THE GODFATHER PART II

'''The Godfather Part II''' is a 1974 motion picture directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script he co-wrote with Mario Puzo. The film is both a sequel and a prequel to ''The Godfather'', chronicling the story of the Corleone family following the events of the first film while also depicting the rise to power of the young Vito Corleone, played by Robert De Niro.
It is ranked as the third best movie of all time by the Internet Movie Database, with the movie's predecessor, ''The Godfather'', ranked as #1, and the American Film Institute lists it as #32.^[1][2] ''The Godfather Part II'' is considered by many as the greatest sequel of all-time, being nominated for 11 Academy Awards and winning 6, including the Best Picture Award and the Best Supporting Actor Award. It is considered by some critics to be even better than the original.
''The Godfather Part II'' has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Contents

Cast

Plot

Reaction

Awards

Sequel

Miscellaneous facts

References

External links

Cast

★ Al Pacino as ''Don Michael Corleone''

★ Robert Duvall as ''Tom Hagen''

★ Diane Keaton as ''Kay Corleone''

★ Robert De Niro as young ''Vito Corleone''

★ John Cazale as ''Fredo Corleone''

★ Talia Shire as ''Connie Corleone''

★ Lee Strasberg as ''Hyman Roth''

★ Michael V. Gazzo as ''Frankie Pentangeli''

★ G.D. Spradlin as Senator ''Pat Geary''

★ Richard Bright as ''Al Neri''

★ Dominic Chianese as ''Johnny Ola''

★ James Caan as ''Sonny Corleone'' (cameo)

★ Giuseppe Sillato as ''Don Ciccio''

Plot

''The Godfather Part II'' presents two parallel storylines. One involves Mafia chief Michael Corleone during the Cold War, following the events of the first movie; the other is a series of flashbacks following his father, Vito Corleone, from his youth in Sicily (1901) to his founding of the Corleone family in New York City while still a young man (1917-1925).
:''The film begins in 1901, in the town of Corleone in Sicily, at the funeral procession for young Vito's father, Antonio Andolini, who has been murdered for an insult to the local Mafia lord, Don Ciccio. During the procession, Vito's older brother Paolo is also murdered because he swore revenge on the Don. Vito's mother then goes to Ciccio to beg him to let young Vito live. Upon his refusal, she holds a knife to his throat, sacrificing herself so that her son can escape, while Ciccio's men gun her down. They immediately scour the town for the boy, shouting their assurances to the sleeping townsfolk that they will regret harboring the boy. With the aid of a few of the townspeople, Vito finds his way by ship to New York. Upon arriving at Ellis Island, an immigration agent uses Vito's hometown of Corleone as his surname, registering him as "Vito Corleone".''
The film then moves into the late 1950s, to a scene similar to the opening of the first film, where Michael Corleone, Godfather of the Corleone family, deals with various business and family problems during an elaborate party at his Lake Tahoe, Nevada compound celebrating his son's First Communion. He meets with Nevada Senator Pat Geary, who despises the Corleones, but has shown up at the celebration with his wife under the auspices of accepting a large endowment to the university from Michael in his son's name. During a tense negotiation, Senator Geary demands a grossly exaggerated price for a new gaming license and a monthly payment of 5% of the gross profits from all of the Corleone's Nevada gaming interests, to which Michael boldly responds with a counter-offer of "nothing".
Michael also deals with his sister Connie, who, although recently divorced, is planning to marry a man with no obvious means of support and of whom Michael obviously disapproves. He also talks with Johnny Ola, the right hand man of Jewish gangster Hyman Roth, who is supporting Michael's move into the gambling industry. Belatedly, Michael deals with Frank "Five Angels" Pentangeli, who took over Corleone ''caporegime'' Peter Clemenza's territory after his death, and now has problems with the Rosato Brothers, who are backed by Roth. After Michael's refusal to allow Pentangeli to kill the Rosatos, owing to his desire to prevent interruption of his business with Roth, Pentangeli leaves abruptly, after telling Michael "your father did business with Hyman Roth, your father respected Hyman Roth, but your father never ''trusted'' Hyman Roth."
Later that night, an assassination attempt is made on Michael, which he survives when his wife Kay notices the bedroom window drapes are inexplicably open. Afterwards, Michael tells Tom Hagen that the hit was made with the help of someone close, and that he must leave, entrusting all his power to Hagen to protect the family.
:''The action then switches to 1917, where the 25-year-old Vito Corleone works in a New York grocery store with his friend Genco Abbandando. The neighborhood is controlled by a member of the "The Black Hand," Don Fanucci, who extorts protection payments from local businesses. One night, Vito's neighbor Clemenza asks him to hide a stash of guns for him, and later, to repay the favor, takes him to a fancy apartment where they commit their first felony together, stealing an elegant rug.''
The film flash-forwards to Michael's time. Michael meets with Hyman Roth in Florida and tells him that he believes Frank Pentangeli was responsible for the assassination attempt, and that Pentangeli will pay for it. Traveling to Brooklyn, Michael lets Pentangeli know that Roth was actually behind it, and that Michael has a plan to deal with Roth, but he needs Frankie to cooperate with the Rosato Brothers in order to put Roth off guard. When Pentangeli goes to meet with the Rosatos, he is told "Michael Corleone says hello," as he is garrotted; but the attempted murder is accidentally interrupted by a policeman. Pentangeli is left for dead, and his bodyguard, Willie Cicci, is wounded by gunfire.
In Nevada, Tom Hagen is called to a brothel run by Michael's older brother Fredo, where Senator Geary is implicated in the death of a prostitute. Tom offers to take care of the problem in return for "friendship" between the Senator and the Corleone family.
Meanwhile, Michael meets Roth in Havana, Cuba, in late 1958, at the time when dictator Fulgencio Batista is soliciting American investment, and communist guerrillas are trying to bring down the government. At a birthday party for Roth, Michael mentions that there is a possibility that the rebels might win, making their business dealings in Cuba problematic. The comment prompts Roth to remark, privately, that Michael has not delivered the two million dollars to firm their partnership.

