"They're saps, because they risk their lives for strangers."

Rating: 10/10 (2 September 1999)

I am one of the minority who like THE GODFATHER: PART II better than the original. In the first GODFATHER, we saw Michael give up his dream of an honest life to save his family and lead it back to greatness. Here, we see he sacrifices everything for his family, and in the end loses even that.
At the same time, we see how Michael's father Vito became the great Don. Starting out by doing his family and his fellow immigrants a great favor by eliminating the brutish, terroristic Don Fannucci, Vito ends up merely replacing one tyrant with another in ANIMAL-FARM-like style.
As we see Michael and Vito maneuver for power against their enemies (including Hyman Roth, excellently played by Lee Strasberg), we begin to wonder how much worse the mafiosi are than the government officials who surround them. Their dishonesty and their violence would hardly be out of place in many "legitimate" governments throughout history, and in some cases even today. As Michael tells a corrupt Senator played by G.D. Spradlin, "we're both part of the same hypocrisy."
(Spoilers below).
The ending of THE GODFATHER: PART II is one of the most poignant in history, as Michael's memory flashes back to a party before he joined the military. The scene contains four men besides himself: Santino, Fredo, Tessio, and Carlo. All are dead now - three of them by Michael's own order. As Tessio mentions that thousands of young men are enlisting to fight the Japanese after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Santino comments, "They're saps, because they risk their lives for strangers." Now Michael, having risked his life for his family for years, finds they are strangers to him who fear and loathe him. The third part notwithstanding, the tragedy is complete.
Rating: **** out of ****.