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Matt Glasby

This is the latest instalment in our From the Vault feature series, in which we reflect on culturally significant movies celebrating notable anniversaries.
Released 50 years ago this month, The Godfather Part II is widely considered one of the greatest film sequels ever made. Some brave souls even claim it is better than The Godfather.
It is certainly a far classier proposition than might be expected, continuing and deepening the story of the Corleone mafia family – hence the respectable-sounding “Part II”, the first use of this styling in cinema history.
Producer, director and co-writer Francis Ford Coppola was in the middle of an extraordinary run of form when he shot the film.


Having turned Mario Puzo’s bestselling novel into a surprise critical, commercial and cultural smash hit in 1972, he made The Conversation in 1974, which won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, then returned for this speedy sequel, again co-written by Puzo.
As a sign of his elevated status, it was Coppola’s name, rather than the author’s, over the title.
The idea, said Coppola, was to “juxtapose the ascension of the family under Vito Corleone [Robert De Niro taking over from Marlon Brando] with the decline of the family under his son Michael [Al Pacino].
“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 the present.”

In the early 20th century, young Vito leaves Sicily for America after his family are murdered by local Mafia boss Don Francesco (Giuseppe Sillato).
Once there, we see him gradually turning from a law-abiding citizen to a petty thief, then a murderer, eventually starting his own criminal empire and getting revenge on the don years later.
This is intercut with Michael trying to steer the family business through troubled waters in the late 1950s.
We see him surviving an assassination attempt and grappling with the Jewish mob led by Hymen Roth (legendary acting teacher Lee Strasberg), in the process alienating his wife, Kay (Diane Keaton), and brother, Fredo (John Cazale) – everyone but his faithful consigliere (adviser) and half-brother Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall).
Essentially it is more of the same – but, in this case, consistency is also the key to quality. Vito’s story comes from the original novel, so it never feels like an afterthought.

All of the main cast return – except Richard Castellano as Clemenza, whose character is killed off rather than replaced. And Nino Rota’s score, conducted by Carmine Coppola (yes, Francis’ dad) is, if anything, even more beautiful than the one for the first film – yearning for a past that never was.
The real point of difference is the section recounting how young Vito became the feared and respected patriarch we met in Part I. Coppola and his team skilfully recreate the uncertainties of the early immigrant experience, De Niro is predictably terrific, and we are never allowed to forget either the allure or the danger of power.
As bookends to the original film, Part II’s two halves work wonderfully. But taken in isolation, the late 1950s sequence is noticeably weaker.

Acting legend or not, Strasberg’s Hyman Roth makes for a forgettable “villain” – so gentle-seeming and geriatric it is impossible to imagine him besting Michael.
Moving from seething silence to sudden, controlled explosions of fury, Pacino is great as Michael. But we have already seen him selling his soul in Part I, so there is only so much further he can fall.
If the original felt like pulp Shakespeare – a battle for precedence between the four heirs of a great king – then Part II badly misses both Brando and James Caan, who played the headstrong Sonny.
Coppola seems to realise this, reuniting all four “sons” for a brief flashback. This was meant to include Brando, who refused to turn up on the day in protest at his treatment by Paramount.

Is it the best sequel ever made? Well no, but it is an impressively mounted movie made with a genuine sense of legacy – not something you could say about most of the sequels that would follow in the late 1970s and 1980s.
Is it better than The Godfather? Not even close.
After a brief backlash, the film gathered critical momentum, eventually receiving 11 Academy Award nominations and winning six Oscars, including a deserving best director for Coppola and best supporting actor for De Niro. It also won best picture, the first sequel ever to do so.
In the years that followed, its reputation remained unsullied – until The Godfather Part III was released in 1990. But that is another story.
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American cinema

The best movie sequel ever? Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Part II, 50 years on

Al Pacino in a still from The Godfather Part II, the 1974 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the film remains a masterpiece that delves deeper into a mafia family’s history.

Robert De Niro as a young Vito Corleone in a still from The Godfather Part II.

John Cazale (left) and Al Pacino in a still from The Godfather Part II.

Robert De Niro in a still from The Godfather Part II.

Al Pacino in a still from The Godfather Part II.

How A Nightmare on Elm Street left audiences terrified 40 years ago

Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger in a still from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).

Amanda Wyss (front) and Robert Englund in a still from Wes Craven’s classic slasher film, A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). 

(From left) Jsu Garcia, Amanda Wyss, director Wes Craven, Heather Langenkamp and Johnny Depp on the set of A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Heather Langenkamp (left) and Robert Englund in a still from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). 

Johnny Depp in a still from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). 

Heather Langenkamp in a still from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). 

Team America: World Police at 20 and how it is a pitch-perfect send-up of action movies

A still from Team America: World Police (2004). The film, written by Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Pam Brady, has a voice cast that includes Kristen Miller, Masasa Yoyo, Daran Norris and Maurice LaMarche. Photo: Paramount Pictures

Michael Moore is portrayed in a scene from Team America: World Police (2004). Photo: Paramount Pictures

A still from Team America: World Police (2004). Photo: Paramount Pictures

Kim Jong-il is portrayed in a scene from Team America: World Police (2004). Photo: Paramount Pictures

Why The Shawshank Redemption might still be the greatest movie ever made, 30 years on

Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman in a still from The Shawshank Redemption (1994). Frank Darabont’s prison drama did not win an Oscar, but in the 30 years since its release it has been hailed as one of the greatest films of all time. Photo: Courtesy of Park Circus/Warner Bros

Robbins and Freeman in a still from The Shawshank Redemption. 

(From left) Dion Anderson, Brian Delate and Clancy Brown in a still from The Shawshank Redemption.

(From left) Freeman, Gil Bellows and Brian Libby in a still from The Shawshank Redemption.

Robbins in a still from The Shawshank Redemption.

How the Erotic Ghost Story films shocked and seduced Hong Kong

(From left) Amy Yip, Man Siu and Kudo Hitomi in a still from Erotic Ghost Story.

Pal Sinn (left) and Amy Yip in a still from Erotic Ghost Story (1990). Yip made the first Erotic Ghost Story a success, mainly because of her buxom physique.

Joey Wong and Leslie Cheung in a still from A Chinese Ghost Story (1987). Photo: Film Workshop

A promotional image for Erotic Ghost Story (1990).

Charine Chan (bottom right) in a promotional image for Erotic Ghost Story 2 (1991).

A promotional image for Erotic Ghost Story 3 (1992).

(From left) Pauline Chan, Kenny Wong and Chik King-man in a still from Erotic Ghost Story 3 (1992).

Lifestyle

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The Godfather Part II delves deeper into the history of the Mafia family at its heart. 50 years on from its making it remains a masterpiece


The Godfather Part II delves deeper into the history of the Mafia family at its heart. 50 years on from its making it remains a masterpiece.


Cinema

Fame and celebrity

Hollywood

United States