Visual Style Analysis: The Godfather, Part II
Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, Part II carries the story of The Godfather both backward and forward in time, beginning in 1901 in Sicily where the young boy who will become Vito Corleone is orphaned by a vendetta (Wakeman, 1988). The boy emigrates to America where he is seen as an adult in New York City, battling the Black Hand and emerging as a power in his neighborhood. The film ends with his ôrespectableö son Mich'l in a position of unassailable power and dominance within the Mafia but without a wife, his brothers, friends, or any evidence of common humanity (Wakeman, 1988).
The film essentially functions as a companion piece to its predecessor and not a sequel. To that end, the character of Mich'l Corleone (played by Al Pacino) is presented in an almost totally unsympathetic light (Biskind, 1990).
Analogies to 'schylus and Greek drama are used in an examination of the tragic undercurrents of America's criminal underworld (Sultanik, 1986). As an American tragedy, the film underscores the theme of familial betrayal (e.g., Fredo's collusion in the attempted murder of Mich'l and in Kaye's abortion of Mich'l's son).
Juxtaposition of segments featuring Vito Corleone as a young man and present-day incidents involving Mich'l Corleone are used to illustrate the transformation of the family. Wakeman (1988, p. 231) states that ôif Vito as a young man has something of the Robin Hood in him, his son at the end is wholly corrupted and cold-heartedà. Lord of the underworld, and king of the dead and the damned.ö
Overall Visual Structure of the Film
Overall, The Godfather, Part II substitutes what Sultanik (1986) describes as the more fluid pictorial narrative of the first film for a murky, expressionistic study of the lives of the Corleones. The pictorial framing uses space, shape, line, color, and tone to call attention to itself in the manner of a s...