Movie of the Week: Godfather II

Alexa: Though I think “The Godfather” is the superior film, “The Godfather Part II” is still a pretty stellar continuation of the Corleone family saga. The acting is once again superb. This may be Al Pacino’s best performance in his entire career, and Robert De Niro expertly captures the Vito Corleone that Marlon Brando crafted and builds upon him even further. Francis Ford Coppola is a master of character development, scene setting and mood building. His depiction of 1920s New York and revolution-era Cuba are particularly captivating. He masterfully executes slow-burning tension, perhaps even more effectively here than in the first film. But I think combining a prequel and sequel into one movie is what keeps “The Godfather Part II” from being perfect. There are two outstanding movies contained in this one film, and I don’t think the back-and-forth narrative structure serves either story in the best way. It’s not that it doesn’t serve a purpose at all. Intertwining the contemporary story with Vito’s rise only further underscores Michael’s moral descent. It provides a hard contrast between the two outcomes for each man – everything Vito does is in service of his family, while Michael’s power-hungry actions tear that family apart. But I found myself wanting more of each story, particularly Vito’s backstory. It was difficult to become too invested in either side when one narrative would pop back up and pull me out of the other. As a result, I think the first film is more emotionally impactful. That said, I’m really intrigued by this “Godfather Epic” cut that Chris mentions, which recuts the first two films in chronological order. Now to find seven and a half hours to spare…

Joel: The Godfather Part II is well known for the way it works as both a prequel and a sequel to the original movie. While part of the movie tells the continuing story of Michael as the head of the Corleone family, it’s intercut with scenes that tell the story of a young Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando’s character from the first movie) coming to America and the early years of his family. What I love about this setup is that it’s able to allow the movie to build more completely on the story of the Corleone family. This isn’t a sequel that just has more stuff that happened after the first movie. The Godfather Part II is able to create a more complete narrative. It builds off of the movie that came before it. While most sequels (especially at the time) were little more than a rehash or a redo of what worked so well in the first movie, The Godfather Part II works as a continuation of the very same story that started in the first movie. Things are happening “again,” but the events of the first movie continue to happen.

While the idea of working as both a prequel and a sequel to the first movie might feel odd, and take some getting used to, it’s actually one of my favorite parts of this movie. The two stories are able to complement each other and parallel one another, almost offering commentary on one another as the movie progresses. Both Michael and Vito, his father, are about the same age in this movie. We simultaneously get to watch the creation of the Corleone family, coinciding with the downfall of the exact same family. The story starts with Vito coming to America all alone. The movie ends with Michael sitting alone. While it’s worth mentioning the “Godfather Epic” cut of the movie (where all of the scenes from Part I and Part II are rearranged in chronological order) is an interesting idea and a good experiment in storytelling through editing, it’s clear that the impact of The Godfather Part II comes from the intercutting of the two stories.

In addition to the movie’s unique storytelling choice, the are plenty of other parts of the movie that are worth complementing. First and foremost, Al Pacino, who was probably the lead actor the first time around, really gives a commanding performance here. Michael Corleone has become one of the great tragic character of American film. While his performance was strong in the first movie, he slides into the role as head of the family here in a way that makes it easy to see why Michael is the most powerful man in whatever room he happens to be in.

Robert De Niro is another fantastic bit of acting in this movie. While Marlon Brando was significantly aged up to play Vito Corleone in the first movie and probably could have reprised the role here, De Niro’s performance is one that stands alongside Brando’s if not outright eclipsing it. To date Robert De Niro and Marlon Brando remain the only two actors to win an Oscar for portraying the same character, and it’s worth noting that De Niro managed to win “Best Supporting Actor” for a role that was 95% in a foreign language. De Niro manages to pull of a performance that is clearly the character we’re familiar with from the first movie without it ever feeling like a Brando impersonation.

The Godfather and The Godfather Part II together make up an incredible epic masterpiece of storytelling and filmmaking. Like the first movie, this one has a hefty length attached to it, but while it may be slow paced at times, it always feels deliberate and never feels like the movie is dragging. It’s easy to throw out the word epic whenever a movie breaks the three hour mark, but both of these movies feel like true epics, and even more so when you acknowledge that they’re two parts of the same extended saga. This movie is able to compliment an build on the first movie in a way that makes both movies feel more complete.

Chris: Godfather II is by far my personal favorite of the trilogy. Yes, it is quite long but every beat and every scene serves a purpose. What is that purpose and why is so much crammed into that movie? Because someone like Michael, who was brought up in a culture like the Corleone family, would have to go through that many things and take that many steps to reach a conclusion that involved taking the life of a blood relative. The ending of the movie isn’t one that is supposed to surprise the audience because the entire movie is basically giving it away and sets up the execution. No, the film fills the audiences with dread of the unavoidable conclusion especially when Michael’s story is juxtaposed with Vito’s commitment and dedication to his family and community. Godfather II continues the point I made about this being a “cut is the branch” tragedy, especially at the flashback at the end where a younger Michael talks about controlling his own future. The irony is all that is Michael reluctantly took over the family “business” at the end of the last movie because he felt an obligation to his family and now in II, Michael has isolated himself further with the execution at the end, less of Vito’s men are around and he lost of control of his own immediate family. Another point of irony is that Michael is methodical, it’s as if as soon as the hit was attempted on him at the beginning, every move within the business was like a chess match under his control and yet, he loses control over those closest to him. Michael distances himself from his father’s legacy which is ultimately the goal of the flashbacks to Vito’s origins because Vito began the “family” to look out for his family and his community whereas Michael uses his power to destroy his enemies and feed his own greed and ego masked under the guise of trying to make the Corleone Family “legit.” HBO aired a special presentation called The Godfather Epic which combined both I and II and additional previously unused scenes and recut it all to play in sequential order, beginning with Vito’s origin and ending with Michael carrying out the execution. I unfortunately missed the 7 ½ hour broadcast but one day, I would like to see how it would all play out but I could imagine it would feel like more of a deterioration of the purpose of “the family” over time.

Jason: So we did another one of these. The first movie was slow and did not hold my attention. This one kept me on board only enough to anticipate the flash-back portions. All the parts with Robert De Niro about Vito’s rise to power were really cool. I really enjoyed all of the period stuff and De Niro is a hell of an actor. Also, he pulls off a young Marlon Brando pretty dang well. Everything else was a mess. It was long winded and rambly, just like the first movie. It was convoluted and confusing at times, just like the first movie. And I couldn’t be made to care about the family at all, just like the first movie. I just don’t have a whole lot to say about it. I wish it had just been a prequel telling Vito’s story in more detail.