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The Godfather: Part II – 1974 Francis Ford Coppola
- It is a massive production. I forget about that over the years. It has hundreds of extras, massive production detail, 5 locations- Miami, NYC, Tahoe, Cuba and Sicily… the scope reminds of Griffith, von Stroheim, David Lean and it never feels overlong or bloated
- Guardian says it’s the greatest single final scene in Hollywood history
- Time out says it’s one of the saddest movies ever made- I tend to agree
- De Niro won the Oscar for supporting. He’s superb as is every other secondary character from Diane Keaton to John Cazale to Michael Gazzo as Frankie Pentangeli and Lee Strasberg as Hyman Roth
- Pacino is the show though- as good as de niro or anyone else is, it’s his film—it’s disciplined and probably his best work
- Like all of Coppola’s films it’s wonderfully edited- dissolves galore here
- The opening Lake Tahoe confirmation celebration certainly mirrors the wedding for the first film
- The film, décor and lighting have a remarkably consistent look. The natural lighting is superb
- The fredo kiss scene and the roof stalking sequences are two of my favorite 25-50 scenes of all time along with the devastating finale which may be there as well
- Masterpiece
Drake2017-04-03T16:39:13+00:00
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Great review as usual. I thought it had pacing issues at times, not a complaint but an observation. Understandable considering that they were shifting from one timeline to another. The scenes mentioned were brilliant, my personal favorite is the one between Michael and Tom in the aftermath of the shooting at the house.
If there is one scene to show how deep down Michael is, this was it (there are so many of them,lol). In his scenes with Kay and Fredo, they were rebelling against him to an extent but the way he preyed on Tom and his desire to be considered family was something else. Pacino’ moving his eyes (if I think what has happened) is some of the finest screen acting one will ever see.
Throughout the film, there are so many scenes that are call back to the first, but still manage to have a distinct identity of their own. Excellent. The Pacino Duvall can be linked to Brasi remembering his lines, or the Undertaker but if the first film was more about muscle, the second one is a bit more psychological and the effect that much power has on people and its consequences. Michael was an expert, more cold blooded than everyone else and this I will was his zenith
@ AP- great stuff here. Thank you. I love thoughtful comments like this as it adds to the page. I’ll make sure I keep it when I rewatch and update this page.
I tend to view the Godfather 1 and 2 as both great in their entirety of course (both in my personal top 10 of all time) but you’re right it is also just a great collection of scenes. I don’t think this is necessarily the case with all great films (Stalker for instance all time great movie but not necessarily tons of stand out scenes that you would obsess over more, more of a “the sum greater than their parts” kind of movie) but with GF2 just amazing scene after amazing scene, and so many great quotes from “you offer is this…nothing” and “I know it was you Fredo” “keep your friends close and enemies closer” and so many others
The scope of the movie is so impressive covering not only the Corleone family but Cuba, Las Vegas mob involvement, Ellis Island and the immigrant experience.
When asked what’s better I tend to go back and forth between the 1st and 2nd, really just depends on the day
I agree that the movie’s final scene’s is amongst the greatest ever not just in the raw emotional power but in how each character behaves in a way that reflects what we come to know of them earlier (reverse foreshadowing? ha I don’t know if that’s a real thing)
And the fact that Fredo was the first one to support Michael’s decision to join the Marines, devestating
@James Trapp- “The scope of the movie is so impressive covering not only the Corleone family but Cuba, Las Vegas mob involvement, Ellis Island and the immigrant experience.” – great call here- well said
[…] The Godfather: Part II – F. Coppola […]
Obviously, one element of this movie’s greatness is the pairing of Michael and Vito’s parallel stories. However, there is enough screentime and narrative weight in each plotline to supply an entire feature film. Do you think that both Don’s sequences recut to be completely separate from each other would be masterpieces on their own, or is the comparison and juxtaposition between the two simply too important an aspect of the film’s greatness?
I think Michael’s segment would probably remain a masterpiece, but I’m not sure about young Vito’s.
Graham- Though I’ve never seen it, I know there’s a cut of The Godfather trilogy that does this in chronological order so you could check it out and let us know. We’re on the same page that one major element of the movie’s greatest is the pairing of the parallel stories. But I think each the Michael and the Vito segments would be good enough to hold up as a masterpiece on their own as well.
Am I the only who consider Part II better than Part I. Both great movies obviously but i agree with Scorsese here. Part II had more money. Feel more ambitious.
@KidCharlemagne-Not really. The consensus is Part 1 is better than Part 2. But Part 2 has a lot of admirers as well. It is more ambitious, has the parallel narrative construction and a wallop of an ending. Or last 20 minutes. I have no doubt Part 2 is a bigger achievement for Coppola though. Part 1 has great source material. Part 2 had to be built from scratch and nearly match or surpass the first one
@KidCharlemagne – hardly, I personally think GF1 is superior but its by the smallest of margins as I have them both as top 10 films with GF1 and # 1 and GF2 and # 7
@Malith – agreed on all counts. They are both basically perfect, I do think the parallel narrative does hinder the narrative flow ever so slightly, it is my only real issue. GF1 feels lean/economical which is crazy given that its a 3 hour film but there are no unnecessary scenes, everything propels the narrative forward. The acting is so amazing in both but the first has Pacino and Brando. I think De Niro is great as Vito but Brando’s performance in GF1 is just so great and iconic.
The narrative in GF2 worked better for me in the second viewing. I think I would have this one higher than GF1 for now. I meant to say I liked the contrast in the lives of Vito Corleone and Michael Corleone in the second film. It is a stroke of genius from Coppola. And yes. Godather 1 is like the perfect film. I can almost say every scene sequentially and some dialogue of GF1 at this point. GF2 has more fat in comparison.
@Malith – I agree the contrast between Vito and Michael is amazing, just saying the downside is it slightly halts the narrative force. Both films are masterful at using lighting but I think GF1 is better in this regard, the contrast from that opening shot (“I believe in America”) in the extremely dimly lit office of Vito to the brightness of the Wedding sequence; this is just one example. Of course GF2 is masterful with this as well but I would give the slight edge to GF1. Both have great parallel editing but the coordinated hits on the heads of the 5 families is hard to beat. GF2 is very Michael centric (obviously not in the Vito timeline) and Pacino gives arguably the greatest performance of all time, its certainly on a shortlist. But with GF1 there is more balance between the Corleone Family and The Corleone Crime Family; even something as simple of Clemenza showing Michael how to make pasta sauce. The Restaurant Scene where Michael kills The Turk and the corrupt Captain McCluskey may be the greatest scene in either films. Its great due to the tension that builds as Michael sits back down at the table, at this point Michael was still a law abiding citizen. This is a huge change for Michael which is important given that Michael’s character arc is so vital to the story. And of course you can’t talk about that scene without bringing up and the accentuated train noise with the close up on Michael’s face right as he stands up to carryout the murders. Of course I could rave endlessly about GF2 so there is no truly correct answer in my opinion.
Yes. GF1 is filled with great scene after scene. But GF2 probably has the best last 20 minutes in all of cinema. It’s death coming in for Cazale and Pentangeli(and Roth). A family broken from inside murdered by their own ones. Then the dinner table scene when they were united and happy. It’s done so well I think. I always loved the second half of this movie than the first half. But the first half was immensely better on my second viewing.