The Godfather Part II: I know it was you, Fredo!

OK so now onto part 2 of my posts on The Godfather trilogy, which strangely enough is about (wait for it!) The Godfather Part II, the follow up to the enormously successful original film, so let's have a closer look at the plot, etc, the usual basically.  Here we go....

The film begins in flashback, when Vito Corleone was a 9 year old boy, who flees to America after his family are killed at the behest of a local Mafia chieftan, Don Ciccio (Giuseppe Sillato), because his father insult the Don.  As the film progresses it follows Vito's rise as a young man (played by Robert De Niro) into the life of organised crime and how he created his crime family in New York.  Living as a decent ordinary civillian in New York, Vito is approached by the neughbourhood crime figure, Don Fannucci (Gastone Mochin), who pesters him for money.  Vito soon after follows Fannucci around the rooftops and waits for him outside his apartment, where he shoots Fannucci dead, and after this he makes a name for himself in his neighbourhood. And later in his life, he returns to Corleone in Sicily once he has established his Genco Olive oil business, looking for Don Ciccio's blessing.  However its just an excuse for Vito to murder the Don and he escapes with his associate Tomassino, who is shot in the back, and later as we see from the first Godfather film, ends up confined to a wheelchair.  These sequences are in part also seen as a reflection from Michael Corleone's memory.  So the rest of this plot summary will be told from the modern day events.

Right so far the modern day stuff, the film begins in 1958, where the Corleone family have now moved to Nevada.  Michael Corleone (Pacino) on the day of his son Anthony's confirmation, also holds an extravagant party, and deals with business requests at the same time, similar to how Vito does in the first film.  During the day Michael speaks to Senator Pat Geary (GD Spradlin) who demands pay offs from Michael in turn for a state gaming license, and he also insults Michael and his family.  Michael also receives a visit from a Sicilian mob associate, Johnny Ola (Dominic Chianese) who is connected to the Jewish crime boss, Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg), who Michael is doing business with.  Michael also on the same day has to deal with a rebellious Connie (Talia Shire), who is still angry at Michael for having killed off her former husband Carlo, and she now jetsets around the world with other men.  And as well that, Michael also has to meet with Frankie Pentangeli (Michael V. Gazzo), one of his caporegime's who is having trouble with a couple of mobsters, the Rosato brothers, who are backed by Roth, and he wants Michael to kill them off.  Michael however refuses as he wants to do business with Roth and doesn't want it disturbed.  Later that night after the party however, an assassination attempt is made on Michael at his home, as gunfire riddles his bedroom, however he survives as does his wife Kay (Diane Keaton).  Later that night Michael takes leave of his family, leaving Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) in charge, as he travels to Miami to meet with Roth.

Once in Miami, Michael meets Roth at his home, and tells him that Frank Pentangeli tried to have him killed, and that he asks his consent that he orders Frankie's death, to which Roth doesn't object.  Later, Michael returns to New York, where he meets with Frank (who now owns the Corleone's former house) and he angrily tells him about the attempt on his life, but he also tells him that Roth was behind the hit, and that he wants Frankie to sort out his troubles with the Rosato brothers, in order to make Roth think his relationship with him is still good.  Frankie agrees although somewhat reluctantly as he meets with the Rosatos at a bar, but they instead try to kill him, by garrotting him, however they are interrupted by a passing policeman, and they are forced to leave the bar.  Prior to this happening, we see Fredo (John Cazale), Michael's older brother, receive a phone call during the night from Johnny Ola, asking if Frankie will bring his men along to the meeting.  Although it is not entirely clear Fredo had something to do with the attempted hit on Michael, he angrily tells Johnny Ola that he was lied to and not to call him again.

Michael shortly after his meeting with Frankie, travels to Cuba to meet up with Roth as they prepare to do a big business deal, however on travelling there, Michael witnesses a rebel suicide bomber, which makes him realise that rebels could overthrow the Cuban dictatorship.  Fredo soon arrives with a suitcase of money, Michael's investment for the deal, and he and Michael go out for a drink together, where Fredo doesn't mention anything about his involvement in the attempt on his brother's life, but he does imply he feels guilty by saying he was angry at him.  Michael then tells Fredo that he plans on killing Roth before the New Year is reigned in, and prior to this he meets with Roth and holds back on making his deal with him.  Later that night, at a New Year's eve party, Fredo unwittingly let's his guard down by blabbing that he knew Johnny Ola (as he denied knowing him to Michael earlier on) to the others, which leaves Michael quietly devastated.  Michael sends his bodyguard to kill Roth, who is at a hospital, and by this time he is in ill health from his heart.  The bodyguard kills Johnny Ola, but is killed himself by Cuban police before he can kill Roth.  Later at the party Michael confronts Fredo, grabbing him he kisses him on the lips, uttering the famous words "I know it was you, Fredo!  You broke my heart!".  After this revolution soon breaks lose as the Cuban rebels take down the dictatorship, and in the ensuing chaos, Fredo flees for his life, despite Michael's pleas to come with him.

