Review #1,149: 'The Godfather Part II' (1974)

Of all the wonderful things that can be said about Francis Ford Coppola's American masterpiece The Godfather (1972), above all else the film is a masterclass in storytelling. It's essentially a classic, romantic story of family, loyalty and the passage of time, undercut with a dark, violent portrayal of what it takes to achieve the American dream. It told a detailed, complex, and often confusing story featuring a large ensemble of characters, but this only matched the complexity of what Coppola was trying to achieve. The director, adapting Mario Puzo's novel, famously had a torrid time at the hands of the producers, namely Robert Evans. Yet when the resulting three-hour epic became a box-office and award-season smash, Coppola would be given free reign if he was to helm a follow-up.

The resulting three hour twenty minute sequel was the director grabbing his chance to have complete control and pouring all of his artistry into it. This wasn't to be another classical Hollywood tale, but one of corruption, greed and pure evil. I first saw The Godfather Part II around 20 years ago at the age of 12 when I was first allowed to start watching movies for grown-ups. Watching it now, having seen it a handful of times in between, it's a completely different movie to the one I remember. I remembered it as an ambitious gangster movie with quite shocking violence, chocked full of great performances by actors who are now giants in their field. What I see now is a sequel truly like no other. A movie that is somehow optimistic and pessimistic in equal measures; one that sees its lead lose his soul while his father gains his; and quite possibly one of the saddest movies ever made.

At first, Part II mirrors the narrative of its predecessor, beginning with a grand wedding as the Don (now Al Pacino's Michael Corleone) makes his underlings sweat as they wait to greet the head of the 'family'. While the previous wedding was a joyous, boisterous occasion, this one is noticeably different. Of the family that remains - John Cazale's weak-willed Fredo; Talia Shire's gold-digging Connie - only the mother seems to be the same. The band doesn't even know any Italian songs. While Michael may have attempted to continue his father's legacy when he took over, the changing, capitalist world has driven him inward, isolating himself from everybody around him and drifting away from the Sicilian values of his father. He was once a proud war veteran with a bright future, but now he is solemn and aggressive, and becomes even more so when a hit on his home almost kills him and his wife Kay (Diane Keaton).

His close brush with death only fuels his paranoia, and he must navigate perilous waters as he moves into business in Cuba with one his father's business associates Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg), who also happens to be backing a couple of brothers moving into Corleone capo Frankie Pentangeli's (Michael V. Gazzo) territory. Michael suspects a betrayer within his own ranks, suspecting everyone including his own family. It almost seems like a deliberately confusing plot to take in alongside Michael's descent into pure evil, and it may all be too overwhelming had Coppola not chosen to juxtapose this story with one of optimism and nostalgia; that of the young Vito Corleone's escape from a mafia boss in Sicily and his eventual arrival in America. There is infinitely more colour and hope in these moments, and while these scenes may gloss over Vito's own violent journey, it seems like Coppola is making a point about where he feels his country was heading. Of course, these flashbacks are made even more welcome by the astonishing performance from a young Robert De Niro.

The Godfather Part II currently sits in between The Godfather and The Dark Knight as #3 on IMDb's Top 250 list, and while I have little faith in the accuracy of a list that relies so heavily on popularity, it must be one of the most difficult and uncompromising movies in there. I'm actually pleasantly surprised that so many people love it, given the lack of flashy moments of violence the genre is so popular for. It's an experiment that could have gone so horribly wrong, and one that certainly wouldn't have been made outside of the innovative 1970s. Yet Coppola gets everything spectacularly right, from the inspirational casting of the Oscar-nominated Gazzo and Strasberg, to the chilling penultimate scene which sees James Caan's Sonny briefly return. In that final moment we realise that Michael has always been alone, destined to carve his own path, while forever gazing into the past to ponder what could have been.


Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, John Cazale, Lee Strasberg, Michael V. Gazzo, Talia Shire
Country: USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #686: 'The Godfather' (1972)

Having only been born 12 years after the release of The Godfather, I don't know if audiences at the time realised just how influential the film would become in later years. It has been homaged, parodied and copied so much - Don Corleone's husky voice and prominent chin especially - that it's a miracle it's managed to hold onto its status as one of the finest pictures Hollywood has ever produced. It's also rather astonishing that the film was ever made at all, given the troubled production amidst a meddling Paramount (who pretty much held a gun to director Francis Ford Coppola's head throughout). But watching it again, 41 years after it was made, it's just as beautiful and thrilling as it was when I first saw it.

Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) is the Sicilian head of the Corleone crime family. His eldest son Sonny (James Caan) is his short-tempered and hot-headed heir, the polar opposite to the youngest son Michael (Al Pacino), who is college-educated and has just returned from serving in World War II. When the Don refuses an offer to invest in the booming drugs trade by drug baron Virgil 'The Turk' Sollozzo (Al Lettieri) - who is backed by Corleone rivals the Tattaglia's - he is gunned down and almost killed. With his father in hospital and still in danger, Michael finds himself slowly being drawn into the family business he vowed to stay away from.

Head of Paramount at the time Bob Evans said he wanted to "smell the spaghetti" and hired the relatively inexperienced Coppola, who is of Sicilian heritage, to direct the film, in order to give the film authenticity. From the opening scene, it is evident that the gamble paid off. The wedding of the Don's daughter, Connie (Talia Shire), is a textbook guide on how to introduce characters to an audience. This long, gorgeous segment of the film establishes the Corleone's sense of family importance. They are all cold-blooded killers, perhaps, but they are loyal and have a code. It's also fascinating to see the hierarchy within organised crime, something that seems embedded into our conscience now after countless films involving 'made' men and capo's.

But it's a combination of many elements that makes The Godfather so great. The patient, controlled approach, Coppola and novel author Mario Puzo's celebrated, Oscar-winning screenplay, Nino Rota's powerful score, the subtle dark comedy ("leave the gun, take the cannoli") the magnificent set-pieces (Michael searching for the gun in the cafe restroom is still nerve-jangling) , and perhaps most of all, the acting talent on display. Brando, Pacino and Robert Duvall (as adopted son and consigliere Tom Hagen) can boast career-defining performances from the picture, and can celebrate film careers spanning decades and countless awards. There's little I can say about The Godfather that hasn't already been said, but this is one of the true undisputed classics of American cinema.


Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard S. Castellano, Robert Duvall, Al Lettieri, Diane Keaton, Sterling Hayden
Country: USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #294: 'Network' (1976)

American cinema in the 1970's revealed a more personal, "gritty", and quite often profoundly moving approach to film-making. This was in part due to the "changing of the guard" at the studios that began happening in the 1960's. The Moguls that had created the studio system, and also the golden age of cinema, were leaving, and the studios were being sold off to corporations that had no connection to the cinema industry. This led to a multi-million dollar industry being run by companies such as Coca-Cola; therefore, the studios were being run by people who did not know what makes money. Fantastically for the new film makers, this led to a certain amount of freedom, and produced some of the most challenging and interesting films. It seems to me that this all occurred simultaneously with some interesting social and political challenges in the real world.

In the media throughout the 1970's, there were many stories about political kidnappings (such as the well-known Patty Hearst kidnapping that had the world gripped through the bizarre change in the newspaper heiress and socialite who eventually became a member of the terrorist gang), and of course the biggest political story of the decade, the Watergate incident. This latter event highlighted the inconsistencies of political power, and (along with the JFK assassination in 1963) almost essentially created the conspiracy theory - and the modern political conspiracy was born, and is now a popular part of culture. So it seems incredible today that under this atmosphere of paranoia, and particularly with the corporate mergers of industries, that Network was made - a film that is mainly about a television network that is going through changes after a corporate merger/takeover.

"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take this anymore!" This is the mantra of Howard Beale (Peter Finch who won a posthumous best actor Oscar for this role), anchorman of the UBS Evening News, who at the start of the film, is told that due to poor ratings, he was to be fired. On his next broadcast, Beale announces that he will kill himself in a live broadcast next Tuesday. This of course creates a bit of a media sensation, and the interest in the anchorman extends, making the network executives take notice. This leads to the freedom for Beale to have a platform in which he berates the consumerist world, along with the machinations of the financial and media industries. Whilst the "downfall" of Beale's psychology seems to be the main event in this film, he is simply a protagonist that gets the narrative going. the main focus here is the relationship between news executive, Max Schumacher (William Holden) and the younger programming executive, Diana Christenson (Faye Dunaway). This relationship is essential to the narrative. This is where we discover that she will stop at nothing for the acquisition of ratings and therefore money, and that Max, whilst obviously enjoying his affair with the young woman, is fundamentally concerned with Beale's well-being.

