After the huge success of The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo go on with narrating the history of the Corleone family. It picks up right where we left it: Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) has replaced his deceased father as head of the family, becoming one of the most powerful criminals in America. Soon enough, however, he will realize absolute power also means absolute solitude. Apart from his henchmen and his lawyer (Robert Duvall) he can't trust anyone ("Keeps your friends close, but your enemies closer"), including his own brother Fredo (John Cazale). Hell, even his wife (Diane Keaton) doesn't feel safe next to him anymore.

As we witness Michael's dealings with power, corruption and murder, we're also given the chance to see what gave birth to the Corleone dynasty in the first place. We learn, through flashbacks, that a boy named Vito Andolini had to escape from his native Sicily when his father was brutally assassinated. Once at Ellis Island, his home-town was mistaken for his surname. From that day on, he would be known as Vito Corleone. Yes, it's the same Vito Corleone who made "offers you can't refuse" in the first movie, and this time we're shown how he slowly became a feared gangster in his younger years. It's a riveting look at yesterday's society, which doesn't differ that much from ours: power is still as easy to obtain as it is to lose forever, and no matter how sophisticated man's methods can get, violence is still the "best" way to achieve something under specific circumstances.

Just like Part I, this impeccable, superior sequel is masterfully staged by the filmmakers, their passion for the material breaking out of every single frame. The screenplay is flawless, Coppola and Puzo seamlessly moving back and forth in time to show us the origin and fate of the most beloved cinematic family that's ever shown up on a screen.The family theme emerges off-screen as well, as the director's father, Carmine Coppola, helps Nino Rota with the superb, tragic score.

But let's not forget the extraordinary actors who made each member of the Corleones memorable: Pacino steals the show with his best performance alongside Scarface's Tony Montana, while Duvall, Cazale and Talia Shire (not to mention James Caan in a priceless flashback cameo) display the same charisma they had in the previous installment. Yet there's one guy who tops all of them, the only one I haven't mentioned so far: Robert De Niro, who won his first Oscar for playing the young Vito Corleone. It's one of those rare times people don't complain about the fact that a thespian was replaced in a sequel (okay, so Marlon Brando wouldn't have looked young enough for the part, but otherwise he would have been perfect): De Niro's star-making turn has the power of not making you miss the older Don for the entire movie. It's a top notch performance based on gestures and looks rather than words (but then again, he only speaks Sicilian throughout the film), which would become De Niro's trademark and which he proved to master perfectly long before Travis Bickle, Jake La Motta and Jimmy Conway made their appearance.

Before The Godfather: Part II was released, all sequels were considered B-movies. I can see why opinions changed after this film: watch it back-to-back with its predecessor and you'll feel rewarded for giving that awesome twosome part of your time.