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IMDbPro

The Godfather: Part II

Original title: The Godfather Part II
  • 19741974
  • RR
  • 3h 22m
IMDb RATING
9.0/10
1.3M
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
238
47
Al Pacino in The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Trailer for The Godfather: Part II
Play trailer3:19
7 Videos
99+ Photos
CrimeDrama
The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.
IMDb RATING
9.0/10
1.3M
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
238
47
    • Francis Ford Coppola
    • Francis Ford Coppola(screenplay by)
    • Mario Puzo(screenplay by)
  • Stars
    • Al Pacino
    • Robert De Niro
    • Robert Duvall
    • Francis Ford Coppola
    • Francis Ford Coppola(screenplay by)
    • Mario Puzo(screenplay by)
  • Stars
    • Al Pacino
    • Robert De Niro
    • Robert Duvall
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 1.3KUser reviews
    • 136Critic reviews
    • 90Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Top rated movie #4
    • Won 6 Oscars

    Videos7

    The Godfather: Part II
    Trailer 3:19
    Watch The Godfather: Part II
    'The Godfather: Part II' | Anniversary Mashup
    Clip 1:34
    Watch 'The Godfather: Part II' | Anniversary Mashup
    The Godfather: Part II
    Clip 0:46
    Watch The Godfather: Part II
    The Godfather: Part II
    Clip 0:49
    Watch The Godfather: Part II
    25 Movies That Almost Starred Robert De Niro
    Video 3:08
    Watch 25 Movies That Almost Starred Robert De Niro
    Shakespeare "Goes Hollywood" With Finn Wittrock
    Video 1:36
    Watch Shakespeare "Goes Hollywood" With Finn Wittrock
    '2001: A Space Odyssey' Changed Michael Mando's View of Life
    Video 1:20
    Watch '2001: A Space Odyssey' Changed Michael Mando's View of Life

    Photos406

    Talia Shire and Morgana King in The Godfather: Part II (1974)
    Robert De Niro and Francesca De Sapio in The Godfather: Part II (1974)
    Robert De Niro and Leopoldo Trieste in The Godfather: Part II (1974)
    Robert De Niro in The Godfather: Part II (1974)
    Robert De Niro in The Godfather: Part II (1974)
    Al Pacino in The Godfather: Part II (1974)
    Robert De Niro and Francesca De Sapio in The Godfather: Part II (1974)
    Robert De Niro and Francesca De Sapio in The Godfather: Part II (1974)
    Robert De Niro in The Godfather: Part II (1974)
    Robert De Niro in The Godfather: Part II (1974)
    Robert De Niro, Mario Cotone, and Francesca De Sapio in The Godfather: Part II (1974)
    Robert De Niro and Francis Ford Coppola in The Godfather: Part II (1974)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Al Pacino
    Al Pacino
    • Michael
    Robert De Niro
    Robert De Niro
    • Vito Corleone
    • (as Robert DeNiro)
    Robert Duvall
    Robert Duvall
    • Tom Hagen
    Diane Keaton
    Diane Keaton
    • Kay
    John Cazale
    John Cazale
    • Fredo Corleone
    Talia Shire
    Talia Shire
    • Connie Corleone
    Lee Strasberg
    Lee Strasberg
    • Hyman Roth
    Michael V. Gazzo
    Michael V. Gazzo
    • Frankie Pentangeli
    G.D. Spradlin
    G.D. Spradlin
    • Sen. Pat Geary
    Richard Bright
    Richard Bright
    • Al Neri
    Gastone Moschin
    Gastone Moschin
    • Fanucci
    • (as Gaston Moschin)
    Tom Rosqui
    Tom Rosqui
    • Rocco Lampone
    Bruno Kirby
    Bruno Kirby
    • Young Clemenza
    • (as B. Kirby Jr.)
    Frank Sivero
    Frank Sivero
    • Genco
    Francesca De Sapio
    Francesca De Sapio
    • Young Mama Corleone
    • (as Francesca de Sapio)
    Morgana King
    Morgana King
    • Mama Corleone
    Marianna Hill
    Marianna Hill
    • Deanna Corleone
    • (as Mariana Hill)
    Leopoldo Trieste
    Leopoldo Trieste
    • Signor Roberto
      • Francis Ford Coppola
      • Francis Ford Coppola(screenplay by)
      • Mario Puzo(screenplay by) (based on the novel by)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Robert De Niro spent four months learning to speak the Sicilian dialect of Italian in order to play Vito Corleone. Nearly all of the dialogue that his character speaks in the film was in Sicilian.
    • Goofs
      During Roth's birthday party, the pattern on his shirt changes. Due to weather difficulties, the two minute scene took over a week to shoot and the original shirt was lost at some point. The production designer attempted to recreate it by drawing an approximation of the pattern onto a plain shirt, but it didn't quite match.
    • Quotes

      Michael Corleone: My father taught me many things here - he taught me in this room. He taught me: keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.

    • Crazy credits
      As with the first film, no opening credits are shown. Although it is now commonplace for films not to have opening credits, it was considered innovative in 1974.
    • Alternate versions
      In the German theatrical version, all Italian dialogs from the young Vito Corleone's scenes were dubbed into German, as well as the English and Spanish dialogs from Michael Corleone's scenes. The original Italian language for this footage has been only restored for the movie's DVD release in 2002.
    • Connections
      Edited into The Godfather Saga (1977)
    • Soundtracks
      Senza Mamma
      (F. Pennino Edition)

      Francesco Pennino

      Performed by Livio Giorgi

    User reviews1.3K

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    9/10
    Excellent, but could be in the dictionary under "sprawl"
    Series note: It is almost unthinkable to watch this film without having seen The Godfather (1972) first. This is a direct continuation of that story.

