The Godfather: Part II (1974): The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York is portrayed while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on his crime syndicate stretching from Lake Tahoe, Nevada to pre-revolution 1958 Cuba. (9.0)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Writers: Mario Puzo
Stars: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall
I'd seen the first Godfather movie earlier (before starting this blog), but had been putting off watching the part II since it is quite long. I finally watched it in three "sittings." I didn't realize that this is actually a continuation of the first movie (ie: it is assumed that the viewer knows the characters and relationships), with earlier life of Vito interwoven into the current story. I had to go back and read the Wikipedia page about the movie to understand some parts of the story. It wasn't easy for me to keep track of minor characters coming in and out of the plot. These two Godfather movies are credited with the revival of the Mob Film genre in the '70s and this certainly shows the intricacies of the "family" business. I had seen clips and spoofs of the Godfather movies before. So, seeing the real thing as a single story gives you a different feeling to seeing something for the first time, sort of like "oh, that's how that fits in there." Kind of nice to see the actors who later became big names in their early careers. My Rating: 8.0
