Movie analysis : The Godfather Part. II

Godfather Part. II is a difficult succession.

In order to understand Michael, we must first understand his father. Vito experiences injustice at a very early age. Before being fired like a dirty man by Don Fanucci, he watches helplessly as his mother is executed by Don Ciccio’s henchmen. Vito realized that the world is violent and that he could not count on anyone but himself. Michael understood the message too. He is in continuity. In a way, he has almost learned the lesson too well since he distrusts everyone.

Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.

Vito was quite welcoming. Very appreciated by the community, he helped the little people. He was the figure of the social entrepreneur. He was a builder, a visionary, who inspired respect and who liked people to come and see him as they would come and see a friend. It must be said that he knew how to return the favour.

They’ll tell you I know how to return a favor.

Michael, it’s the other way around. He’s waiting for Frank Pentangeli (Michael V. Gazzo). He is feared by his wife, jealous by his brothers, hated by his sister. And it’s normal, he’s only destroying. He is a liquidator. On the other hand, Michael has gotten bogged down almost unnoticed in a bourgeois routine by finding himself in flashy meetings, surrounded by big boss bandits who offer each other solid gold telephones.

Vito was generous. People came to see him to ask him for a favor. Michael we came to see him to ask him for money, and he gave nothing in return.

Senator? You can have my answer now, if you like. My final offer is this: nothing.

Michael has already killed or had many people killed, except his father. He lives in his shadow. While Vito rises in society, Michael isolates himself. All his certainties eventually collapse. Tom negotiates behind his back. His wife asks for a divorce. Fredo betrays him. It’s the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. This family for which Michael has put his own life on the line is not grateful. He can no longer be trusted. The ultimate betrayal of brotherhood will push Michael to the brink. He is a control expert, yet he will blow up his own schemes by killing his own brother. This is the opening of the possible.

If anything in this life is certain, if history has taught us anything, it is that you can kill anyone.

Michael now has no limits. Vito seemed to have a certain ethic: he refused the temptation of Sollozo. The family was sacred. Michael, on the other hand, is advancing in the name of pragmatism. Holland refused to talk to al-Assad. Macron believed that one should talk to everyone. We know where this pragmatism led Michael…

His inordinate ambition prevented him from admitting that his business with Hyman Roth had gotten him nowhere. Anger will blind his judgment. The death of his brother creates a huge void in him that will never close.

Guilt will start to eat away at Michael. He is questioning his qualities as a business leader and a family man. Michael is not satisfied because he is not achieving his goals. This family that his father founded, protected, and cherished… he is destroying it. In fact, trying too hard to do too well, he’s doing everything wrong. Like when he announces his decision to join the army. In the end, Michael is always going against the tide. He finds himself alone at the table while the others are celebrating.