Jan 26 2009
“The Godfather: Part II” (1974) *****
Preview
Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall, John Cazale, Talia Shire, Lee Strasberg, Michael V. Gazzo, Morgana King, G.D. Spradlin, Richard Bright, Marianna Hill, Troy Donahue, Dominic Chianese, Bruno Kirby, Frank Sivero, James Caan, Abe Vigoda, Gianni Russo, Giuseppe Sillato, Roman Coppola, John Megna, Julian Voloshin, Larry Guardino, Danny Aiello, and John Aprea.
Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola.
Stats:
*Award Winners: Academy Awards won for Best Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro), Best Art Direction (Dean Tavoularis, Angelo P. Graham, George R. Nelson), Best Director (Francis Ford Coppola), Best Original Score (Nino Rota, Carmine Coppola), Best Picture (Francis Ford Coppola, Gray Frederickson, Fred Roos), Best Adapted Screenplay (Francis Ford Coppola, Mario Puzo); BAFTA Award won for Best Actor (Al Pacino).
*Selected for Preservation in the United States Film Registry.
*Budget: $13,000,000.
*Domestic Gross: $47,542,841
The Catch:
The rise of Young Vito Corleone in the early 1900s while Don Michael Corleone tightens his grip on his rising regime in the mid-century.
Characters:
*Don Michael Corleone (Al Pacino): Don and Carmella’s youngest son who has now grown far from the man who wanted nothing to do with the business that he once was.
*Young Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro): Younger and much more fit version of the original Don. Precursor to “Taxi Driver”.
*Kay Corleone (Diane Keaton): Michael’s long-time sweetheart, wife, and mother (and this time, grim reaper) of his children.
*Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall): Adopted son of Vito and Carmella. He’s also the family’s legal lawyer.
*Fredo Corleone (John Cazale): Vito and Carmella’s ding-dong of a middle son. This time, he gets himself in a lot of hot water.
*Connie Corleone (Talia Shire): Vito and Carmella’s youngest and only daughter. Married to Carlo Rizzi - Can you say precursor to Adrian?
*Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg): Boss of the Jewish mob and also the main baddie here.
*Frankie Pentangeli (Michael V. Gazzo): Attempts to assassinate the Rosato brothers, but ends up getting the tables turned on him instead.
*Mama Carmella Corleone (Morgana King): Wife to Vito, mother to Sonny, Fredo, Michael, and Connie, surrogate mother to Tom Hagen. Just call her Mama for short, just about everyone here does.
*Senator Pat Geary (G.D. Spradlin): Corrupt Democratic Senator from Nevada.
*Al Neri (Richard Bright): Michael’s trusted bodyguard.
*Merle Johnson (Troy Donahue): One of Connie’s wild flings before meeting Carlo Rizzi.
*Johnny Ola (Dominic Chianese): A Sicilian mobster, Hyman Roth’s right hand man.
*Young Peter Clemenza (Bruno Kirby): Younger version of a caporegime in the Corleone Family.
*Sonny Corleone (James Caan): Vito and Carmella’s eldest son. Short cameo here.
*Carlo Rizzi (Gianni Russo): Connie’s abusive husband.
*Giuseppe Sillato (Don Francesco Ciccio): The murderer responsible for the death of Vito’s parents.
*Tony Rosato (Danny Aiello): One of the Rosato brothers. Nice appearance by Danny Aiello - don’t expect his famous kind streak here.
*Young Sal Tessio (John Aprea): Young caporegime in the family.
Story:
Two parallel storylines. One involves Mob boss Michael Corleone dealing with various business and family problems in his Lake Tahoe, Nevada compound, including an assassination attempt made on his life. The other depicts a series of flashbacks of Michael’s father, Vito Corleone, and how he rose to power as the original Don of the Corleone family from the first film.
Review:
“The Godfather: Part II” was the first successful sequel ever made. While the running time clocks in much longer than the original “Godfather”, this time at 3 hours and 20 minutes (200 minutes), you almost won’t notice it once you’re emotionally entrenched in what’s going on with the film’s story. Part II tops the first in many ways, cleverly paralleling the stories of Michael and Vito, giving Michael more to do this time around and depicting his transformation into a vicious yet intelligent mob boss, and introducing a new villain.
While Young Vito is born, raised, and becomes accustomed into the Mob world, Michael investigates an assassination attempt on his life in his very own home. Michael plays it smart, not revealing his suspicions too quickly to Hyman Roth, the villain this time around whom was clearly responsible for the attempt on his life. At the same time, Hyman plays Good Cop with Michael, but ultimately meets his demise soon enough.
Old cast members such as Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Talia Shire, among others return for the most part with the exception of a few who are narrowed down to a few cameos (i.e. James Caan) while newcomers Robert De Niro and Lee Strasberg to name a few make their memorable mark here. Also notable are appearances by Danny Aiello and Dominic Chianese (who later went on to play Junior in “The Sopranos”). Francis Ford Coppola thankfully returns to direct this awesome second chapter, topping what he did the first time around. “The Godfather: Part II” remains as one of the finest films of the 20th century, much like the first film.
Rating: *****