Fredo, carrying the promised money, arrives in Havana and meets Michael. Michael mentions Hyman Roth and Johnny Ola to him, but Fredo says he has never met them. Michael confides to his brother that it was Roth who tried to kill him, and that he plans to try again. Michael assures Fredo that he has already made his move, and that "Hyman Roth will never see the New Year."
Instead of turning over the money to Roth, Michael asks him who gave the order to have Frank Pentangeli killed. Roth avoids the question, instead speaking angrily of the murder of his old friend, Moe Greene, which Michael had orchestrated (as depicted at the end of the first film), quipping, "I never asked who gave the order, because it had nothing to do with ''business''!"
Michael has asked Fredo, who knows Havana well, to show Senator Geary and other important officials and businessmen a good time, during which Fredo pretends to not recognize Johnny Ola. Soon after, at a sex show, a drunk Fredo comments loudly that Johnny Ola told him about the place, contradicting what he told Michael twice earlier, that he didn't know Roth or Ola. Michael now realizes that the traitor is his own brother, and dispatches his bodyguard back to their hotel to deal with Roth.
There, Johnny Ola is strangled, but Roth, whose health is failing, is taken to a hospital, where Michael's bodyguard follows, but is shot by police while trying to smother Roth with a pillow. At Batista's New Year's Eve party, at the stroke of midnight, Michael grasps Fredo tightly by the head and kisses him: "I know it was you Fredo; you broke my heart." When guerrillas attack, the guests flee, and Fredo runs away from Michael, despite Michael's pleas that he is still his brother and that the only way out is with him.
Michael returns to Las Vegas, where Hagen tells him that Roth escaped Cuba after suffering a stroke and is recovering in Miami, that Michael's bodyguard is dead, and that Fredo is likely hiding in New York. Hagen also informs Michael that Kay had a miscarriage while he was away.
:''In 1917 New York, Don Fanucci of the Black Hand is now aware of the partnership between Vito, Clemenza and Sal Tessio, and wants a slice of the action in order to "wet his beak". Clemenza and Tessio agree to pay, but Vito is reluctant and asks his friends to leave everything in his hands to convince Fanucci to accept less money. Indeed, Vito manages to get Fanucci to take only one sixth of what he had demanded. Immediately afterwards, during the neighborhood festa, Vito murders Fanucci.''
Don Michael returns to his compound in Lake Tahoe, where he wanders the house in silent comtemplation. He sees Kay (who he has prevented from leaving the compound for her own safety) in the bedroom, but does not approach her. In Washington, D.C., a Senate committee, of which Senator Geary is a member, is conducting an investigation into the Corleone family. They question disaffected "soldier" Willie Cicci, but he cannot implicate Michael, because he never received any direct orders from him.
:''With Fanucci dead, Vito earns the respect of the neighborhood and begins to intercede in local disputes, operating out of the storefront of his Genco Pura Olive Oil Company (named after his friend Genco Abbandando).''
When Michael appears before the committee, Senator Geary makes a big show of supporting Italian-Americans and then excuses himself from the proceedings. Michael makes a statement challenging the committee to produce a witness to corroborate the charges against him. The hearing ends with the Chairman promising a witness who will do exactly that.
Frank Pentangeli, who did not die in the attack by the Rosato Brothers, has made a deal with the FBI to testify against Michael. Tom Hagen and Michael discuss the problem, observing that Roth's strategy to destroy Michael is well planned. Michael's brother Fredo has been found and persuaded to return to Nevada, and in a private meeting he explains to Michael his betrayal: upset about being passed over to head the family in favor of Michael, he wants respect and his due. He helped Roth thinking there would be something in it for him, but he swears he didn't know they wanted to kill Michael. He also tells Michael that the Senate Committee's chief counsel belongs to Roth. Michael then tells Fredo: "You're nothing to me now. Not a brother, not a friend, nothing", and privately instructs Al Neri that nothing is to happen to Fredo while their mother is still alive, with the understanding that Fredo will be killed after her death.

