I don't know which I'd choose between THE GODFATHER and THE GODFATHER PART
II. I used to think of them as a piece, then I started to develop a preference
for the original, and now, after seeing PART II this summer and being over-
whelmed by it as if for the first time, I'm not so sure anymore. I do know that
I like seeing them back-to-back more than I do the chronologically reshuffled
version (which loses some evocative transitions between generations), and that
the qualitative gap between the first two films and PART III is greater than
the gap between PART III and MEET THE STUPIDS. Some notes on PART II:
Best single piece of acting: It's hard to know where to begin--from top to
bottom, THE GODFATHER PART II must have more great performances than any film
ever made (if it doesn't, then only because THE GODFATHER has more). My vote
goes to John Cazale's breakdown scene when Michael interrogates and then
disowns him. When Cazale blurts out "It's not the way I wanted it," he does
this thing with his arms that borders on an epileptic seizure. My favorite
acting through the years has almost always come from people who underplay, a
perfect example being Pacino here or Hackman in THE CONVERSATION. Cazale's
cathartic unburdening of Fredo's resentment towards Michael crosses a line
into some place where most actors look silly.
Best tantrum from Michael: He has four, and they're all riveting. 1) When he
orders his underlings inside the Corleone compound to keep his would-be
assassins alive ("Did you hear me, Rocco?--alive"); 2) When he visits
Pentangeli soon after ("In my bedroom, where my wife sleeps..."); 3) When Tom
breaks the news about Kay's miscarriage ("Can't you give me a straight answer
anymore?--I said, was it a boy?"); 4) When Michael gets the truth from Kay
("You won't take my children...You won't take my children").
Best tantrum from someone other than Michael: Either Pentangeli in his first
meeting with Michael ("and there's not gonna be any trouble from me") or
Roth's reaction to Michael asking who gave the order on Pentangeli ("because
this...is the business...we've chosen").
Michael's scariest moment: It's not one of his tantrums; they make you sit
bolt upright, but he's at his absolute most sinister when, as he embraces
Fredo at their mother's funeral, he looks up slowly and makes eye contact with
Rocco.
Senator Geary's best moment: G.D. Spradlin is just brilliant in GODFATHER II
(he's almost as good in NORTH DALLAS FORTY as Nick Nolte's coolly heartless
coach). There's his comic mispronunciation of "Corleone" at the communion, his
contemptuously correct pronunciation of the same later that day, the catatonic
shock on his face when he wakes up beside the butchered showgirl, his phony
magnanimity at the Senate hearings, pretty much every last line of his. I love
it in the Cuba sequence when he whispers to Fredo about getting him one of
those "redheaded little Yolandas."
Tom Hagen's best moment: Along with GODFATHER III's 900 other problems, the
hole left by Robert Duvall's absence is incalculable. I think his greatest
moment in THE GODFATHER is the way he looks away from Tessio when he says,
"Can't do it, Sally." In II I'd go with his affectionate farewell handshake
with Pentangeli: "So long, Frankie Five Angels."
Pentangeli's best moment: To watch GODFATHER II is to fall in love with
Pentangeli--he out-Clemenzas Clemenza, and with Michael and Tom reduced to
empty shells through most of the film, he's the truest link to the spirit of
the original. Easy choice: "Your father did business with Hyman Roth, your
father respected Hyman Roth, but your father never trusted Hyman Roth--or his
Sicilian messenger-boy, Johnny Ola."
Most shattering moment: Bookends: Michael's "You broke my heart, Fredo" kiss
of death, brought full circle by his forgiving embrace of Fredo at Mama
Corleone's funeral (see above).
Most powerful segue: The slow fade from the nine-year-old Vito sitting in his
quarantined cell singing ("Vito Corleone, Ellis Island, 1901") to Anthony
Corleone walking up the aisle at his communion 57 years later.
Pauses that last a lifetime: 1) Michael to Connie: "If you don't listen to me,
Connie, and marry this man...you'll disappoint me." 2) Michael to Al Neri: "I
don't want anything to happen to him [Fredo]...while my mother's still alive."
Best piece of violence: The violence in PART II is much less flashy (though no
less effective) than the original's. The most startling moment for me is when
young Vito puts the gun inside the already-dead Fanucci's mouth and takes one
final shot.
Best historical allusion: There are at least two that stand out: 1) When
Michael's being chauffeured through the streets of pre-revolution Cuba,
besieged on all sides by kids banging on his car windows, there's a strong
echo of Nixon's disastrous trip to Caracas in 1958; 2) The staging of Roth's
assassination as he's escorted through the airport is clearly modelled on
Ruby's assassination of Oswald.
Funniest line: Again, where to begin? Two that always get me: Michael's "He's
been dying of the same heart attack for 30 years" line on Roth, and Connie's
schlub boyfriend Merle--stupid, silly Merle--asking "Can I get a drink?" in
Michael's office.
Three people to watch for: The easiest to pick out is Roger Corman as one of
the senators on the investigatory panel--Corman was fairly well known when the
film was made, so that counts as a cameo. More eye-opening are Harry Dean
Stanton as one of Pentangeli's FBI bodyguards--he sits behind Pentangeli at the
Senate hearings--and Danny Aiello as the Rosato brother who makes the attempt
on Pentangeli inside the bar ("Michael Corleone says hello"). I'd seen the film
probably 15 times before I picked out Aiello this year, more because of his
voice than the shadowed view you get of him.
Who does Michael most resemble at the end of the film?: In Peter Biskind's
excellent THE GODFATHER COMPANION-—from which I stole the format for this
piece--there's an anecdote about how II's final scene was referred to on the
set as "the Hitler scene," and how Coppola specifically thought of Michael in
terms of Hitler. The film came out in 1974; to me, it's impossible not to see
Michael as a kind of FINAL DAYS Nixon as he retreats further and further into
himself (a parallel drawn by many). "I don't feel as if I have to 'destroy'
everyone, Tom. Just my enemies."
What else came out in 1974?: Among films that I love, there was THE CONVER-
SATION, CHINATOWN, THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS, and CALIFORNIA SPLIT; BADLANDS, ALICE
DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE, THIEVES LIKE US, LENNY, HARRY AND TONTO, and THE
PARALLAX VIEW were also 1974, and MEAN STREETS, THE LONG GOODBYE, and SERPICO
were late-73 releases that were either still in theatres or didn't really even
get an opening until '74. Checking movie listings in those days must have been
a lot like turning on the radio in 1965.