    The good news is that The Godfather Part II has many amazing qualities, including fantastic performances from a superb cast, sublime, unprecedented visuals that no one else has been able to capture since, and very engaging stories. The bad news is that this should have easily been a 10, but overall, it is so sprawling and unfocused that I can't possibly give it more than a 9, which it only earns because the assets transcend what's basically a mess overall. Because it should have been a 10, and most other reviews will tell you about the positive points at length, I may pick on more things in my review than you would think I would for a 9, but rest assured that even with the flaws, The Godfather Part II is still essential viewing.

    Director/co-writer Francis Ford Coppola cleverly begins the film with parallels to The Godfather. We see Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) "in the role" of his father, Vito (Marlon Brando), from the first film, accepting prostrating guests while a party is going on outside. Like the first film, the party consumes a lot of time while we get to know some of the principal characters. Perhaps during this segment, perhaps a bit after, we realize that maybe the beginning wasn't so clever after all, because the structure of The Godfather Part II parallels The Godfather from a broad perspective, as if Coppola and co-writer Mario Puzo used the first film as something of a template to create this one.

    After the party is over, there is an attempted hit on Michael, and we quickly learn that not everything is rosy in the Corleone's mafia world. Michael believes that someone on the "inside" was involved with the hit. This launches a complicated sequence of events that has Michael, who is now living in Nevada, traveling to Miami, Cuba, New York, and so on. He accuses different people of involvement in the attempted hit depending on whom he is talking to. This may have all been part of a grand scheme to set up the responsible parties, but one of the flaws of the film is that Coppola doesn't convey Michael's underlying thoughts about this very well, not even later, and not through his actions. Rather than feeling like a clever set-up, it starts to feel like slightly muddled writing.

    During the middle section of the film, which goes on for hours, we also have a hint of a problem that plagued The Godfather--a bloated cast. There are bit too many characters who aren't well enough presented or explained. You may need to keep a scorecard.

    Coppola and Puzo also treat us to many extended "flashback" segments, and I mean way back, to Vito as a boy and young man, played by Robert De Niro. For my money, these were the best scenes of the film, although maybe that's a bit of my bias creeping in, as I'm a huge De Niro fan.

    But let's talk about the main plague of the film--sprawl. This is maybe first evident in the flashbacks. As good as they are, they go on far too long, and happen far too frequently, to sustain the momentum of either the Michael story or the Vito-as-a-youngster story. It begins to feel like we're toggling back and forth between two films, which is the track that should have been taken. The prequel, at least, would have been a solid 10.

    There's also a lot of sprawl in the Michael Corleone segments. Coppola appears to have been suffering from what I'd now call "J.K. Rowling Syndrome". That happens when an artist becomes successful enough that they can fire or ignore their editor(s). Instead of taking good advice about where to trim fat, the artist decides to just leave much of it in, and they now have the clout to override any dissenting and more sensible opinions. The Michael Corleone story has a lot of fat, including much of the Cuba material (for example, sitting around the table with the President, laboriously passing around a solid gold telephone), the Senate hearings (which go on far too long to make and provide the dramatic points), and so on.

    The film begins to feel more like a couple seasons of a television show that Coppola tried to cram into a 3 and a half hour film, or worse, a collection of deleted scenes. The scenes, except for the fat that needed to be trimmed, are excellent in isolation. But by the time the climax rolls around, the whole has more of an arbitrary feeling--this is especially clear in the dénouement, which seems to just end.

    I've barely left myself room to talk about the good points. The first one, which most people mention, is the acting. There isn't a bad performance in the film, but Pacino, De Niro, and some relatively minor characters, like those played by Diane Keaton, Talia Shire and John Cazale, really stand out.

    The second outstanding point, similar to the first film, is the beautiful visuals. Although all of the cinematography and production design is great, what really impressed me were some of the darkly lit scenes. Characters and features of sets emerge from pitch-blackness, and everything is rich, deep shades of burgundy, brown, and orange. Amazingly, nothing gets lost in these scenes. It must be incredibly difficult to achieve without making the shots too dark, because I can't remember another film since that has been able to capture the same look. The flashback scenes are also in similar, but lighter, colors, creating an appropriate sepia-tone feel.

    Although the broad perspective problems are unfortunate, a closer focus on most segments of the film provides exemplary artistry. Given that, and the film's importance culturally, The Godfather Part II is a must-see.
    helpful•192
    106
    • BrandtSponseller
    • May 10, 2005

    FAQ27

    • Are any real, historical figures depicted in this film?
    • What caused Vito's raspy voice as an adult?Was it because he had smallpox as a child?
    • After the assassination attempt at Michael's house, Michael had a private meeting with Tom Hagen. Michael said he was leaving and Tom would be in charge from then on. What happened to that?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 18, 1974 (United States)
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official Twitter
      • English
      • Italian
      • Spanish
      • Latin
      • Sicilian
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Kaiser Estate, 4000 W Lake Blvd, Homewood, Lake Tahoe, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Paramount Pictures
      • The Coppola Company
      • American Zoetrope
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 3 hours 22 minutes
      • Color
      • Mono
      • Dolby Digital

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