At the hearing in which Pentangeli is to testify, Michael arrives accompanied by Pentangeli's brother Vincenzo (brought in from Italy), whose surprise presence causes Frank to recant his previous statements about Michael. When Pentangeli is pressed, he claims that he just told the FBI what they wanted to hear. With no witness to testify against Michael the committee adjourns, with Hagen, acting as Michael's lawyer, loudly demanding an apology.
At a hotel room afterwards, Kay tries to leave Michael and take their children with her. Michael at first tries to mollify her, but loses his temper and hits her violently when she reveals to him that her recent "miscarriage" was actually an abortion to avoid bringing another child into Michael's criminal family.
:''While visiting Sicily, Vito is introduced to the elderly Don Ciccio as the man who imports their olive oil to America, and who wants his blessing. When Ciccio asks Vito who his father was, Vito says, "His name was Antonio Andolini, and this is for you!", cutting the old man's stomach open with a knife, avenging the deaths of his father, mother, and brother.''
When Carmella Corleone, Vito's widow and the mother of his children, dies, the whole Corleone family is reunited. Michael is still shunning Fredo, who is miserable, but relents when Connie implores him to. Michael and Fredo embrace, but at the same time Michael signals to his ''capo'' Al Neri that Fredo's protection from harm, in effect while their mother lived, has now expired.
Michael, Tom Hagen, Al Neri, and Rocco Lampone discuss their final dealings with Hyman Roth, who has been unsuccessfully seeking asylum from various countries, and was even refused entry to Israel as a returning Jew. Michael rejects Hagen's advice that the Corleone family's position is secure, and killing Roth and the Rosato brothers for revenge is an unnecessary risk. Later, Hagen pays a visit to Frank Pentangeli on a military base and suggests that he take his own life, in the manner of unsuccesful ancient Roman conspirators who, in return, were promised that their families would be taken care of after their suicide.
With the connivance of Connie, Kay visits her children, but cannot bear to leave them and stays too long. When Michael arrives, he coldly closes the door in her face.
''The Godfather Part II'' reaches its climax in a montage of assassinations and death, reminiscent of the end of ''The Godfather''. As he arrives at a U.S. airport to be taken into custody, Hyman Roth is killed by Rocco Lampone, disguised as a journalist, who is immediately shot dead in turn. On the military base, Frank Pentangeli is found dead in one of their bathtubs, having followed Hagen's instructions and committed suicide. Finally, Fredo is murdered by Al Neri while they are fishing on Lake Tahoe - just as Fredo finishes saying a Hail Mary to help catch a fish.
:''The penultimate scene takes place in 1941, as the Corleone family is preparing a surprise birthday party for Vito. Sonny introduces Carlo Rizzi, Connie's future husband and eventual betrayer of Sonny, to his family. They all talk about the recent attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, and Michael shocks everybody by announcing that he has just enlisted in the United States Marines. Sonny angrily ridicules Michael's choice, while Tom Hagen mentions how his father has great expectations for Michael, and had made specific arrangements for his future. Fredo is the only one who supports his brother's decision. Sal Tessio comes in with the cake for the party, and when Vito arrives, all but Michael leave to greet him.''
The final scene in the film is Michael sitting by himself at Lake Tahoe, in silent contemplation. He realizes that not only did he not succeed at avoiding becoming like his father, he has in fact become an even more cold-hearted monster than his father ever was.

