continuation are a way of life in Hollywood , and they ’ve been around in some mode since the dawn of cinema . But in 1974 , it just was n’t common for an Oscar - winner for Best Picture to have a sequel two yr later that gain ground the same prize … and more . Fifty years ago this month , The Godfather Part IIchanged the secret plan for the industry andarguably surpassedThe Godfatheritself .
While many ofThe Godfather Part II‘s contemporary films — likeThe Towering Inferno — have faded from daddy culture , this picture show go forward to influence every law-breaking epic that add up after it . It set the bar so gamey for a sequel that not evenThe Godfather Part IIIcould add up anywhere close to this film ’s top . To lionize the 50th day of remembrance ofThe Godfather Part II , we ’ll examine what make the film resonate and determine whether it ’s the swell sequel ever made .
The dual narratives are both compelling
Director Francis Ford Coppola ( Megalopolis ) andThe Godfathernovelist Mario Puzo carbon monoxide gas - write the screenplay forThe Godfather Part II , which in effect serves as both a prequel and a sequel to the first picture . In the other year of the 20th century , young Vito Corleone ( Robert De Niro ) struggles to notice his office as an Italian immigrant living in America . The narrative , starting in 1958 , keep an eye on Vito ’s Logos , Michael Corleone ( Al Pacino ) , as he settles into his character as the Don of the Corleone crime syndicate .
The film intercuts between these two report as we see how Vito slowly establish his reputation and put together the first pieces of his conglomerate , while Michael franticly sample to hold that same imperium together as he faces treachery from friends , allies , and even his own family . De Niro and Pacino do n’t have any scenes together in this movie , and Marlon Brando did n’t reprise his role as Vito from the first cinema . Regardless , the link between the father and his Word is matte up across the twelvemonth , and that hold the interview invested in both of their stories .
Al Pacino was robbed
As you might expect , Al Pacino was appoint for Best Actor at the Oscars for his purpose in this pic . He had previously been make for Best Supporting Actor forThe Godfather , while Brando took home the Best Actor prize for that picture . As fantastic as he was inThe Godfather , Pacino was even good inThe Godfather Part II . disregarding , he lost the award to Art Carney , who won for his role as Harry Coombes inHarry and Tonto .
All due respect to the previous actor — who also defeat Dustin Hoffman ( Lenny ) andJack Nicholson ( Chinatown)at the Oscars that year — but Carney ’s performance is n’t the one that ’s hold up 50 years later . Pacino ’s volume was riveting , and all traces of the practiced man that Michael used to be were long sound . This interpretation of Michael is forever raging , sometimes desperate , and even occasionally lonely . Michael has n’t just become his father ; he ’s transubstantiate into something worse . As viewers , we witness some of the other sin of Vito Corleone in this film — and they pale in compare to things that Michael does by the fourth dimension the concluding credits run .
Michael is a devil , and yet we ca n’t serve rooting for him to cease off his enemy and victory in the ending . Few performers can hold up an audience ’s fellow feeling while playing a type like that . This was an Oscar - desirable routine by Pacino , even though it took him nigh two decades before he finally won Best Actor forScent of a Womanin 1992 .
Robert De Niro gave one of his career-best performances
One of the most striking thing about young Vito is that De Niro initially plays him as a piece without powerfulness . Most of his dialogue is in Sicilian , and Vito does n’t have much money or influence . He ’s just scraping by like the rest of the immigrants in his neighborhood .
Yet over time , we see the wheels turn in Vito ’s head through De Niro ’s face as he calculate out how to change his luck by seizing big businessman where he can … and by murdering someone who stood in the agency of his procession .
De Niro ’s take on his character was n’t as flashy as Pacino ’s or even his own role inTaxi Drivertwo years later . alternatively , De Niro humanized untried Vito while the script made him an underdog . His tale also duplicate Michael ’s , as both Padre and son set out to get their revenge . De Niro gave subtle nuance and profoundness to Vito that his on - screen son lost over time , and his performance was unforgettable .
The film stands as an artistic achievement
In a seven - class menses between 1972 and 1979 , Coppola madeThe Godfather , The Godfather Part II , andApocalypse Now , all three of which are wide realize as some of the right movies ever made . It was kind of all downhill from there , especially ifMegalopolisturns out to be Coppola ’s final photographic film . The director made some good — and even great — moving picture between 1979 and now , butThe Godfather Part IItowers above the rest .
Every expression of this film works magnificently , from the staging and the performance to the stage dancing , the medicine , and more . It ’s a breathtakingly beautiful movie that feel uncommonly timeless . That may be whyThe Godfather Part IIhas never to the full gone away from the public awareness . How many times have you take heed Pacino ’s iconic line , “ I bang it was you , Fredo , ” in your life ?
The caustic remark is that some contemporary critics trashedThe Godfather Part IIbefore reappraising it after it was clear how the film was cover by audiences . To date , the only other sequel to win an Oscar for Best Picture isThe Lord of the Rings : The Return of the King . That ’s rarefied territory , but we ’d still callThe Godfather Part IIthe greatest continuation ever made . Until something else get along along that can match its impact , this film will keep to wear that crownwork .
WatchThe Godfather Part IIonParamount+ .
