Over the break, I returned to one of my favorite hobbies; watching films. I’ve always enjoyed watching movies ever since I was young. On many weekends growing up, me and my father would head down to the basement where he would introduce me to some of the greatest stories ever put to screen. Oftentimes after watching these masterpieces, I would learn something valuable about life, philosophy, or human psychology. Those are the best films, no question. Films that break the bounds of story-telling through masterful work of writing, acting, and cinematography. A truly great film will leave an impression on you, something that touches your soul in the deepest possible way. No film does this for me quite like “The Godfather Part 2”.
Widely considered one of the top 10 films of all time, “The Godfather Part 2” tells two parallel stories, one of Italian mafia boss Michael Corleone (who we follow as the protagonist of “The Godfather Part 1”, where we see his rise to power and change throughout the film to become head of the family.) and his processor (and father) Vito Corleone as a young Italian immigrant coming to America in the early part of the twentieth century, who ends up building the family business that Micheal eventually inherits.
Although the film is still considered one of the great American classics (as well as Part 1), there’s a new modern outlook on the movie mainly posited by younger generations who think the film is overrated. I was curious if these accusations may have some merit so I decided to revisit the movie myself, and I’m here to report that the film is still the most impressive piece of story-telling I’ve ever seen on film. Part of this conclusion is due to just how avant-garde its structure is. Its parallel story-telling technique shouldn’t work whatsoever, yet it does. Not only does it work at a surface level, but it also emphasizes the themes of the film as we see the juxtaposition between Vito’s ethically driven form of mob morality and his son’s ruthless descent into the loss of his own soul.
Watching Michael slowly devolve into a soulless monster (culminating in the murder of his brother Fredo) while we see Vito’s rise in the ghettos of New York as a feared yet respected gangster is quite poetic. There certainly is a deep literary quality to the movie; the “rise” and the “fall.” We see this metaphor played out between the father and son, mob rule in the early 20s compared to the late 50s, the American dream of early twentieth-century New York compared to the highly corrupt system that is an outgrowth from mob rule. This poetic nature extends to the very last scene where we see a flashback to a party, pre-World War II when the entire Corleone family is still alive. Michael announces that he’s enlisted to join the Marines, an act that defies the Corleone family’s hopes for Michael’s future.
This act of defiance against his family is seen as admirable by the audience in the first film, where we’re led to believe that Micahel chose to join the army because he wanted to pursue something noble instead of debasing himself into the life of crime his family was involved in. However, what the final scene shows us is that it’s far more likely that Micahel joined the army to defy his own family and isolate himself from everyone, as we see him at the end of the second film, sitting alone at a table while his family rejoices in the other room.
It’s not just the quality of the story that makes the film so spectacular, the acting and technical work are also incredible. Everyone in the film (especially Al Pacino as Michael) gives an Oscar-worthy performance. Whether it’s Pacino’s stone-cold demeanor portraying Michael or Robert De Niro learning Italian and studying Marlon Brando to portray a young Vito Corleone, everyone is on their best game. From a technical aspect, every shot is magnificent and perfectly framed with the movie containing some of the most iconic shots in American film.
Although it’s been 50 years since the release of “The Godfather Part 2”, it still stands as a masterpiece in the catalog of American cinema. Sometimes art reaches a point of popularity and praise that people start thinking that it’s overrated. However, in the case of “The Godfather”, this assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. The film is an important testament to family, morality, and the American dream that can’t be overlooked in American culture.
