MY MOVIE SHELF: The Godfather Part II

The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015.  Remaining movies: 251 Days to go: 254

Movie #126: The Godfather Part II

It’s long been posited (and upheld) in film circles that The Godfather Part II is at least as good as, if not better than, The Godfather. It’s easy to see why. Though twenty-five minutes longer than the original, The Godfather Part II moves faster and is paced better than the first. And in telling two parallel stories — that of Vito’s (Robert De Niro) past in Italy and rise to power in New York, and of Michael’s (Al Pacino) expansion of and further entrenchment within his crime syndicate even as he hopes to legitimize the family — it has a more balanced structure than The Godfather, which was extremely front-heavy and somewhat sloppy and haphazard for the final third. The Godfather Part II is compelling on all fronts, making it deserving of the first ever Best Picture Oscar win for a sequel, though it’s hard to tell what kind of acclaim it would’ve gotten had The Godfather never existed and this film stood on its own. Would it have felt incomplete? Perhaps. There’s a lot of world-building happening in the first that the second relies on, but for the most part it stands apart as its own film fairly well.

Robert De Niro, it must be said, is by far the most fascinating character of the film. His performance is riveting and flawless. Somehow he manages to embody Vito Corleone almost better than Marlon Brando did. He comes off as calmer, stronger, more centered and even more devoted to his family than Brando did in the original film. And with the addition of Bruno Kirby as young Clemenza and John Aprea as Young Tessio (played by Richard Castellano and Abe Vigoda in the later years), the early life of Vito Corleone is a two-hour film in itself that I would happily watch. It is the strongest and most consistently gripping part of this movie.

Michael’s struggles in 1958, however, are compelling in their own right. Instead of the outside rivalries facing them in The Godfather, the family is roaring with internal conflict in the sequel. Kay (Diane Keaton) has become frustrated and weary with Michael’s continued illegal activities, despite his promise years earlier to legitimize the family business. Connie (Talia Shire) still hasn’t forgiven her brother for Carlo’s (Gianni Russo) murder, and has been depressed and moody and defiant ever since. And Fredo’s (John Cazale) feelings of being slighted and disrespected by everyone have only festered over the years he’s spent in Nevada. Only Tom (Robert Duvall) remains loyal to Michael, though he even voices strong disagreement with him at times. The familial dynamics and politics are much more intriguing than the roundabout dealings and betrayals concerning Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg), Johnny Ola (Dominic Chianese) and Frankie Pentangeli (Michael Gazzo), or anything that happens with the Senate committee or the FBI, possibly because sibling rivalries and power struggles are far more universal and relatable than the government pursuit of the mafia. Michael’s confrontation and conflict with Fredo is powerful, heartbreaking and iconic. And his split with Kay (particularly her revelation about her abortion) is even more so.

The one quibble I have is that the interweaving tales of Vito and Michael aren’t evenly spaced. Some segments are too long, while others are too short, giving the impression that the movie has spent too much or too little time with a particular half of the tale before moving back to the other. It’s once again an editing/structure issue of Coppola’s, but in this case it’s a far less cumbersome one, making The Godfather Part II, in my opinion a superior film than its predecessor.

MY MOVIE SHELF: The Godfather

The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015.  Remaining movies: 252 Days to go: 254

Movie #125: The Godfather

What Francis Ford Coppola really needs is an editor.

The Godfather is an amazing film — beautifully shot, powerfully acted, and epic in both scale and theme. Simply gorgeous, and I mean that. But it is unconscionably long. The movie could’ve been cut down by an hour, easily.

Take, for instance, the entire foray into Sicily and Michael’s (Al Pacino) courtship of Apollonia (Simonetta Stefanelli). Why is this here? Yes, it’s a beautiful and fascinating segment, illustrating Michael’s embracing of the traditional family and his place therein, but that could be conveyed simply from his murder of Sollozzo (Al Lettieri) and McCluskey (Sterling Hayden). The time-lapse could be handled via exposition when Michael meets back up with Kay (Diane Keaton), the same way it’s already used to let the audience know he’s been back for a year. Maybe establish a shot of him in Sicily, and maybe another for when he gets the news of Sonny’s (James Caan) death, but the rest is completely unnecessary. I mean, he winds back up with Kay anyway. He doesn’t indicate he married anyone else in Sicily or that he’s a widower. It never comes up, so why does it need to happen at all?

Another problem — whether it has anything to do with the Sicily segment is up for debate, but it doesn’t crop up until after that point — is the pacing is all off. From the opening of the movie at Connie (Talia Shire) and Carlo’s (Gianni Russo) wedding, The Godfather is meticulously paced, spending a lot of time at the wedding and building the universe of the Corleone family. We are introduced to all the main players: Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) holds court for guests needing favors or paying respect. Consigliere Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) is a trusted advisor and treated like a son by Vito and brother by Sonny and Michael. Vito’s other son Fredo (John Cazale), however, doesn’t seem to have as much pull or garner as much respect from anyone there. As the movie progresses and business is carried out, the Sollozzo business deal comes up and the focus shifts to that particular deal and everything that comes from it. Vito is shot, and hotheaded Sonny wants to go to war after Michael barely keeps Vito from being ambushed at the hospital. But that wouldn’t be wise, so he, Michael and Tom plan Sollozzo’s murder. Everything that happens in this whole first act, all the way up to Michael dropping the gun as he hurries out the door of the restaurant, is very deliberate. One thing happens, then another, then another. There are no big gaps in time or events that have been glossed over. After this point, however, the movie is full of them. Michael spends something like a year in Sicily, and when he meets Kay again he’s been back another whole year working for his father. He asks her to marry him and before you know it they have a toddler and Michael’s been the head of the family for some time. It’s almost as if everything that happens after the Sollozzo/McCluskey incident is epilogue — epilogue after epilogue after epilogue. There are significant turns of events in these scenes — Sonny’s murder, Vito’s death, Michael’s trip to Vegas, the baptism juxtaposed with the hits on the heads of the other families — but they feel tacked on, like afterthoughts. It’s almost as if they should be in a sequel of their own.

I’ve attempted to watch The Godfather many, many times, but this is actually the first time I’ve ever seen the whole thing in a single block. Usually I fall asleep and have to pick it up again later. That almost certainly destroys any cinephile cred I might ever have hoped to have had, but it also doesn’t necessarily reflect too well on a film that is largely regarded as a masterpiece. The thing is, though, it is a masterpiece. Of that I have no doubt. It’s an amazing, incredible film. But it’s still too freaking long.