The Godfather: Part II (1974)
This celebrated film stars in fact Al Pacino and it is a great bla bla bla music - Nino Rota, image, bla, acting, bla bla. I'll try to stay focused on DeNiro.
The 1972 'first' Godfather stared in the role of the older Don Vito the well-known forty-eight years old Marlon Brando who won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar. The part was heavily worked and Brando's deep involvement is known. At 31 Robert DeNiro creates Vito Corleone in 'The Godfather:Part II' and wins the Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar (Coppola accepted the award at the ceremony as DeNiro was not attending). DeNiro filled graciously Brando's shoes even in the fragmentary flash back the narrative allows. There is a quality in the silent Vito that I cannot find a word for. He is not exceptionally smart nor exceptional in other ways. If possible I would call him very mediocre: he displays a certain combination of ambition, focus and values that bring him in the forefront. He is not a man that shows much, that one can easily read. Yet one can feel a vibe that renders him special when you meet him. He would not shine if the camera would not pay attention. DeNiro plays the part with great restraint and conveys a subtle power that generates relations and events like ripples around his character.
Even if praised to death The Godfather is one of the must see movies for many internal reasons, and, if nothing else, for the deep influence it had.
1 comment:
Boy, reading your comments on movie masterpieces I have a hard time getting your position: you either comment without a vague idea of what is going on beyond the gun shots in the key scene or your effort to pose as a witty comentator is just getting in the way.
To just correct a quote: 'He is not exceptionally smart nor exceptional in other ways. If possible I would call him very mediocre: he displays a certain combination of ambition, focus and values that bring him in the forefront. He is not a man that shows much, that one can easily read. Yet one can feel a vibe that renders him special when you meet him. He would not shine if the camera would not pay attention.'
Mediocre men rest mediocre. It's the law you are trying hard to trick either way (as a witty clown or a misunderstood genius). Vito Andolini is an exceptional man. The character is making a difference. And you can make even longer lists, as long as you can't spot the out of the ordinary you wasted two good hours of life that you could be doing some sports or romancing a nice girl.
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