Reaction

''The Godfather Part II'' is considered by many to be the most critically and artistically successful sequel in movie history, and is certainly the most honored. Many critics praise it as equal, or even superior, to the original film. The Internet Movie Database consistently ranks this movie in the top five of its "Top 250 movies of all time", as voted by its users. The film also regularly ranks independently on many "greatest movies" lists.
The Godfather Part II is ranked as the #1 greatest movie of all time in TV Guide Magazines "50 Best Movies of all time", and it is ranked at #7 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the "100 Greatest Movies of All Time". The film is also featured on movie critic Leonard Maltin's list of the "100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century" and is also ranked at #32 on the American Film Institute's "100 Years... 100 Movies". ''The Godfather Part II'' was featured on ''Sight and Sound's list of the ten greatest films of all time in 1992 and 2002.
As the decades have passed, like the first film, The Godfather Part II remains seen as one of the finest movies of all time. Like the film itself, Al Pacino's performance became legendary. The general public and many movie critics have praised Pacino's performance in Part II as perhaps his best and one of the best performances of all time. In 2006, Premier Magazine issued "The 100 Greatest Performances of all Time", ranking Al Pacino's performance at #20.

Awards

Academy Awards record
'1. Best Supporting Actor', Robert De Niro
'2. Best Art Direction', Dean Tavoularis, Angelo P. Graham, George R. Nelson
'3. Best Director', Francis Ford Coppola
'4. Best Original Score', Nino Rota, Carmine Coppola
'5. Best Picture', Francis Ford Coppola, Gray Frederickson, Fred Roos
'6. Best Adapted Screenplay', Francis Ford Coppola, Mario Puzo
BAFTA Awards record
'1. Best Actor', Al Pacino

''The Godfather Part II'' is the only sequel ever to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. (Although '' , which won the 2004 Oscar for Best Picture, is sometimes considered a sequel, it could actually be considered the third part of one trilogy, ''The Lord of the Rings''. ''The Silence of the Lambs'', the 1991 winner for the Academy Award for Best Picture, is arguably not an official sequel to ''Manhunter''). The Godfather series remains the only film series to win two Academy Awards for Best Picture.
Between ''The Godfather'' and ''The Godfather Part II,'' Coppola directed ''The Conversation,'' which was released in 1974 and was also nominated for Best Picture. This resulted in Coppola being the second director in Hollywood history to have two films released in the same year nominated for Best Picture. (The first was Sir Alfred Hitchcock in 1941 with ''Foreign Correspondent'' and ''Rebecca'', which won. This achievement was matched by Steven Soderbergh in 2000, when the films ''Erin Brockovich'' and ''Traffic'' were both nominated for Best Picture.)

