The Godfather: Part II (1974) – 4/5

Continues even better

This is „The Godfather: Part II“, an American movie mostly in the English language, but there are segments in Italian included too. And even a few other languages. I think nothing really needs to be said about the film’s status. Way over a million ratings here on imdb are self-explanatory and so are over a thousand reviews. I will happily add mine now and I hope you will like the read. This was by far not the first time that I watched this film, maybe third or fourth, so it was not new or refreshing to me, but this film is certainly also still a high-quality watch the tenth or twentieth time. It’s also been quite a long time since I saw this film before yesterday, so I cannot really elaborate on stuff I perceived differently. One aspect, however, is that I remember liking the De Niro parts a lot more on first or second viewing than I did now. No contest for me now that Pacino is the heart and soul of the film and I think most people agree. I have read many film buffs even say that Pacino is better than Brando in the first. The makeup sure helped the latter with the epic status of his role there. Still a bit sad that Pacino did not get the Oscar here. No offense to Art Carney though. Of course, it is also always about the competition. Look at the supporting players from the first Godfather film coming short against Joel Grey. I doubt De Niro would have won there, but it’s all speculation anyway. Probably the best picture win was even more obvious for this sequel. Best Director sure was. I got to watch this film at the big screen the other day which had of course to do with the 50th anniversary of the first Godfather movie. They did not show the third though, just the first and second, maybe also because of the big time gap between the second and third film.

Anyway, let’s look at the plot now. This is to some extent two films in one because a lot of the film takes place before thre first film even while other parts show us what happened after the death of Vito Corleone. It’s also not chronological. I remember that I thought De Niro was lead here, but his scenes are so rare in the film’s first half that I agree now that probably Pacino is the only lead here. In the second half, there was a lot more De Niro, which helped him with his awards ambitions too I guess. Of course, we also never see De Niro and Pacino on the screen together because there’s decades between their characters. We do see De Niro’s character though with young Michael when he was a baby. And with young Fredo as well. It’s a pity Cazale did not manage to score a nomination for his work here. His scene when he complains about his brother that he was overlooked was one of the finest from the entire film. Maybe his other scenes were not significant enough. Same can be said about Diane Keaton here, who plays Michael’s wife. The scene in which she confronts Michael with the unborn’s death being an abortion was among the very best from the film, but other than that her screen time was limited. Must also mention Pacino in this scene. Of course, there is a lot of anger with his character, but you will never see him more angry than in this exact moment. He also never really physically attacks people, but there it had to come out. His speech about how it is just not an option that she will get the children was also very haunting. Just like the moment in which he closes the door later on right into Keaton’s face. There are so many memorable and haunting moments in here that I cannot mention them all. You just have to experience them and I definitely think you should watch the other film first to really understand the story.

Comedy is something you will not find in here at all and if maybe very briefly (you think) you do, then it has a bit to do with Fredo’s character like how he will not let go of the suitcase containing the money. You can also wonder if Fredo knew what was about to happen to him in the spectacular finale. There you see how Michael really gets his will again. One antagonist commits suicide. Another is murdered by a contract killer and his own brother also has to pay for what he did, even if it was a long time ago. This killing stays of course maybe most in the mind with how Michael thinks about Fredo and talked about him before that, how he understand that it was Fredo, the kiss, how he confronts him, how he talks to his mother on one occasion. Another brilliant scene. His mother is not a factor otherwise, even if she is a character who is part of both seperate story lines, once as a young woman, once being close to her death. Her being alive was also a guarantee for Fredo to stay alive. I also liked the way the film ended. The setting is basically between both story lines. The boys are grown-up and they tried their best with makeup to have them look young. Especially interesting to see Michael there telling his plans to his brothers and how he is not 10% of the alpha he is for the rest of this film. Briefly before Brando/Vito enters. Even one of the actors from the first film is brought back for that. One who died there in a pretty spectacular sequence. But this sequel here is not chronological at all and does not have to be to fully succeed. My review is not particularly chronological either. I must say the truly great moments from De Niro’s character’s story here are missing if there is anything to criticize. It is still interesting to watch how he rises, also to see the (familiar) characters he surrounds himself with. How he takes care of the one bullying the neighborhood to kinda become a more distinguished, more dedicated version of him. Also interesting to see how Vito ends up being called Vito Corleone. Very brief moment early on. Actually, there was some comedy to how he dealt with a greedy landlord and this showed us how important loyalty is to him. I mean the comedy included mostly the scene in which the landlord returned.

