The Godfather Part 1
Nasha Goodridge
The Godfather Part II is a 1974 American epic crime film. The film is produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, loosely based on the 1969 novel The Godfather by Mario Puzo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola. It is both a sequel and a prequel to the 1972 film The Godfather, presenting parallel dramas: one picks up the 1958 story of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), the new Don of the Corleone family, protecting the family business in the aftermath of an attempt on his life; the prequel covers the journey of his father, Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro), from his Sicilian childhood to the founding of his family enterprise in New York City. The ensemble cast also features Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Morgana King, John Cazale, Marianna Hill, and Lee Strasberg.
the godfather part 1
Following the success of the first film, Paramount Pictures began developing a follow-up, with many of the cast and crew returning. Coppola, who was given more creative control, had wanted to make both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather that would tell the story of the rise of Vito and the fall of Michael. Principal photography began in October 1973 and wrapped up in June 1974. The Godfather Part II premiered in New York City on December 12, 1974, and was released in the United States on December 20, 1974, receiving divisive reviews from critics; its reputation, however, improved rapidly, and it soon became the subject of critical re-appraisal. It grossed $48 million in the United States and Canada and up to $93 million worldwide on a $13 million budget. The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, and became the first sequel to win Best Picture. Its six Oscar wins also included Best Director for Coppola, Best Supporting Actor for De Niro and Best Adapted Screenplay for Coppola and Puzo. Pacino won Best Actor at the BAFTAs and was nominated at the Oscars.
Like its predecessor, Part II remains a highly influential film, especially in the gangster genre. It is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time, as well as a rare example of a sequel that rivals its predecessor.[4] In 1997, the American Film Institute ranked it as the 32nd-greatest film in American film history and it retained this position 10 years later.[5] It was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 1993, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[6] The Godfather Part III, the final installment in the trilogy, was released 16 years later in 1990.
In 1901, in Corleone, Sicily, Mafia chieftain Don Ciccio kills the family of nine-year-old Vito Andolini after his father, Antonio, refuses to pay tribute to Ciccio. Vito escapes to New York City and is registered on arrival as "Vito Corleone". In 1917, Vito lives in Little Italy with his wife, Carmela, and their infant son, Sonny. He loses his job as a clerk in a grocery store due to the interference of Don Fanucci, a local Black Hand extortionist. His neighbor Peter Clemenza asks Vito to hide a bag of guns. As thanks, Clemenza enlists Vito's help in stealing a rug, which he gives to Carmela.
The Corleones have two more children: sons Fredo and Michael. Meanwhile, Vito, Clemenza, and new partner Salvatore Tessio earn money by stealing dresses and selling them locally door-to-door. This enterprise attracts the attention of Fanucci, who attempts to extort them for money by threatening to expose their fencing operation to the police. Vito tells his partners he can convince Fanucci to take less than the $600 he has demanded. "I'll make an offer he don't refuse," says Vito. They're skeptical but go along with the plan. Vito then meets with Fanucci in a restaurant while people outside celebrate a festival honoring San Rocco. Vito only pays Fanucci $100. Although irritated, Fanucci is impressed with Vito and suggests he work for him. Vito later shoots Fanucci to death at the entrance to Fanucci's apartment while festival revelers set off fireworks outside, neatly masking the sound of the gunshots. Vito retrieves the $100 from Fanucci's wallet and destroys the gun.
In 1922, Vito and his family travel to Sicily to establish an olive oil importing business from Corleone to Little Italy. He and his business partner, Don Tommasino, visit Don Ciccio, ostensibly to ask for Ciccio's blessing in starting their business. Ciccio, now an old man who has trouble hearing and seeing, doesn't recognize the adult Vito. Ciccio asks Vito to come close so he can hear him. Vito then reveals who he is and slices Ciccio's stomach open, killing him and avenging his family's death. Ciccio's guards shoot at Vito and Tommasino as they make their escape, injuring Tommasino and paralyzing him from the waist down for life.
In 1958, during his son's First Communion party at Lake Tahoe, Michael has a series of meetings in his role as the don of the Corleone crime family. Frank Pentangeli, a Corleone capo, is dismayed that Michael refuses to help defend his Bronx territory against the Rosato brothers, who work for Hyman Roth, a Jewish Mob boss and long-standing Corleone business partner. Senator Pat Geary, an anti-Italian xenophobe, demands a bribe to secure a casino gaming license for Michael. Michael refuses and counters that Geary should pay for the license himself. That night, a failed assassination attempt at his home prompts Michael to suddenly depart after confiding in consigliere Tom Hagen that he suspects a traitor within the family.
