The Godfather: Part II (1974)

User Rating:

9.0/10   

Director:

Francis Ford Coppola

Writers:

Mario Puzo (novel)
Francis Ford Coppola (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

20 December 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York is portrayed while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on his crime syndicate stretching from Lake Tahoe, Nevada to pre-revolution 1958 Cuba.

Plot Keywords:

Cuba | New York | 1920s | Lake Tahoe Nevada | 1910s

Awards:

Won 6 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 15 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Nov. 8

1:30 PM

AMC

Cast

Al Pacino	...	Don Michael Corleone
Robert Duvall	...	Tom Hagen
Diane Keaton	...	Kay Corleone
Robert De Niro	...	Vito Corleone (as Robert DeNiro)
John Cazale	...	Fredo Corleone
Talia Shire	...	Connie Corleone
Lee Strasberg	...	Hyman Roth
Michael V. Gazzo	...	Frankie Pentangeli
G.D. Spradlin	...	Senator Pat Geary
Richard Bright	...	Al Neri
Gastone Moschin	...	Don Fanucci (as Gaston Moschin)
Tom Rosqui	...	Rocco Lampone
Bruno Kirby	...	Young Peter Clemenza (as B. Kirby Jr.)
Frank Sivero	...	Genco Abbandando
Francesca De Sapio	...	Young Mama Corleone (as Francesca de Sapio)

Also Known As:

Mario Puzo's The Godfather: Part II (USA) (complete title)
Son of Godfather (USA) (working title)
The Second Godfather (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

200 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian | Spanish | Latin

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Portugal:M/16 | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Iceland:16 | Canada:14A | Brazil:14 | Philippines:R-18 | New Zealand:PG | UK:15 (re-rating) (2008) | Argentina:18 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Chile:18 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-16 (re-rating) | Finland:K-18 (original rating) | France:-12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Israel:PG | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Poland:15

Filming Locations:

6th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

A test screening of the film garnered negative reactions from the audience. They found cutting back and forth between Michael and young Vito confusing and bothersome. Francis Ford Coppola and his editors decided to decrease the frequency of the transitions in order to make the parallel stories easier to follow.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Michael is confronting his brother in the den, he is eating a piece of fruit which changes size inconsistently between shots.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Title Card: The godfather was born Vito Andolini, in the town of Corleone in Sicily. In 1901 his father was murdered for an insult to the local Mafia chieftain. His older brother Paolo swore revenge and disappeared into the hills, leaving Vito, the only male heir, to stand with his mother at the funeral. He was nine years old.
[gunshots and screams]
Woman: [subtitled from Italian] They've killed the boy! They've killed young Paolo! They've killed your son Paolo!

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "The Ben Stiller Show: With Dennis Miller (#1.10)" (1992)

Soundtrack:

Guantanamera

The Greatest Film Ever Made

The original Godfather is a brilliant work. It is in a sense a voyeuristic delight, allowing us to see the mafia from the inside - we become part of the family. It single-handedly change the world's view of organized crime, and created a cast of sympathetic characters, none of whom have a shred of common morality. It was the highest grossing movie of its time and Brando created a cultural icon whose influence resonates as strong today as it did in 1972.

As extraordinary an achievement as this is, Part II is even better. It easily receives my nod as the best picture ever made. I have seen it at least 20 times, and each time its 200 minutes fly by.

The movie uses flashbacks to brilliantly weave two tales. The main story is the reign of Michael Corleone as the world's most powerful criminal. Now reaping the benefits of legalized gambling in Las Vegas, Michael is an evident billionaire with an iron fist on a world of treachery.

Behind this, Director Francis Ford Coppola spins the tale of the rise of Michael's father, Vito, to the center of the New York mafia. It is these scenes that make the film a work of art. Without spoiling, I will simply say the Robert DeNiro as the young Vito is the best acting performance of all time, a role for which he won a richly deserved Oscar.

The screenplay is full of delicious little underworld nuggets ("Keep your friends close .....", "I don't want to kill everyone, just my enemies"), while it blows a dense, twisted plot past you at a dizzying and merciless pace. The cinematography is depressing and atmospheric. The score continues in the eerie role of its predecessor, foretelling death and evil.

All of this makes the movie great and infinitely watchable. But it's what's deeper inside this film ... what it is really about ... that is its true genius.

The Godfather Part II is not really a movie about the mafia, it is a movie about a man's life long struggle. Michael controls a vast empire that is constantly slipping out of his hands. He grows increasingly distrustful and paranoid, and even shows signs that he hates his own life. Michael almost seems to resent the fact that he is a natural born crime lord, a man who puts the family business ahead of everything.

The great Don Michael Corleone can never come to terms with one simple fact.... his father's empire was built on love and respect, Michael's empire is built on fear and violent treachery.

See this movie. It's three-and-a-half hours very well spent.