Michael travels back to Nevada where he is told by Tom that Kay had a miscarriage, and also that Fredo got out and is possibly back in New York.  Soon after this, a senate commission in Washington D.C. bring forward a witness that can corroborate Michael's links to his crime family, the witness being Frank Pentangeli, who by now is in the FBI witness protection program, where he is lives at an army barracks with FBI agents.  At the trial, Michael denies all claims of his activities in the crime family, and he reads a statement in his defence to the committee.  And on the day where Frankie attends the hearing, he is surprised to find his own brother Vincenzo Pentangeli, who was brought there by Michael to silence Frankie from talking.  And indeed on being questioned by the committee, Frankie denies any knowledge of his links with Michael Corleone, or that he knew anything about the Godfather, as a result of this, the case is dismissed and Michael escapes prosecution.

However things are far from right for Michael, as he now has to deal with an angry and distraught Kay, who after hearing of his nefarious activities in court, and knowing them to be true, tells him she is leaving with his children.  The two of them row, after which Michael calms down and tells her he will change, and that he knows she blames him for losing the baby, but Kay then reveals that she had a miscarriage as she had no intention of bringing another of Michael's sons into the world, which leads to a furious Michael smacking Kay, and shouting at her "YOU WON'T TAKE MY CHILDREN!!!".  As a result of this Michael and Kay separate, and Michael cuts off her contact with their kids.  Later on, Fredo finally returns to Nevada, at the same time when their mother is dying, and Fredo confides in Michael his involvement with Roth, and that he was angry at being passed over by his father, when it came to being the head of the family, but he swore he didn't know they were going to try and kill him.  Michael coldly tells Fredo he wants nothing more to do with him or see him again, and after leaving he quietly tells his capo, Al Neri (Richard Bright) that he wants nothing to happen to Fredo while his mother is alive.

Once Michael's mother passes away, Connie at the funeral pleads with Michael to forgive Fredo, which he eventually agrees to, as he embraces Fredo at the funeral, he looks up to Neri intently.  Michael then meets with Tom to decide on a plan of action to take out Roth, and while Tom is initially reluctant to go along with it, he agrees to help out.  Tom then visits Frankie at the army barracks, and subtly implies to him, by using an example from Roman history that when plotters who plotted against the Emperor failed, they took their own lives, that if Frankie takes him own life, his family will be looked after.  The film culminates with Roth being shot by Michael's capo, Rocco Lampone at an airport (who is in turn shot dead by the police), Frankie commits suicide by slashing his wrists in a bath tub, and Fredo is shot by Neri out on a boat while fishing.  At the end of the film, Michael sits alone in his compound at his house in Nevada quietly reflecting on the past, and what he has lost, while having won the battle to wipe out his enemies, he has lost everything dear to him.

The Godfather Part II is a superb continuation from the first Godather film, and sees the themes being expanded from the first film.  The scope of Part II is also far more ambitious as it incoporates the flashback sequences of Vito Corleone as a young man, making a name for himself and his rise to power, as well as the modern day themes and the troubles Michael endures.  It also sees how Michael truly has become more manipulative and evil in running his family, he has ruthlessly taken control and again uses his power for his own ends.  One such example is where he uses the Senator Geary, by framing him at a whorehouse, making it look like he had killed a prostitute, in order to get the senator into his pocket and help him get his gaming license.  The film also introduces some new characters which we hadn't seen from the first film, such as Frankie Pentangeli, the wisecracking capo, who was once one of Michael's father's associates back in the olden days, but is now more of a hindrance for Michael, as he has his troubles with the Rosato brothers.  And Hyman Roth is a mastermind criminal, who plays Michael, on one hand he appears to be a guru to Michael, but realistically he plots to get him out the way.  And Michael appears to want to gain his trust and friendship until they go to Cuba, and its there we see Michael put his plan into motion to kill Roth.

Then there is of course the flashback sequences of the film, which tell the story of Vito's rise to power in New York, and as a young boy he escaped to America from Sicily.  Although for the most part though in the flashback scenes, we see Vito as a decent honest man, who wants to earn for his wife and children, and its only really when Don Fannucci goads him into making payments to him, its when he seems to make that transition into the life of crime.  Robert De Niro's portrayal of the young Vito is also terrific throughout, as he gets Brando's raspy soft spoken voice down to a T, and also keeps in with the theme of him being a good father and husband, and gentleman, but at the same time, a cold blooded killer.  And the scenes where he follows Don Fanucci around the rooftops of New York and eventually kills him, and when he travels to Sicily to kill Don Ciccio are real highlights.

