“, Part II” far from being a spinoff followup to its 1972 progenitor is an excellent epochal drama in its own right providing bookends in time — the early part of this century and the last two decades — to the earlier story. Al Pacino again is outstanding as Michael Corleone, successor to crime family leadership.The $15,000,000-plus production about 2-1/2 times the cost of the original was most handsomely produced and superbly directed by Francis Ford Coppola who also shares credit for a topnotch script with original book author. The Paramount release has everything going for it to be an enormous b.o. Winner.There should be very few criticisms that the latest film glorifies criminality since the script never lets one forget for very long that Pacino as well as Robert De Niro, excellent as the immigrant Sicilian who became the crime family chief as played by Marlon Brando in the first pic, and all their aides are callous, selfish and undeserving of either pity or adulation.
Yet, at the same time, there’s enough superficial glory in the panoramic story structure to satisfy the demands of less discriminating filmgoers. Hence Coppola has straddled the potential audience and therefore maximized the commercial potential. The film’s 200 minutes to be played without an intermission could be broken down into two acts and 10 scenes. The scenes alternate between Pacino’s career in Nevada gambling rackets from about 1958 on and DeNiro’s early life in Sicily and New York City. A natural break comes after 126 minutes when DeNiro involved with low level thievery brutally assassinates Gaston Moschin the neighborhood crime boss without a shred of conscience. It’s the only shocking brutality in the film.
Oct 07, 2018 The Godfather 2 —deleted scene ( Sonny's daughter Francesca) - Duration: 2:45. Weak spot Recommended for you.
The small number of other killings are discreetly shot and edited and it makes its point.Of course, in the modern day sequences, Pacino is also making the point clear that he has passed completely from the idealistic youth that made him enlist in the early days of World War II. A brief flashback scene presents James Caan in a cameo encore as the original heir apparent to his final destiny. In the Caan flashback Pacino is sitting alone with his untested ideals; in the fadeout scene he is again alone, but it’s all his own doing.Brando is said to have accepted the original title role because he considered organized crime a perfect analogy to big business.
In this script the analogy is even clearer, especially the pre-Castro Cuban sequences where big business and big crime have a cozy relationship with the former Cuban regime.Shot on many U.S. And foreign locations, the film had a firstrate technical staff. Gordon Willis encoring superbly as cinematographer. Production designer Dean Tavoularis and associates editors Peter Zinner, Barry Malkin, Richard Marks, costumer Theodora Van Runkle whose fine work had to span decades of changing styles, makeup artists Dick Smith and Charles Schram are equally superior in making just the right changes in features to keep up with the calendar and Walter Murch for outstanding sound mixing and montage. Gray Frederickson and Fred Roos share coproducer credit.The alternating period stories advance more smoothly through the many prominent characters all perfectly cast. Performer Robert Duvall is back in top form as the family lawyer, Pacino’s only steadfast friend, but a near curtain vibration finds him going at last onto that never ending enemies list which Pacino’s own machinations inevitably spawn and nurture. Diane Keaton is compelling as Pacino’s wife who finally cannot endure life.
John Cazale provides a wonderful depth to the weaker brother Fredo whose insecurities set him up for betrayal of Pacino.Good as Fredo’s slatternly wife is Mariana Hill. Talia Shire, as sister Connie, the bride of the first film, later is a hardened and compulsively self destructive jet setter with Troy Donahue in tow for a fling. She finally comes home to be a penitent and surrogate mother of Pacino’s children.An unusual but showmanly casting is that of Actors Studio’s Lee Strasberg as an aging but still powerful Jewish crime kingpin. Fay Spain does nicely as his wife as does Dominic Chianese as his top side. Another offbeat casting is that of playwright Michael V.
Gazzo returning to acting as an oldtime mobster who later becomes an informer for FBI probes of crime. Gazzo’s performance has the right mixture of old world manners that fail to keep step with the times.
Spradlin is excellent as a U.S. Senator whose brothel kinkiness makes him a perfect setup for compromise.Further offbeat casting comes in a running sequence of a Congressional hearing, one of those periodic public pageants designed to appease middle class uproar over crime. Veteran screenwriter William Bowers is sensational as the crusty chairman while producers Phil Feldman and Roger Corman, the latter an early employer of Coppolo, do well as probing senators.Morgana King again graces the role of Paclno’s mother while Francesca deSapio is quietly appealing as the mother in DeNiro’s time. Richard Bright and Tom Rosqui are good as Pacino’s bodyguards while Amerigo Tot is chilling as Pacino’s executioner on the Cuban visit where Strasberg plans Pacino’s murder. Leopoldo Trieste has a marvelous role as a slum landlord, an early victim of DeNiro’s growing influence who squirms to the right cues. There are lots of other players filling out the cast.The excellent score is by Nino Hota conducted by Carmine Coppola who also is credited for incidental additional music. Newspaperman Ed Guthman gets credit for advising on the Congressional hearing sequences.
