The Godfather Part II (1974)
US 200m, Colour
Director: Francis Ford Coppola; Cast: Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, Talia Shire, Morgana King, John Cazale, Marianna Hill, Lee Strasberg, Michael V. Gazzo
The second installment of the Godfather series: Part II, is perhaps the best of the three films, albeit it had the advantage of being both a prequel and sequel to the original film, which enriched the characters and broadened the scope of the family drama. The film’s parallel storylines which follow both the young Vito Corleone in Sicily and then New York during the early twentieth century, and his son Michael during the 1950s – as he attempts to expand his father’s business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba, are elegantly compared as both ruthlessly pursue their “family” interests (Klaus Ming September 2012).
I love the fact that this movie visits the origins of the character known as “The Godfather”. And it’s not like your modern “Hannibal Rising” bad origin movie… it’s actually very, very good and dramatic!
Indeed! The screenplay was very ambitious – and was brilliantly edited.
This is a movie to love, not just like. It’s a rare film that actually lives up to the hype, and there’s a lot of hype here.
I recently picked up all three films in a previously viewed DVD box set – and had forgotten how good part II was. A fun watch, back to back to back. I still need to write a review/synopsis of Part III.