Few Hollywood films succeed in presenting a second part that matches the first part of any successful film, as major production companies often take advantage of any film that achieves success and gains popularity to catch it with another part, but we rarely find attached parts that meet the same conditions for artistic success that led To the fame of the original part... The Godfather in its second part was one of the first films that broke this rule. Many critics and fans of this series consider the second part to be the best part on all levels... script, direction and performances.

After the resounding success of the first part of the film, Paramount announced its intention to produce a second part, and many initially expected the failure of the project from its foundation and Coppola's inability to create the necessary ground for a strong scenario on which the plot of the film was based to match what was presented in the first part, but Coppola was able with the help of Mario Pozzo proved the error of expectations, when he was able to present an innovative scenario, in which the two screenwriters not only followed the film from the end of its first part and moved forward with the new godfather, but also returned the scenario to the past to illuminate the beginning of the path of the child Vito Corleone and the journey of ascension from Sicily to the leadership of families in New York ...in a scenario that managed to find many intertwined threads between the two pivotal stories... Michael's current story and Vito's previous story, and he blended the two stories in a distinctive way.

Coppola started his movie where the previous part ended, to begin with us with an opening scene that focuses on the face of the new Don as he accepts loyalty and assumes the reins of family rule, before taking us far back .. this time to Sicily, to find a mother who loses her husband and her son in a story of revenge, and there is nothing left for her Only a young man desperately tried to save his life, before he met the same black Sicilian fate, and the boy found himself alone in the face of his destiny, which leads him across a ship crowded with immigrants to the Statue of Liberty .. Which gives him a look that sums up many of this boy's future aspirations and his quest to be a significant name In the land of opportunity and lost dreams.

And as if it were a reminder of the glory of the Corleone family in the first part, Coppola takes us back to the present time with a big party in the family home, to see Michael behind his chair as Vito was, listening to people's requests and meeting various personalities of different degrees of importance...politicians, officers and senators in Senate. We do not glimpse in the eyes of the Don that confidence that we saw in the eyes of his father, the problems above the head of the young godfather from all sides.. The empire has not yet recognized its new emperor, and the Don must strike firmly to gain the high status that was for the previous Don.

Michael and his family are exposed to an assassination attempt, and between his attempt to expand the family's influence across Miami and Cuba, and his attempt to find out who was behind the assassination attempt... The dramatic sequence of the story rises to its end... With a return to the past to see Vito in his early days in the Italian neighborhood of New York. Coppola gracefully moves us through the two stories with his clever use of flashback, stopping at specific points in the lives of both characters, and leaving the viewer in front of their reactions to the many similar situations they went through.

Just as the director of the work provided the opportunity for many names through their roles in The Godfather in its first part, Coppola paved the way for the talent of Robert De Niro, an American of Italian descent, who demonstrated a strong presence before the Godfather, by appearing in "Hello Mom" with Brian De Palma, and in "Despicable Streets" With Martin Scorsese, and while Coppola was thinking of assigning the role of Corleone to Marlon Brando himself, he found the issue of giving the role to a young character the most compelling, and playing this role was a great challenge for De Niro, because introducing a character as Don Corleone as a boy was required in him It is very difficult as a famous character whose presence in the first part was only about a year and a year ago, most of her movements, accent and her raspy voice are still present in the minds of those who followed the first part, in addition to the difficulty of the young actor's position by placing him in comparison with a star of Brando's value.

De Niro headed to Sicily before starting filming his role, and he stayed there for a while to be able to master the Sicilian dialect perfectly, especially that Coppola depicted all the ancient story of Vito from Sicily to the immigrant neighborhood in Italian to give the story more real dimensions. Indeed, De Niro succeeded in playing his role through two paths: the path of "reincarnation" of Corleone's character with its movements and stillness, and the path of "creating" De Niro's own touch. Coppola did not want De Niro to be just an ordinary reincarnation of the character of Vito, and De Niro excelled in presenting his character brilliantly, which earned him the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1974, to be the character of Vito Corleone, the first cinematic character to receive two Oscars for different actors.

The role of Vito was a prophecy about what could be presented by De Niro, a prophecy that Martin Scorsese later picked up and embraced the talent of the young man to present with him works worth "Raging Bull", "Taxi Driver", "Deer Hunter" and "New York, New York".

De Niro's overwhelming presence in the second part did not prevent him from noticing the high performance of Al Pacino when he presented the role of Michael in a different way from what it was in the first part, according to the requirements of the new phase of the text, that young officer no longer exists in the mind of the Don, and we no longer see The distraction in his eyes, on the contrary Michael's gaze seemed harsher. Despite the terrible challenges that the character went through by trying to kill her, or limiting her influence, or what she suffered from family problems - with his wife Kai -, Michael's character remained strong until the last moment, and despite the internal fracture that afflicted him after discovering betrayal The people closest to him.. but the godfather is the godfather, he should not bow no matter what the circumstances.

Pacino embodied those facts brilliantly, and just as his role in the first season earned him a nomination as Best Supporting Actor, this time he received a Best Actor nomination. Supporting, this time he was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Coppola's parallel attention to all the details of the characters of his film gave the opportunity to stand out for everyone in their supporting roles, starting with De Niro... and passing through the almighty Lee Strasberg, who embodied the character of Hyman Roth, the two-faced Jew, the gentle old man on the outside, a thin shell that hides inside a monster that does not hesitate to do anything He gets to his point... and ends with Michael Gazou, who plays Pantangeli, the ex-godfather, who later breaks with the family before facing his last fate. Even Talia Shire, who played the role of Aunt Connie, took a wider space than the role she played in the first part. She was no longer that nervous, spoiled girl, she got older, and realized that she had no refuge but family and Michael, despite knowing in her heart that he had killed her husband Carlo.

In the same Sicilian approach and with the same dreamy fluidity, Nino Rota presented very beautiful melodies, and with a high musical sense, for which Rota won an Oscar for best soundtrack.

One of the most beautiful factors that gave the film its luster was the excellent cinematography through the ingenuity of photographer Gordon Willis in capturing that distinction and difference between the two eras that the film talked about. While he brings us back with an image that has a kind of sharpness and color contrast when he returns to the current story of the film...a small detail that Coppola carefully took care of, realizing that the success of big films is based primarily on the smallest details.

It is an invitation to watch a second part that is as beautiful as the first part of this movie, if not superior to it in many respects.