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The Godfather: Part II (1974)
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Storyline
The continuing saga of the Corleone crime family tells the story of a young Vito Corleone growing up in Sicily and in 1910s New York; and follows Michael Corleone in the 1950s as he attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba. |
Backdrops
The Director
 Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola (born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most celebrated and influential film directors. He epitomized the group of filmmakers known as the New Hollywood, which included George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, Woody Allen and William Friedkin, who emerged in the early 1970s with unconventional ideas that challenged contemporary filmmaking.
He co-authored the script for Patton, winning the Academy Award in 1970. His directorial fame escalated with the release of The Godfather in 1972. The film revolutionized movie-making in the gangster genre, garnering universal laurels from critics and public alike. It went on to win three Academy Awards, including his second, which he won for Best Adapted Screenplay, and it was instrumental in cementing his position as one of the prominent Am erican film directors.
Coppola followed it with an equally successful sequel The Godfather Part II, which became the first ever sequel to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The film received yet higher praises than its predecessor, and gave him three Academy Awards—for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture. In the same year was released The Conversation, which he directed, produced and wrote. The film went on to win the Palme d'Or at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival. His next directorial venture was Apocalypse Now in 1979, and it was as notorious for its lengthy and troubled production as it was critically acclaimed for its vivid and stark depiction of the Vietnam War. It won his second Palme d'Or at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival.
Although some of Coppola's ventures in the 1980s and early 1990s were critically lauded, Coppola's later work has not met the same level of critical and commercial success as his '70s films.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Francis Ford Coppola, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
User Reviews
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The history of the OSCARS - Best Picture Winners part III
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1970 - Patton (****)
A spirited telling of American General George S. Patton, Jr. George C. Scott gives a soulful centre to a film focused on war but really a tale of ambition and duty.
What should have won?
MASH – It’s easy to say this now but Robert Altman’s antiestablishment comedy/war film broke boundaries, challenged the US government and laid the groundwork for sound in cinema that is still being utilised today.
1971 – The French Connection (*****)
Kinetic, exciting and highly stylised. Director William Friedkin managed to capture the essence of European cinema, particularly the work of Jean-Pierre Melville and rework it for the streets of New York City to arguably more successful results.
What should have won?
The Last Picture Show – Although I respect the Academy’s decision to award as broad a genre film as The French Connection, I cannot overlook the soul, melodrama and yearning contained in Peter Bogdanovich’s ode to Old Hollywood.
1972 – The Godfather (*****)
One of, if not thee, greatest film ever made. Francis Ford Coppola’s film is about so many things. Family, duty, ambition, greed, ego, the list could really go on and on. And as with Lawrence of Arabia, the coexistence of intimacy in the face of such grand scale is remarkable. Literally everything is perfect about this film. The design, casting, performances, cinematography, editing, screenplay. A whole film school education in less than 3 hours.
What should have won?
The Godfather – No questions asked.
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reviewed by cherryflavourpez (Filmaster.com) on the 4th of March 2011
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Many people will tell you that Part 2 is better than Part 1, but I disagree. This one is too long and gets a bit boring occasionally. On the other hand the dual storyline format works very well, and De Niro in particular gives a performance for the record books. I'm not saying it's not a great movie.