Review of The Godfather Part II (1974) by Shaneb — 16 Jun 2009

Personally, this gets my vote for 'The Greatest Film Ever Made'. I felt that the only flaw with the original Godfather was that it dragged out a bit towards the end. However, dispite The Godfather: Part II being 25 minutes longer then the original Godfather, this doesn't happen in The Godfather: Part II.

In fact, if anything, I wanted this film to go on for longer. The main reason it doesn't drag out dispite it's lenght is because of the transitional two storylines. The main story dealing with Micheal Corleones reign as the Don of the powerful Corleone family.

Micheal is clearly a changed man since he took over the family after the death of his father, Vito Corleone, three years earlier. Becoming more and more ruthless, his wife Kay has realised that Micheal has become a vicous, cold and calcuative criminal.

Towards the end, she also realises that there is no way back for Micheal and that even though he has gained the world, he has ultimately lost his soul. The other storyline deals with Vito Corleones rise to power(who is protrayed in an Academy-Award winning performance by Robert De Niro).

After his family are slaughtered by a local mob boss in Sicily, he flees to America to start a new life. There, he befriends a young man named Genco, who gets Vito a job as a baker with his father. He later becomes friends with two other thugs, Peter Clemenza and Salvatore Tessio, who introduce him to a life of crime.

However, they are being squeezed by a local mob boss, Don Fanuci, who orders them to pay protection. Instead of paying however, Vito kills Fanuci, and Vito himself starts his own family. The Godfather: Part II is a stunning film with fantastic performances from Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvell, Diane Keaton, John Cazale, Lee Strasberg and Micheal V.

Gazzo, beautiful Cinematography and very well directed by Francis Ford Copella.