The Godfather Part II
by Robbo
Posted on 17 August 2021
Rating -
The Godfather Part II is a 1974 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola from the screenplay co-written with Mario Puzo, starring Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, Talia Shire, Morgana King, John Cazale, Mariana Hill, and Lee Strasberg.
It is the second installment in The Godfather trilogy. Partially based on Puzo’s 1969 novel The Godfather, the film is both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, presenting parallel dramas.
Vito’s Story
In 1901, the parents and brother of nine-year-old Vito Andolini are killed in Corleone, Sicily, after his father insults local Mafia chieftain Don Ciccio. Vito escapes on a ship to New York City, and is registered as “Vito Corleone” on Ellis Island.
In 1917, having settled in New York, he marries and has a son but loses his job in a grocery store due to the interference of Don Fanucci; his neighbor Clemenza invites Vito to take part in a burglary.
His criminal conduct attracts the attention of Fanucci, who extorts him so during a neighborhood festa, he stalks Fanucci to his apartment and shoots him dead.
Vito becomes a respected and successful member of the community and is approached for help by a widow who is being evicted. After the widow’s landlord learns of Vito’s reputation, he agrees to let the widow stay on very favorable terms.
Vito and his family visit Sicily for the first time since his emigration. His business partner, Tommasino, accompanies him to Don Ciccio, ostensibly to ask for Ciccio’s blessing on their olive oil business but Vito kills Ciccio’s after revealing his former identity.
Michael’s Story
In 1958, during his son’s First Communion party at Lake Tahoe, Michael has a series of meetings in his role as the don of the Corleone crime family. Frank Pentangeli, a Corleone capo, is dismayed that Michael refuses to help defend his territory against the Rosato brothers, who work for Hyman Roth, a long-standing Corleone business partner. That night, Michael leaves Nevada after surviving an assassination attempt at his home.
Michael suspects Roth planned the assassination, but feigns ignorance when they meet. In New York City, Pentangeli attempts to maintain Michael’s pretense by making peace with the Rosatos, but they try to kill him. Roth, Michael, and several of their partners travel to Havana to discuss their future Cuban business prospects under the cooperative government of Fulgencio Batista. Michael becomes reluctant to continue operating in Cuba after reconsidering the viability of the ongoing Cuban Revolution.
On New Year’s Eve, Fredo inadvertently reveals that he knows Roth’s right-hand man, Johnny Ola, having previously claimed that they had never met, and Michael realizes that it was Fredo who betrayed his location to Roth. Michael orders his bodyguard to kill Ola and Roth, but the assassin is shot dead by Cuban soldiers as he attempts to smother Roth with a pillow in his bed. Batista abdicates due to rebel advances. During the ensuing chaos, Michael, Fredo, and Roth separately escape to the United States. Back home, Michael learns that his wife Kay has miscarried.
In Washington, D.C., a Senate committee on organized crime is investigating the Corleone family. Pentangeli agrees to testify against Michael and is placed under witness protection.
On returning to Nevada, Fredo tells Michael that he felt resentful for being disregarded, first by Sonny and now by him and claims to be ignorant of the plot on Michael’s life. Michael disowns Fredo but gives orders that he is not to be harmed while their mother is still alive.
Michael sends for Pentangeli’s brother from Sicily as a hostage, resulting in Pentangeli renouncing his previous statement and the hearing dissolves in an uproar.
Kay reveals to Michael that she actually had an abortion, not a miscarriage, and that she intends to remove their children from Michael’s criminal life. Outraged, Michael strikes Kay, banishes her from the family, and takes sole custody of the children.
Michael’s mother Carmela dies, and Michael moves to wrap up loose ends. Roth is forced to return to the United States after being refused asylum and entry to Israel and Michael orders the assassination of Roth who is gunned down at Miami International Airport.
At Pentangeli’s compound, consigliere Tom Hagen arrives and reminds the disgraced capo that failed plotters against the Roman emperor often committed suicide in return for clemency for their families, and assures him that his family will be cared for. Pentangeli then slits his wrists in his bathtub.
In my opinion, The Godfather Part II is superior to the original film which is rare for a sequel.
Many critics claim that jumping from one narrative to another breaks the flow of the film and make it difficult to follow, but I didn’t find this at all.
All the cast put in strong performances, but I think the standout is Robert De Niro as the young Vito Corleone who won and Oscar. This makes him and Marlon Brando the only actors to have won Oscars for playing the same character.
As with the first film, the cinematography is sumptuous and really does frame the mood, atmosphere and period.
This is a film that I would urge everyone to watch.
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