The Godfather Part II (1974)

The American epic crime film, The Godfather Part II (1974), was produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Loosely based on the novel The Godfather by Mario Puzo, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola, it serves as both a sequel and a prequel to the 1972 film of the same name. In parallel storylines, one follows Michael Corleone in 1958 as he takes on his role as Don of the Corleone family after surviving an assassination attempt. The other delves into his father Vito’s journey from his childhood in Sicily to establishing their family business in New York City.

Vito. In 1901, a young Vito Andolini flees his home country after the tragic murder of his entire family in Corleone, Sicily. This occurs when Vito’s father insults Don Ciccio, a powerful Mafia leader. Upon arriving in New York City, Vito adopts the name ‘Vito Corleone’. By 1917, he is happily married to Carmela and has an infant son named Sonny. However, due to the interference of Don Fanucci, a notorious Black Hand extortionist, Vito loses his job. In a gesture of gratitude for hiding a bag of guns, Vito’s neighbor Peter Clemenza enlists his help in stealing a rug as a gift for Carmela. As time goes on, the Corleones have three more children: sons Fredo and Michael, and daughter Connie. To make ends meet, Vito teams up with Clemenza and new partner Salvatore Tessio to steal goods and sell them door-to-door for profit.

Michael. During his son’s First Communion celebration at Lake Tahoe in 1958, Michael, as the head of the Corleone crime family, held several meetings. Frank Pentangeli, a Corleone capo, expressed disappointment that Michael refused to assist him in defending his Bronx territory against the Rosato brothers, who were working for Hyman Roth – a Jewish Mob boss and long-time business partner of the Corleones. Senator Pat Geary also caused trouble by requesting a bribe in exchange for helping Michael obtain casino gaming licenses and making offensive remarks towards Italians and the Corleones specifically. Despite this, Michael believed Geary would eventually aid him without payment. Later that night, there was an unsuccessful assassination attempt at Michael’s home which led him to abruptly leave after revealing to consigliere Tom Hagen that he suspected a traitor in their midst. While Michael initially suspected Roth masterminded the attack, he falsely accuses Pentangeli when speaking with Roth.