rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 1974
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola; produced by Francis Ford Coppola; screenplay by Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola
Starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, James Caan, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, John Cazale, Danny Aiello, Harry Dean Stanton, Sofia Coppola
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
'The Godfather: Part II' is one of the greatest movies ever made and a
sequel to one of the greatest movies ever made. It is not only a sequel but
also a prequel. We see how Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) moves on with the
family business in Nevada and we see the life of a young Vito Corleone
(Robert De Niro) in New York before he became the godfather.
Although the movie is very long you are not bored one second. The two
stories, young Vito's and Michaels, are perfectly edited as a whole.
Especially the scenes with Robert De Niro look beautiful. His performance is
almost as good as Marlon Brando's performance in 'The Godfather'. We see how
he meets Clemenza (Bruno Kirby), how he kills the local Don and how he
becomes powerful himself.
We also see how Michael almost gets killed, how Fredo (John Cazale) was
involved and how Michael now runs the family business. They are more
powerful than ever and that is what we see. Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg) is a
partner in Florida and Frankie Pentangeli (Michael V. Gazzo) is a partner in
New York but it is not sure if they can be trusted. These characters, and of
course people like Tom Hagen (a great Robert Duvall) and Kay Adams (Diane
Keaton), are the main characters in this story.
In this movie we see Vito Corleone murder someone for the first time, things
we didn't see in 'The Godfather'. Also the word "mafia" is used for the
first time. Besides those things we see a world as we saw it in 'The
Godfather'. You sympathize with the characters although you know they are
criminals. We recognize the haunting but beautiful music, the dark
atmosphere, the great performances by a great cast, a great cinematography
and a perfect direction by Francis Ford Coppola.
'The Godfather: Part II' is probably the greatest sequel ever made ('The
Empire Strikes Back' is a nice one also). If this was part one it probably
would be better than 'The Godfather'. Now it lacks the originality of the
first movie and therefor I still prefer that movie. Both films definitely
belong to the greatest ever made.