Michael suspects Roth planned the assassination, but falsely tells Roth he suspects Pentangeli. In New York City, under Michael's instructions, Pentangeli meets the Rosatos at a bar to make peace. The Rosatos attempt to strangle him, but are forced to flee when a police officer enters the bar.
Tom arrives at a Carson City brothel to meet Geary, who has woken up bewildered and horrified next to the bloodied corpse of a prostitute. Tom, who like Geary is Irish-American, reassures him that Fredo runs the brothel and that the situation will be taken care of in return for his pledge of friendship to the Corleone family.
A sickly Roth, Michael, and several of their partners travel to Havana to discuss their future Cuban business prospects under the cooperative government of Fulgencio Batista. Roth is exuberant about their prospects, but Michael has doubts about the government's response to the Cuban Revolution. On New Year's Eve, Fredo pretends not to know Johnny Ola, Roth's right-hand man, but later inadvertently reveals they know each other, leading Michael to realize that Fredo is the traitor. Michael orders hits on Ola and Roth; his enforcer strangles Ola but is killed by Cuban soldiers as he tries to smother Roth. Batista resigns and flees Cuba due to rebel advances. During the ensuing chaos, Michael, Fredo, and Roth separately escape Cuba. Back home, Michael is told that his wife Kay has miscarried.
In Washington, D.C., a Senate committee on organized crime is investigating the Corleone family, but Geary staunchly defends them. Pentangeli agrees to testify against Michael, who he believes had betrayed him to the Rosatos, and is placed under witness protection. On returning to Nevada, Fredo tells Michael that Ola offered him a position of responsibility and that he did not realize Roth was planning a hit. Michael disowns Fredo but orders that he should not be harmed while their mother is alive. Michael sends for Pentangeli's brother from Sicily, and Pentangeli, after seeing his brother in the hearing room, retracts his previous statement implicating Michael in organized crime; the hearing dissolves in an uproar. Kay reveals to Michael that she actually had an abortion, not a miscarriage, and that she intends to leave him and take their children. Outraged, Michael strikes Kay, banishes her from the family, and takes sole custody of the children.
Carmela dies some time later, and Michael hurries to wrap up loose ends. At the funeral, he embraces Fredo while giving a stern glance to family enforcer Al Neri. Kay visits her children; as she is saying goodbye, Michael arrives and closes the door on her. Roth returns to the United States after being refused asylum and entry to Israel. Corleone caporegime Rocco Lampone assassinates him during an interview at the airport and is shot while fleeing. Hagen visits Pentangeli at the army barracks where he is being held and the two discuss that failed conspirators against a Roman emperor could save their families by committing suicide. Pentangeli is later found dead in his bathtub, having slit his wrists. At the family compound, Michael calls his son Anthony away before he can join Fredo and Neri for a fishing trip on the lake. As Neri shoots Fredo, the gunshot echoes back to the compound where Michael is watching.
Michael reminisces about Vito's 50th birthday party on December 7, 1941, the same day Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. While the family waits to surprise Vito, Michael announces that he has dropped out of college and joined the Marines, angering Sonny and surprising Hagen. Fredo is the only member of the family who supports his decision. Vito is heard opening the door and everyone leaves the room to welcome him while Michael sits alone.
Mario Puzo started writing a script for a sequel in December 1971, before The Godfather was even released; its initial title was The Death of Michael Corleone.[7] Francis Ford Coppola's idea for the sequel would be to "juxtapose the ascension of the family under Vito Corleone with the decline of the family under his son Michael ... I had always wanted to write a screenplay that told the story of a father and a son at the same age. They were both in their thirties and I would integrate the two stories ... In order not to merely make Godfather I over again, I gave Godfather II this double structure by extending the story in both the past and in the present".[8] Coppola met with Martin Scorsese about directing the film, but Paramount refused.[9][10][11][12] Coppola also, in his director's commentary on The Godfather Part II, mentioned that the scenes depicting the Senate committee interrogation of Michael Corleone and Frank Pentangeli are based on the Joseph Valachi federal hearings and that Pentangeli is a Valachi-like figure.[13]
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