This last point raises an interesting question about the nature of sanity. Whilst the money-men in the executive offices simply look at the ratings boost, and care less about the content, Max is worried that his friend is losing the plot. Of course this would be easy to say when we see Beale, soaking wet and dishevelled, ranting in a seemingly frantic manner. However, the fact that he is voicing opinions that were very popular at the time, shows that maybe he has in fact had enough of the machinations of the "system".

To say that the film is still relevant today is an understatement. In fact, much of what occurs in the film has become very much an everyday reality. So it could be argued that the film was an incredible piece of prescient cinema. Network has an amazing cast, and all performances are first rate - particularly Ned Beatty's small role, where he informs Beale of the future of industry which is stunningly shot also. Network should be celebrated in the same way that other films of the decade are, such as Taxi Driver (1976). It has utterly relevant social commentary, and rings as true today as it did 35 years ago - perhaps a depressing thought, highlighting that nothing has really changed, and that in fact, we are living in an unchanging civilisation that has only one obsession: Money.


Directed by: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall, Ned Beatty
Country: USA

Rating: *****

Marc Ivamy

Review #31: 'Crazy Heart' (2009)

It was a rare heartwarming moment for me during the 2010 Oscars when Jeff Bridges won the Best Actor award and received a standing ovation from his colleagues and peers a like. He is an actor that was seemingly never going to receive the kind of recognition and status to which he so fully deserved. His films have ranged from computer game-film hybrid nerd-fest Tron (1982), to Peter Bogdanovich's masterpiece (and one of my all-time favourite films) The Last Picture Show (1971). After winning the award for this film, he seems to have been bumped up to the A-list, receiving another nomination this year for the exceptional True Grit (2010). The film is pretty damn good too, surprisingly.

I say surprisingly as the story of an over-the-hill country singer seeking redemption seems like Oscar bait to me, but I found it a rather uplifting experience, and a piece of quality drama. Bridges plays the legendary Bad Blake, who, when we meet him, is emptying a bottle of his own piss onto the car park floor upon his arrival at a bowling alley where he is due to play his next gig. He has returned to his home, and the locals are excited to see him sing some of his classic tunes and live up to his bad boy name. Yet he is unhappy. He spends his time on his own in his fleapit motel room, drinking his favourite whisky and chain-smoking cigarettes, and arguing with his hard-working manager who is keen to buddy him up with his protege Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell). There is unspoken resentment from Blake for Sweet, who seems to be highly successful while Blake wallows in misery, his time long since past. However, Blake seems to be awoken from his self-destructiveness when he is interviewed by the daughter of a liquor store owner, Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who is as taken by him as he is by her. Living up to his name, Bad is always one step from screwing it up, as his drinking becomes a bigger problem than he imagined.

The main strength of the film is the genuine unlikeability of Blake. He is rude, offensive and in his first performance in front of his home crowd, spends the majority of the time throwing up in a bin outside while his backing band plays an instrumental on a loop awaiting his return. He also drinks to excess, throwing away his ability and refusing to write new material due to his jealousy of a younger and more successful emergent in Sweet. As he opens up to Jean, we also discover he has a son he hasn't seen in well over a decade, and has possibly fathered more that he doesn't know about. During an uncomfortable and achingly sad scene, he phones up the mother of his son and is informed of her death, and finds out his son wants nothing to do with him. Describing the film, it actually sounds like something you would have seen in other films countless times, but here the script is written with such heart, and the performance are so great, that it doesn't matter.

Another highlight is the performance of Maggie Gyllenhall. I've long since been a fan since her turn in the excellent Secretary (2002), and here she is better. Unfortunately she has been unfairly drowned out by the masterclass of Bridges. She is both brittle and strong, looking after her son as a single mother, and being unable to resist the charms of Blake while always being aware of the danger of falling for someone like him. In a scene where she admits their relationship is an accident waiting to happen, Gyllenhaal's face is torn up by resentment and defeated sadness.

For a film with so much music, this could have fallen flat on it's face. But within the trusted care of music legend T-Bone Burnett, who has worked with the Coen brothers on a number of occasions, and Ryan Bingham, the music and the on-stage performances of Bridges are electric. The pair won the Oscar for Original Song, for the wonderful 'The Weary Kind', which Blake writes at the start of his road to redemption. A great love-song to the world of country music and the legends that have eclipsed the genre, as well as being a good story very well told.


Directed by: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie