional wrestler, "Big" Vito's finishing move was called "Luca Brasi."
