The Godfather Part II (1974)

The expansive second part of Francis Ford Coppola’s Mafia saga continues the Corleone family story, charting in parallel young Vito’s earlier rise to prominence.

Sequels had not yet become the Hollywood norm when Francis Ford Coppola signed up for a continuation to his hugely successful 1972 adaptation of Mario Puzo’s novel The Godfather, but this second film set a high standard for follow-ups in the way that it enriches and deepens the Corleone family narrative.

Ranging over multiple locations, Coppola’s film ambitiously intertwines two time periods: the story of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) becoming increasingly consumed and isolated by his new power as head of the family, and flashbacks to his father Vito Corleone’s (Robert De Niro) arrival as an immigrant in New York, and his gradual ascent to power.

The project’s ambition did not go unrecognised: like the first film, it won best picture at the 1974 Academy Awards.

1974 USA
Directed by
Francis Ford Coppola
Produced by
Francis Ford Coppola
Written by
Francis Ford Coppola, Mario Puzo
Featuring
Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton
Running time
200 minutes

Ranked in The Greatest Films of All Time poll

Sight and Sound

Who voted for The Godfather Part II

Critics

Nigel Andrews
UK
Nae Caranfil
Romania
Justin Chang
USA
Godfrey Cheshire
USA
Andrew Collins
UK
Manohla Dargis
USA
Rahul Desai
India
Sean Hogan
UK
Sascha Keilholz
Germany
Richard T Kelly
UK
András Bálint Kovács
Hungary
Albert Lee
Hong Kong
Craig McLean
UK
Craig McLean
UK
Mary McNamara
USA
Joan Mellen
USA
Brogan Morris
UK
Emily Murray
UK
Venkateswaran Narayanan
India
Camille Paglia
USA
Miguel Pendás
USA
Michael Phillips
USA
Charles Ramírez Berg
USA
Leo Robson
UK
Jonathan Ross
UK
Arjun Sajip
UK
Michael Sragow
USA
John Wyver
UK
Ab Zagt
Netherlands

Directors

Bruce Beresford
Australia
Peter Ho-sun Chan
Hong Kong/China
Joe Dante
USA
Yinan Diao
China
José Luis Garci
Spain
Mark Gustafson
USA
Jack Hazan
UK
Asif Kapadia
UK
Eric Khoo
Singapore
Axel Kuschevatzky
USA/Argentina
John Landis
USA
Bart Layton
UK
Nikhil Mahajan
India
Jim McBride
USA
George Miller
Santiago Mitre
Argentina
John Paizs
Canada
Kemp Powers
United States
Raymond Red
Philippines
Clement Virgo
Canada
Eskil Vogt
Norway
Theodore Witcher
USA

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