As for the other performances in the film, well there is much to appreciate, starting with Al Pacino, who is once again superb as Michael Corleone, and this time he has expanded on his performance of the crime boss.  As Michael, Pacino still plays him with the same icy coolness, largely detached from emotion, but this time he does show Michael's emotional outbursts of anger when he is pushed or angered by someone.  One of Pacino's best explosive moments comes when he comes back to Nevada and is told by Tom that Kay had a miscarriage, and he asks Tom if it was a boy, but Tom is unable to give him a direct answer, to which Michael explodes "CAN'T YOU GIVE ME A STRAIGHT ANSWER ANYMORE!! WAS IT A BOY????!!!".  Pacino also brilliantly conveys his heartbreak over Fredo's betrayal in such a subtle manner, when Fredo unwittingly let's it slip that he knew Johnny Ola, Michael quietly puts his hand in his hands, covering his emotional devastation.  And no doubt as a man, Michael Corleone has alot of sadness and grief inside him, especially as he loses so many members of his family, and again Pacino does a great job in always subtly showing his character's sadness.  But at the same time, he also shows how twisted Michael is as well, once bitten, you will never bite him again.

As for the supporting cast there are some terrific performances, especially from Michael V. Gazzo, who plays the charismatic Frank Pentangeli, the caporegime in the Corloene family.  Gazzo provides plenty of welcome moments of humour in the film as well, and I particularly like the scene where he is Michael's son's christening party, and he tries to get the band to play an Italian tarantella, but they end up playing "Pop goes the weasel".  The scene where lies in front of the commission is also great, as the comission panel ask him where he stays now and he replies "I stay at an army barracks with the FBI guys!" and he proceeds to lie in front of the comission when he sees his Sicilian brother in the same room.  And I also like the scene where he confronts Michael at the party, and insists he wants the Rosato brothers dead.  Gazzo deservedly got an oscar for his superb performance as well, and he easily stands out as one of the best characters in the film.

Lee Strasberg is also great as the Jewish gangster, Hyman Roth, the wisened figurehead who appears to want to do business with Michael, but ultimately he plans to destroy him, and Michael vice versa.  Strasberg who was reknown as a great acting teacher (who actually tought Al Pacino) has some great moments in the film, especially his scene where Michael asks him who gave the order on Pentangeli's hit, and Roth explains instead about how he once worked with Moe Greene, who turned up dead (at the behest of Michael's order in the Godfather).  And rather than ask about it, Roth let it go, and he says to Michael "this is the business we have chosen.  I didn't ask who gave the order! Because it had nothing to do with business!".

Diane Keaton also finally gets a meaty scene in the film with Al Pacino, where they row with each other about their marriage and how she intends to leave him.  This scene is easily one of the best in the film, as both actors give their all in it, and we see from Kay, that she is actually a strong willed woman, who has finally had enough of Michael's lies and deceit.  And the moment where she tells Michael that she had an abortion, we can even see Al Pacino's bottom lip tremble with sheer anger as she tells him what he doesn't want to hear.  Talia Shire whilst she is largely sidelined in the film, also has a couple of nice moments with Al Pacino in the film, in their first scene where she is still angry with Michael and is somewhat sleazy, and in their last scene where she has gone back to being the sweet young sister, who has forgiven Michael.  Robert Duvall once again does a great job as Tom Hagen, although he too also is partly sidelined in the film, but he does have some good scenes, especially where Michael confides with him to take charge of his house while he is away, and the scene where he speaks with Frank Petangeli at the end.  

And finally one of the film's best performances comes from John Cazale, who is simply superb as the doomed Fredo, who has suffered the indignity of having been passed over by his own father when it comes to taking over as the head of the family.  Cazale and Pacino were in fact best friends in real life, and their are some nice moments where their friendship actually does shine through, especially in the scene where they go out for a drink in Havana, and Fredo guiltily tells Michael how he wishes they had spent more time together.  And his best scene comes when he tells Michael about his involvement with Roth, and how he thought there would be something in it for himself, and then he get's angry about how he was stepped over by his father.  And Cazale succeeds in making Fredo one of the more sympathetic characters in the Godfather, as shows alot of remorse for his actions, as well as his impotency when it comes to handling difficult social situations, such as his floozy wife when she drunkenly flirts with a man at Michael's son's confirmation party.

Special mention also deserves to go to James Caan and Abe Vigoda who returned for their brief scene at the end of the film where Michael thinks back to a time when Vito had a surprise birthday party, and the family all meet together.  Its a great scene as well, and James Caan reportedly ask for the same fee he got for the first Godfather film, which he received.

Once again Coppola's direction is near flawless, and keeps both narratives moving along nicely, although if I am being a bit critical, I have to say that I much prefer the modern day narrative to the historical one about Vito.  There are certain scenes in Vito's narrative that are engrossing to watch, but there are also one or two that are a bit tedious as well.  But as for the modern day narrative, Coppola never sets a foot wrong and it remains superbly compelling viewing.  Gordon Willis also once provides stunning photography for the film, still keeping in tone with the first film, with the dark tones and the beautifully shot scenes in Sicily and Havana.  Nino Rota's score is once again superb, and is as memorable as the first one, and I particularly like the passage he uses for when Michael visits Roth in Miami, which is alsothe main new plot theme in the movie for the modern day sequences.   

Soooo that is it for Part II, its a superb film and a great completion of the events of the Godfather films of that time, before Godfather Part III was made nearly 20 years later, but more will follow on that next.