Sequel

In the director's commentary on the DVD edition of the film (released in 2002), Coppola states that this film was the first major motion picture to use "Part II" in its title. Paramount was initially opposed to his decision to name the movie ''The Godfather Part II.'' According to Coppola, the studio's objection stemmed from the belief that audiences would be reluctant to see a film with such a title, as the audience would supposedly believe that, having already seen ''The Godfather,'' there was little reason to see an addition to the original story. The success of ''The Godfather Part II'' began the Hollywood tradition of numbered sequels.

Miscellaneous facts

★ The scenes that took place in Cuba, were actually shot in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.[1]

★ ''The Godfather Part II'' was shot between October 1, 1973 and June 19, 1974.

★ Robert De Niro's performance as Don Corleone (a role originated by Best Actor winner Marlon Brando) won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Brando and De Niro remain the only two actors to each win Oscars for playing the same character.

★ Of all the films on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list, this was the only sequel. This is ranked #32 (with the original ranking #2).

★ In one early draft of the script, Tom Hagen had an affair with Sonny's widow, causing some friction amongst the Corleone family. This sub-plot was soon cut from the script.

★ James Caan agreed to reprise the role of Sonny in the birthday flashback sequence on the condition that for the single scene he be paid the same amount he received for the entire last film. He got his wish. Marlon Brando was also asked to return for the brief but important birthday flashback sequence, but the actor felt mistreated by the board at Paramount, and refused to appear for a single day's shooting.

★ Also declining to appear in the film was Richard Castellano, who portrayed Pete Clemenza in the first film. The character that ultimately became Frankie Pentangeli was originally intended to be Clemenza. However, Castellano and the producers could not reach agreement on Castellano's demands that he be allowed to write the character's dialogue in the film.

★ Bruno Kirby (billed in the credits as B. Kirby, Jr.) plays a younger version of Clemenza. In the television series ''The Super'', Kirby played Castellano's son.

★ ''The Godfather Part II'' was the last major American motion picture to be filmed in Technicolor.

★ Dominic Chianese, Uncle Corrado "Junior" Soprano in ''The Sopranos'', plays the role of "Johnny Ola" in his film debut.

★ United States Senator Pat Geary of Nevada, G.D. Spradlin. At the time of Godfather II, 1959, the real US Senators were Alan H. Bible, (D-NV) and Howard W. Cannon, (D-NV).

★ The scene in which Vito negotiates with Don Fanucci inspired George Lucas's deleted (later restored) scene in '', in which Han Solo negotiates with Jabba for more time to pay the money he owes.

★ This was the first film that featured both Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. However, they wouldn't appear on screen together until Michael Mann's ''Heat'' in 1995.

★ Among the Senators interrogating Willie Cicci, Michael Corleone, and Frankie Pentangeli are film producer/director Roger Corman, producer Phil Feldman, and science-fiction writer Richard Matheson.

★ The film won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay even though only half of the film was adapted from the novel. Michael's story was an original creation, while Vito's story was taken from the novel. [2]

★ The character Hyman Roth, portrayed by Lee Strasberg, in the film The Godfather Part II (1974) is based on Meyer Lansky. In fact, shortly after the premiere in 1974, Lansky phoned Strasberg and congratulated him on a good performance, but added "You could've made me more sympathetic".

★ Peter Donat's character, Questadt the Senate lawyer, was said by Coppola to have been inspired by Richard Nixon.

★ "You have two films. Take one away, it doesn't work." George Lucas on the film after its five-hour cut preview.

★ Two actors who appear in Godfather II played different character roles in other Godfather films; Carmine Caridi, who plays Carmine Rosato, also went on to play crime boss Albert Volpe in The Godfather Part III, and Frank Sivero, who plays a young Genco Abbandondo, also plays a bystander to the fight between Sonny Corleone and Carlo Rizzi in Godfather I.

References

1. IMDB Top 250
2. AFI 100 Years 100 Movies

External links

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★ The Godfather Trilogy