The Godfather Part II
1974 | Crime | USA | Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Overview
The sequel that surpassed its original: Pacino as Michael consolidating the family in cold blood, Robert De Niro as young Vito building it in flashbacks, from Ellis Island to Lake Tahoe. First sequel to win Best Picture. Coppola parallel structure mapped the corruption of a family onto the corruption of America. The closing door shot remains the great tragedy ending. Franchise cinema never aimed this high again.
Related Films
Bonnie and Clyde
Depression bank robbers as beautiful, doomed youth. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway made violence balletic, and the slow motion blo...
The Godfather
The Corleone family saga turned pulp into opera. Marlon Brando mutters, Al Pacino darkens across three hours from war hero to don,...
Taxi Driver
Travis Bickle drives nights through steam and rain and hates what he sees. De Niro gaunt journal, the mirror monologue improvised,...
Goodfellas
Henry Hill remembers wanting to be a gangster since he was a kid, and Scorsese makes the whole ride kinetic: the Copacabana oner, ...