Caan’s brief appearances is called a special participation in the crawl. All credits come at the end, as in the original film. The R rating is also a repeat, but this film seems less crudely violent in deed, and not in word.Paramount some weeks ago said it had $26,000,000 in exhibitor advances and guarantees for “Part II,” about enough to get it off the nut right away and it looks like the money will be expeditiously earned from a strong b.o. Tide since the “Godfather” exceeded anybodys wildest expectations with about $129,000,000 ($87,000,000 domestic) in world film rentals from theatres. There’s just no point in gauging the success of “Part II” by comparing or even guessing at the ultimate numbers.Coppola was in total control of “Part II” and between him and his close associates has been demonstrated the versatility to handle both panoramic scope and personal intimacy the widespread location shooting and post production centres undoubtedly contributed some of the budget overage from the original target of about $12,000,000.Murf. Film Review: The Godfather, Part II.
Production:Paramount Pictures release of a Francis Ford Coppola production. Produced and directed by Coppola. Coproduced by Gray Frederickson, Fred Roos.
Coppola, Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's novel. Reviewed in Hollywood, Dec. 9, '74.
Crew:Camera (Technicolor), Gordon Willis; production designer, Dean Tavoularis; editors, Peter Zinner. Barry Malkin, Richard Marks; costumes, Theadora Van Runkle; music composed by Nino Rota; conducted by Carmine Coppola; art director, Angelo Graham; set decorator, George R. Nelson; asst. Directors, Newton Arnold, Henry J. Lange Jr., Chuck Myers, Mike Kusley, Alan Hopkins, Burt Bluestein; special effects, A.D. Flowers, Joe Lombardi; unit publicist, Eileen Peterson (MPAA Rating -R). Running time: 200 MIN.
With:Michael - Al PacinoTom Hagen - Robert DuvallKay - Diane KeatonVito Corleone - Robert De NiroFredo Corleone - John CazaleConnie Corleone - Talia ShireHyman Roth - Lee StrasbergFrankie Pentangeli - Michael V. GazzoSenator Pat Geary - G. SpradlinAl Neri - Richard BrightFanutti - Gaston MoschinRocco Lampone - Tom RosquiYoung Clemenza - B. Kirby Jr.Genco - Frank SiveroYoung Mama Corleone - Francesca deSapioMama Corleone - Morgana KingDeanna Corleone - Mariana HillSignor Roberto - Leopoldo TriesteJohnny Ola - Dominic ChianeseMichael's bodyguard - Amerigo TotMerle Johnson - Troy DonahueYoung Tessio - John ApreaTessio - Abe VigodaTheresa Hagen - Tere LivranoSonny - James Caan. Music By.
The musical score plays an even greater role in “The Godfather: Part II” than it did in the original film. Nostalgic, mournful, evoking lost eras, it stirs emotions we shouldn’t really feel for this story, and wouldn’t, if the score were more conventional for a crime movie. Why should we regret the passing of a regime built on murder, extortion, bribery, theft and the ruthless will of frightened men? Observe how powerfully ’s music sways our feelings for the brutal events onscreen.At the end of ’s masterwork “” (1972), we have seen Michael Corleone change from a young man who wanted to stand apart from his family to one who did not hesitate to take up the reigns of control. In “Part II” (1974), we see him lose his remaining shreds of morality and become an empty shell, insecure and merciless.
If the score evokes pity, it is Michael’s self-pity. In attempting to fill the shoes of his father, Michael has lost sight of those values that made Don Corleone better than he had to be and has become a new godfather every bit as evil as he has to be. If Rota’s score had been energetic and pounding, we might see him as more closely paralleling in a better film, ’s “” (1983).
But the score is sad, and music can often evoke emotion more surely and subtly than story. Consider how deeply we are moved by certain operatic arias that are utter nonsense. The devolution of Michael Corleone is counterpointed by flashbacks to the youth and young manhood of his father, Vito. These scenes, taking place in Sicily and old New York, follow the conventional pattern of a young man on the rise and show the Mafia code being burned into the Corleone blood. No false romanticism conceals the necessity of using murder to do business.
Such events as Vito’s murder of the minor-league New York godfather have their barbarism somewhat softened as Coppola adopts Vito’s point of view and follows him as he climbs rooftops to ambush the man and successfully escapes. It is a built-in reality that we tend to identify with a film’s POV. Here the murder becomes another rung on Vito’s ladder to success.To be sure, the life of young Vito helps to explain the forming of the adult Don Corleone, and to establish in the film the Sicilian code of omerta. As Michael changes, we see why he feels that he must.
