In Pusha T’s song “Brambleton” from his album It’s Almost Dry, he raps, “had a million answers, didn’t have a clue why Michael kissed Fredo in Godfather 2.” Well I’m here to clear things up for you, Mr. T. This infamous kiss takes place in the film after Michael Corleone learns that his brother Fredo has betrayed him, and later on in the movie Fredo is killed. This sequence of events led to the widely held belief that the seemingly out of place smooch is indeed the kiss of death.
The kiss of death can be traced back to the Sicilian mafia, and was a practiced tradition back in the time when the mafia ran the island of Sicily: the kiss of death symbolizes that one has been marked for death by the mob. The origins of this tradition can actually be traced back to the bible, as many scholars believe that the ritual was derivative of the “Kiss of Judas.” The well titled “Kiss of Judas'” occurred when Judas supposedly kissed Jesus to let Roman soldiers know who to arrest. This biblical origin for the mafia’s kiss of death makes sense, considering the Christian presence in Italy.
There aren’t many documented uses of the “kiss of death” in American mafia history due to the secrecy of the mob, but also because the tradition isn’t one that was commonly used in America. One known mobster who used the kiss was powerful mafia boss Vito Genovese. Since he hailed from the country of Italy and mostly operated in the United States, and it’s likely that he picked up the use of this tradition from the old school Italian mobsters that resided in New York. Genovese’s use of the infamous “kiss of death” came to light when Joe Valachi testified to it, breaking the vow of secrecy all mafia members take when they become members. Genovese was rumored to have used it during his feud with Frank Costello, although that has not been confirmed. Interestingly enough, the Godfather trilogy was reportedly based on the life of mob boss Frank Costello, so it is entirely possible that in the filmmakers’ research they found this piece of information and decided to slip this into the film.
That's an abbreviated history of the Sicilian “kiss of death,” and before I wrap up I wanted to include the idea that it wouldn’t have been super likely that Michael Corleone would have even known about the tradition. The story of the original Godfather portrays Michael as fairly inexperienced and out of touch with the mafia. Michael also takes over the family in the early ‘50s, which was a time in which many of the traditional Italian-based mobsters had begun to phase out, so it is less likely that he would have learned it from them. Some might float the idea that he learned it from his father Vito Corleone, who is from Italy, but this doesn’t make a ton of sense either because Vito makes it very clear that he tried to keep Michael away from the mafia life. The Godfather has so many little details in it, and that's one of the reasons it's regarded as one of the greatest films of all time.