Back to the other scenes again, I must also mention Michael V. Gazzo. Would have loved to see him win the Oscar here. I definitely preferred his antagonist portrayal over Hyman Roth, although it is probably almost impossible to compare those two because their characters could not have been any more different really. Both really good for different reasons. Also interesting to see Lee Strasberg in here with his famous acting institute of course. One of Gazzo’s character’s most memorable scenes included his brother, but how he unleashed early on against everything non-Italian, no matter if we are talking „Pop goes the weasle“, Jews or Black people, was also highly entertaining. Nothing against a good tarantella I suppose. As for Roth, I found his most memorable scene was maybe the one from New Year’s Eve, even if his character was basically just sleeping there or being in a coma. This was when a hit actually did go wrong, although I wonder where those saviors suddenly came from. The talk between him and Michael (Strasberg’s first scene) was good too though. Another hit that went wrong involved Pentangeli (Gazzo). I am not sure I got this right, but it was not Michael’s folks behind that one there. Sure turned out clumsy. One character I have not talked about at all was the Corleone sister played by Talia Shire. She had her own agenda and the guy she chose as husband did not make Michael happy. Not much else to say about her. I am surprised Shire was nominated for an Oscar honestly. But yeah all is possible when somebody who is considered (one of) the greatest lead performance(s) in film history does not win his category. Also I must mention Robert Duvall (Tom Hagen). Hagen is still loyal to the family, but his bond to Michael is just not as strong as his bond to Michael’s father. Not even close. There are steady conflicts between these two, but they kinda overcome them without their relationship really improving, even if there’s moments in which Michael tells Hagen that he is the only one he can trust now. No Fredo, nobody else.

You can surely say that Michael also has a tendency to not trust anybody. There was a good quote on that too. I think it came from Pentangeli about the difference in how Michael dealt with the Jews and how Vito did. Speaking of Vito again, as I am getting close to the end of my review, let me of course mention his moment of great revenge when he kills the man who is responsible for murdering his father, his mother and his brother. That had to be included 100% and you simply knew it was going to happen, even if the bad guy was very old at that point already and Vito literally opens his chest with a massive knife. Disguised as a potential olive oil deal. So yeah, also some Italian cuisine aspects included here. No pizza really though. But politics and law. A senator has to find out what happens when he makes an enemy in Michael Corleone. And there is a fairly lengthy courtroom trial too that culminates basically in the scene with Pentangeli’s brother that I mentioned earlier already. So many great metaphors and symbolisms in here. Look at Fredo acting almost like a dad towards Michael’s son before his demise and how he can finally say that (with the help of God) he was more gifted than his brothers. Even if it was only about fishing. How he talked about fishing being a family tradition etc. How De Niro’s character pretty much won over the bad guy in his story line thanks to his grit and courage. And then still proceeded to kill him in the following scene. Sneaky over the rooftops. There’s really too much to choose from what your favorite scenes could be. Or favorite shots too. I mean look at the very final shot with Michael having succeeded with every plan of his. How he sits here. This would have been amazing ultimate closure too without a third film happening 15 years later. Back when this was made, Coppola was just in his early 30s. What an achievement for a pretty young filmmaker! Now he is in his early 80s. „The Godfather: Part II“ is a must-see. Huge thumbs-up. Thanks for reading.