Paramount/Coppola. Director Francis Coppola; Producer Francis Coppola; Screenplay Francis Coppola, Mario Puzo; Camera Gordon Willis; Editor Peter Zinner, Barry Malkin, Richard Marks; Music Nino Rota, Carmine Coppola; Art Director Dean Tavoularis
Al Pacino
Robert Duvall
Diane Keaton
Robert De Niro
John Cazale
Lee Strasberg
The Godfather Part II, far from being a spinoff followup to its 1972 progenitor, is an excellent epochal drama in its own right providing bookends in time to the earlier story. Al Pacino again is outstanding as Michael Corleone, successor to crime family leadership. The $15 million production cost about two-and-a-half times the original.
The film's 200 minutes could be broken down into two acts and 10 scenes. The scenes alternate between Pacino's career in Nevada gambling rackets from about 1958 on and Robert De Niro's early life in Sicily and New York City. A natural break comes after 126 minutes when De Niro, involved with low level thievery, brutally assassinates Gaston Moschin the neighborhood crime boss without a shred of conscience. It's the only shocking brutality in the film.
1974: Best Picture, Director, Supp. Actor (Robert De Niro), Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, Original Score.
Nominations: Best Actor (Al Pacino), Supp. Actor (Michael V. Gazzo, Lee Strasberg), Supp. Actress (Talia Shire), Costume Design
(Color) Available on VHS, DVD. Extract of a review from 1974. Running time: 200 MIN.
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