He must play the game by its rules. But I am not sure the flashbacks strengthen the film. I would have appreciated separate films about young Vito and the evolution of Michael. What we have are two compelling narratives, two superb lead performances and lasting images. There is even a parallel between the deaths of two elderly dons. Revenge must be obtained.Coppola is at the top of his form in both films, and if I disapprove of the morality of the central characters, well, so do we all. We agree people should not kill one another, but that doesn’t explain why these films are seen again and again, entering a small worldwide canon of films just about everyone seems to have seen.
They are grippingly written, directed with confidence and artistry, photographed by (“The Master of Darkness”) in rich, warm, tones. The acting in both films is definitive. We can name the characters in a lot of films (Harry Lime, Scarlett O’Hara, Travis Bickle, Charles Foster Kane) but from how many films do we remember the names of six or more characters? Brando, Pacino, De Niro, Duvall, Cazale, Caan, and others are well-cast, well-used, gifted and correct for their roles. Simply as a story, the Michael scenes in “The Godfather: Part II” engage our emotions. I admire the way Coppola and his co-writer require us to think along with Michael as he handles delicate decisions involving Hyman Roth (Strasberg), the boss of Miami; Fredo (Cazale), his older brother, and the shooting of Sonny.
Who has done what? Michael floats various narratives past various principals, misleading them all, or nearly. It’s like a game of blindfolded chess; he has to envision the moves without seeing them.But finally it is all about Michael. Even the attack on the night of his son’s first communion party is on his bedroom, not our bedroom. His wife, Kay (Keaton), leaves him, and his focus does not waver: He will keep his son. Tom Hagen (Duvall), the most trusted confidant of father and son, considered a brother, is finally even suspected.
In Michael’s life, paranoia is a useful defense mechanism.Coppola shows Michael breaking down under the pressure. We remember that he was once a proud war hero, a successful college student, building a legitimate lifestyle.
But on their wedding day, Kay first began to fully realize what an all-controlling cocoon the Corleone clan was. There would always be things she could not be told about, could not be trusted with. Finally Michael has no one to tell or trust except his elderly mother. Michael’s desperation in that intense conversation explains everything about the film’s final shot.So “Part II” is finally a sad film, a lament for loss, certainly. It is a contrast with the earlier film, in which Don Corleone is seen defending old values against modern hungers. Young Vito was a murderer, too, as we more fully see in the Sicily and New York scenes of Part II. But he had grown wise and diplomatic, and when he dies beside the tomato patch, yes, we feel regret.
An age has closed. We feel no regret at Michael’s decline. The crucial difference between the two films is that Vito is sympathetic, and Michael becomes a villain. That is not a criticism but an observation. The “best films” balloting on IMDb.com lacks credibility because popularity is the primary criteria. But hundreds of thousands do indeed vote, and as I write the top four films, in order, are “,” “The Godfather,” “” and “The Godfather: Part II.” Of all of the reviews I have ever written, my three-star review of “Part II” has stirred the most disagreement. Sometimes it is simply cited as proof of my worthlessness.
I’ve been told by many that “Part II” is a rare sequel that is better than the original. Have I changed my mind? I have read my review of “Part II” and would not change a word.Then why is it a “great movie”? Because it must be seen as a piece with the unqualified greatness of “The Godfather.” The two can hardly be considered apart (“Part III” is another matter).
When the characters in a film take on a virtual reality for us, when a character in another film made 30 years later can say “The Godfather” contains all the lessons in life you need to know, when an audience understands why that statement could be made, a film has become a cultural bedrock. No doubt not all of the gospels are equally “good,” but we would not do without any of them.“The Godfather: Part II” then becomes a film that everyone who values movies at all should see. And as I write this, it can be seen in astonishingly good prints. The “Godfather” trilogy has been painstakingly digitally restored by, a master in his field. I have seen the restored “Godfather” in the new 35mm print and “Part II” in the new Blu-ray DVD. Having first seen both at their world premieres, I would argue that they have never looked better. For films of such visual richness, that is a reason to rejoice.
And now I come back to the music. More than ever, I am convinced it is instrumental to the power and emotional effect of the films. I cannot imagine them without their Nino Rota scores. Against all our objective reason, they instruct us how to feel about the films. Now listen very carefully to the first notes as the big car drives into Miami. You will hear an evocative echo of Bernard Hermann’s score for “,” another film about a man who got everything he wanted and then lost it.Note: The newly restored 35mm prints of the first and second parts will be screened at the Music Box, 3733 N.
“Part I” plays today through Oct. 9 (except Monday), and “Part II” plays Oct. A Blu-ray set of the trilogy is now available.