I've had the two discs sitting on my coffee table for quite a while. It's not every day you have 3.5 hours ready to carve out to watch a gangster flick. But last night was the night.
I hadn't seen Part Deux in forever. Probably 15 years. So I came at it with fresh eyes last night. Needless to say, I was stoked. But I just wasn't prepared for it. I forgot how much of a departure it was from the first one. Similar, but still very different in scope. It's clearly more of an epic tale. And Coppola didn't mind taking his time telling the story. There's a lot that you could have conceivably cut out, but clearly Coppola was holding the trump card. With the success of Part I, the studio must have bowed to his wishes on this one. Interestingly enough, he didn't even want to direct it. He only wanted to produce it...but he ended up directing it anyway. Scorsese was actually slated to direct. Forgot why he didn't...
I really like films that are dialog driven and slow. So I really dug Godfather: Part II. With only sixteen deaths in the whole 3.5 hours of gangster shenanigans, it's not exactly Quick Draw McGraw.
Coppola weaves a variety of sub-plots together in harmony. Each one intertwining as the minutes pass by. But even though it jumps back and forth in plot and/or setting and/or decade; you don't get lost. It all adds up quite nicely. Sometimes gangster flicks can be a bit too heavy-handed with subtle background info about internal politics and shit. But this doesn't fall into that trap. It's clear-cut and everything moves the film forward.
Cinematography was great. Some great deep-focus shots. Great framing. Great lighting. Top notch stuff.
The acting throughout is pretty damn good, let's be honest. Couple weak links pop up here and there, but nothing to detract from the overall film. It's a strong cast. No doubt. Bobby DeNiro looks so damn young.
It's not like you haven't seen this flick. But maybe it's time to watch it again if it's been too long? Capiche?
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