The Godfather II is one of the greatest crime drama movies to be ever made. It was released in 1974. It is 3 hours and 20 minutes long. It still has a 9.0 rating on IMDb and is ranked number four place. It was nominated for 11 OSCAR categories out of them which it won six awards. The movie also won OSCARS for Best Picture or Director and also for best-adapted Screenplay. It is the prequel and sequel both of the movie Godfather I released in 1972.
Written by Mario Puzo
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
The cast of the movie is listed below:
· Al Pacino as Michael
· Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen
· Diane Keaton as Kay
· Robert De Niro as Vito Corleone
· John Gazel as Fredo Corleone
· Talia Shire as Connie Corleone
· Lee Strasberg as Hyman Roth
There are a lot of characters like in the 1st part of the movie. A description of some of the main characters of the movie is given below:
Vito Corleone
Portrayed as the head of the mafia gang and a powerful gangster in the 1st part. In this movie he is shown as an Italian immigrant at 1st and how he established himself as the mafia leader in a new country (in New York). He has four children as shown in the 1st part, Sonny, Michael, Fredo, and Connie. Sonny is already killed in the 1st part.
Michael Corleone
The youngest son of Vito. He is the most powerful mafia figure in America in the past 7 years after he kills all the mafia leaders. He is shown as a family and family business head in the movie. His rise and fall are shown in the movie.
Tom Hagen
He was adopted by Vito. He is also a consigliere. It means he is a glorified lawyer of the mob family. He works under Michael now.
Fredo Corleone
After, Sonny’s death he is the eldest son of Vito. He is thought of as a foolish and irresponsible one of the family. He thinks that of himself also. Here, it is shown that he used to be sick all the time in his young life also. Maybe, that is why he was weak and was not handed over the family business.
Kay Corleone
She is Michael’s wife. She did not know about Michael’s family business in the 1st part but now is quite familiar with it. She doesn’t like it and has to be separated from Michael.
Hyman Roth
He is a gangster who does legitimate gambling in Las Vegas. He is a business partner of Michael but also his enemy. He works with Fredo and tries to remove Michael from leadership and also kill him.
Frank Pentangeli
He is one of the capos of the Corleone family. He wants permission to kill the Rosetto brothers at first. After that, his whole life changed.
Senator Pat Geary
He is a corrupted person. He becomes the center point of America and the Cuban family for the Corleone family.
Story of the movie:
As this is both the prequel and sequel of the movie The Godfather, both the timeline is shown side by side in the movie.
The Prequel:
The movie begins with young Vito. The year is 1901. Vito is 9 years old at that time His father was insulted by mafia Chief Don Ciccio. After that, his father was killed in Corleone Sicily. Vito runs to New York with the help of one man on a ship. He registers himself as Vito Corleone in Ellis Island in 1901.
The movie moves forward, and the year is 1917. Vito is already married. He loses his job because of Don Fanucci. Don Fanucci places one of his nieces for the job instead. He is invited by Peter Clemenza to take part in a robbery which Vito does not know at that time.
The movie again moves forward, and the year is 1920. Vito and Carmella have two more sons Fredo and Michael at that time. Vito attracts Fanucci’s attention and joins Fanucci. He bullies Vito and his friends and asks for money. Vito’s friends Clemenza and Desio give him the asked money. But, Vito insists that he can make him an offer Fanucci can’t refuse such that he can pay less money than asked.
During, a neighborhood festival he sneaks upon Fanucci up to his apartment and kills him by shooting him. After some time, Vito becomes a respected figure in his community. A widow comes for his help in his apartment. He goes to talk to the apartment owner of the woman who refuses him. The owner asks around about Vito and finds out that he is one of the most respected persons in the community. So, he agrees to keep the widow woman in his apartment. Vito and his friends establish an olive oil business by the name of Genco Importing. They become even more successful.
The story moves on, and the year is 1923. He goes to Sicily for the 1st time after his migration to New York. He and his partner go to meet Don Ciccio to expand their olive oil business. Don Ciccio is not known about Vito’s identity. He tells him about his identity and kills him. But his friend is injured while they run away.
The story is further moved ahead of time, and the year is 1941. It is December 7th, Vito’s birthday. The family members are gathered in the dining room to give Vito a surprise. Michaels says that he has left college and has joined the Marine Corps. Sonny becomes quite angry and slapped Michael. Only Fredo supports him at that time. Vito walks in the door and everyone gathers to wish Vito except Michael. The prequel of the movie is ended here.
The Sequel:
The year is 1958, Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Family dons Michael has many meetings during his son’s ceremony. Frank Pentangeli is terrified as he rejects Michaels's offer. Michael is attacked in his own home so he flees from Nevada. Michael finds out that, Roth was the one who had tried to kill Michael. He meets Roth in Miami but Roth disagrees about it. In New York, Frank Pentangeli tries to make peace with the Rosetto family. But, Rosetto's family tries to kill him.
Roth, Michael, and some of the other business partners have a meeting with the head of Fulgencio Batista about their Cuban business in Havana. There is a revolution in Cuba. On, the evening of New Year Michael tries to kill Roth and his right hand. But, Roth escapes at the time. Police then kill Michael’s bodyguard. Michael also finds out that Fredo has also betrayed him by involving with Roth. Due to rebel action, Batista is no longer in power now.
Michaels returns back home and finds out that Kay has had a miscarriage. The Senate committee formed in Washington DC is interrogating the Corleone family. Frank Pentangeli agrees to speak against Michael in court as he thinks Michael has betrayed him. He is also placed in witness protection.
Fredo comes back to Nevada and tries to justify him to Michael. He says that he helped Roth for something but Roth ignored him. He shows anger towards Roth. He also agrees with the fact that Roth and Fredo were involved in a plot to kill Michael. He also bargains by saying that senate lawyer Questadt is working under Fredo’s payroll. Michael responds to Fredo by saying that he is not his brother anymore but also tries to keep him alive until their mother is alive. Michael tries to kill Frank Pentangeli but he can’t reach him as he is guarded.
Michael brings Frank Pentangeli’s brother from Sicily to manipulate him. He then changes his terms and says something else in court. He says that he does not know the Godfather, Michael Corleone to make him safe now. The committee is adjourned now.
Kay now confesses to Michael saying that, her miscarriage was in fact an abortion because she did not want to raise their kids in a criminal background. Michael is very angry with this and takes custody of his children and removes Kay from his house himself.
Michael’s mother dies in the movie and it looks like Michael has forgiven Fredo for his betrayal. Michael sends Rocco (one of the capos of the family) to kill Roth in the airport during his flight back to New York from Israel. Tom Hagen did not agree to the plan but Michael denies Tom. Roth is killed in the airport and Rocco is also killed in the airport by police officers. Frank Pentangeli commits suicide in a bathtub as Tom manipulates him to do so. Fredo is also killed in the lake after that.
The movie ends by showing Michael sitting alone in his backyard.
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