Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘The Godfather II’ (1974), which marks its fiftieth anniversary, stands as that rarity - a sequel that not only rivals but arguably surpasses the original 1972 masterpiece, a feat seldom equalled in cinematic history.
The breathtakingly ambitious 200-minute film is a continuation of the Corleone family saga and possibly the definitive artistic word on the criminal underworld and the exploration of power - aesthetically rivalled only by Sergio Leone’s ‘Once Upon a Time in America’ (1984).
Far more than just the vicissitudes of a Mafia family, The Godfather Part II mirrors the great dynasties of classical history, like the Médicis or the Borgias of Renaissance Italy. The Godfather II is two films in one, traversing multiple historical epochs to showcase the rise of the father – a young Don Vito Corleone (masterfully portrayed by Robert De Niro) in the 1910s alongside the tragic fall of son Michael Corleone (Al Pacino’s finest performance) in the late 1950s.
The film intercuts between Michael’s crumbling empire, with scenes set against backdrop of Battista’s Cuba, and his father Vito’s rise as a young Sicilian immigrant in New York decades earlier.
In a tour-de-force on the intricacies of power and succession, Coppola invites the viewer to explore the contrasting trajectories of father and son: one building an empire from nothing, the other presiding over its fall as it corrodes his soul.
By the film’s end, Michael, who, in ‘The Godfather’ started off an idealist WWII hero, transforms into a cold, loveless monster, prematurely aged, ordering the execution of his older brother Fredo (brilliantly played by John Cazale) for going against the ‘Family.’
The transformation of Mario Puzo’s pulpy novel into high art under Coppola’s direction is an intriguing story in itself. In 1965, a 45-year-old Mario Puzo, bedevilled by shylocks, set about writing, not great literature, but a hypnotically engrossing story about America’s criminal underworld titled ‘Mafia’.
By 1967, Hollywood’s Paramount Studio, reeling from financial losses, had latched on the concept of nurturing potential bestsellers into films. This is how Puzo’s novel on the strength of 114 pages and telling the sympathetic story of a racketeer Don Vito Corleone was ‘nurtured’ by the studio.
In 1969, the book, ‘The Godfather’ became a runaway bestseller. Yet, the film, which came out in 1972, was fraught with uncertainty. From the unbankability of one of the world’s greatest actors Marlon Brando, who played the ageing Don to the initial hostile reviews of a then-unknown Pacino, a pressure-cooker atmosphere had pervaded the making of the film as Coppola frenetically pulled of all stops to achieve his artistic vision. As ‘The Godfather’ broke movie records, the film became, according to historian Arthur Schlesinger, “the cultural phenomenon of the season.”
But why this sequel to a perfect film? Coppola agreed to do it as he was handed complete creative control by Paramount and fascinated by the idea of a film that “would work freely in time, moving backward and forward in time.”
Casting played a pivotal role in the ‘The Godfather II’s success. De Niro, who pulled-off the notoriously challenging assignment of playing the younger Vito Corleone, delivering lines in Sicilian and broken English, was unilaterally cast after Coppola viewed his early performance in Martin Scorsese’s ‘Mean Streets’ (1973).
The formidable supporting cast included Michael V. Gazzo and legendary acting teacher Lee Strasberg, who portrayed the Machiavellian Hyman Roth.
Critics initially struggled to reconcile to the film’s darker themes; Roger Ebert, who has awarded four stars to several less-deserving flicks, initially gave ‘The Godfather II’ a mere respectable three.
The film’s stunning period detail (right down to the dirt of early 20th-century New York), its technical mastery - Gordon Willis phenomenal cinematography, moving seamlessly between sepia-toned scenes of Vito’s early 20th-century New York to Michael’s late 1950s, is remarkable.Critic D. Keith Mano said that The Godfather II was better than The Godfather and that the two-volume set represented a great American document.
‘The Godfather II’ went on to win six Academy Awards. Pacino, however, was notably overlooked for Best Actor, a snub that would resonate until he belatedly received one for ‘Scent of a Woman’ eighteen years later – for a performance in a film far inferior to his high points in the 1970s.
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