The Godfather Part 2

The Godfather Part II is a 1974 motion picture directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script co-written 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.

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. 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 better than the original.

The Godfather Part II has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.


Plot

The Godfather Part II presents two parallel storylines. One involves Mafia chief Michael Corleone following the events of the first movie; the other is a series of flashbacks following his father, Vito Corleone, from his childhood in Sicily (1901) to his founding of the criminal 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 ordered killed by the local Mafia chieftain, Don Ciccio. During the procession, Vito's older brother Paolo is also murdered because he swore revenge on the Don. Vito's mother goes to Ciccio to beg him to let young Vito live. When he refuses, she holds a knife to his throat, sacrificing herself to allow Vito to escape, and Ciccio's gunmen shoot her. They scour the town for Vito, warning 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. Arriving at Ellis Island, an immigration agent, mishearing Vito's hometown of Corleone as his surname, registers 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 at his Lake Tahoe, Nevada compound during an elaborate party celebrating his son's First Communion. He meets with Nevada Senator Pat Geary, who despises the Corleones, but has shown up with his wife to accept a large endowment to the state 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 Family's Nevada gaming interests, to which Michael 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, who Michael disapproves of. 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. Finally, Michael meets 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. Michael refuses to allow Pentangeli to kill the Rosatos, due 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."



WATCH NOW