One year later, "The Godfather 2" has reached the top of the Oscars. I have to sigh, Coppola's high efficiency, the film is still based on the ups and downs of the Corleone family. This time the film adopts the form of contrasting the growth history of Mike "the second generation godfather" and Mike's father "the first generation godfather" Victor Antonini. Its performance techniques seem to tell us the reason for the decline of the Mafia.
The original godfather was a poor child, born in the village of Corleone on the Sicily Peninsula, the poorest in Europe. The parents were brutally killed by the local mafia because they were offended. In the last resort, Vido Antonini was sent to the United States by relatives. The success of the first godfather is a condensed American dream. Came to the United States with nothing and gained status and respect through his own efforts. With both sons and daughters under his knees, business is increasing day by day. But Mike, who took over the family business, tried to change this pattern. Because he is more ambitious and believes that he is more capable.
To commemorate the first godfather, Mike named his eldest son as Anthony. This day was the birthday of Little Anthony, and the family held a grand banquet for the young owner. Mike hopes to maintain a good relationship with politics, but Senator Grey’s public bribery is somewhat unacceptable. After all, there are still many parliamentarians who can cooperate. This mapping of collusion between officials and bandits should allude to the history of the Kennedy family. After all, in a democratic society, the interests of parliamentarians are complicated. In order to vote and support, walking in a gray area is what democratic politicians must experience.
Mike's way of managing his family increasingly goes against Italian traditions. This makes a group of old people who have followed the original godfather and competed for the world, feel that their hearts are not old. They are very sad about this, and Mike is also exhausted physically and mentally by the messy disputes in the family. I always think about how my old father handled these things with ease. On the night of the birthday party, a sudden attack broke the fragile balance. Mike's wife, Kay, felt that she could no longer bear this kind of life. She wants to leave Mike and live a peaceful life, but Mike doesn't want to let it go.
After being attacked, Mike began to track down who did it on him. After feeling the threat of life time and time again, his general division Tom appointed his successor. And went to Miami alone to meet Hemen Ross of the Jewish Mafia. He wanted to cooperate with this Jewish tycoon on a big business. While describing Mike, the movie also constantly flashes back to the difficult growth history of the first godfather. It was his grassroots birth that made him approachable and knows how to empathize. This allows the first generation of godfathers to always be able to find both sides in their infancy. Relatively young Mike grew up too smoothly. This made him seldom pay attention to the ideas of others, and eventually led to him gradually becoming strangers to the members of the family.
Senator Gray accidentally killed a prostitute, and Tom, the strategist, settled the matter. Mike and Senator formed a fierce friendship. The Jewish tycoon Hemen Ross's business is basically in Cuba. So Mike followed him to Cuba, along with many American capital tycoons. Like dividing a piece of cake, they are madly dividing the interests of Cuba. The world at that time was exactly the climax of the colonial independence movement in full swing. Those old European colonial countries, under pressure from the United States, have given up their colonies in Asia, Africa and Latin America. This provided an opportunity for American capital, which was in the middle of nowhere. What the German emperor did not accomplish during World War I was done by the United States, which flaunted the universal values of democracy, after World War II.
However, Cuba at this time is gradually sinking into the ocean of people's revolution. The radical revolutionary party led by Castro tried to overthrow the dictatorship by force. Seeing that the US imperial investment was about to be overturned by the revolution, conflict broke out between Mike and Hymen Ross. In the end, neither of them succeeded, so they had to leave the contradiction to the United States. During the fight, Mike was surprised to find that his second brother Fred was his spy who had been looking for a long time. This made him more taciturn, and more moody. Although Mike inherited most of the character of the original godfather, his growth experience is indeed different. This caused the two of them to have completely different ideas when dealing with problems.
The Corleone family was also caught up in the prosecution of the U.S. government's anti-triad operations. Although Mike is still so comfortable with the help of military Tom. But it also made him realize that the survival situation has become extremely bad. Just when Mike was struggling to deal with the prosecutor's allegations, his wife Kay told Mike about her abortion. In Western countries in the 1950s and 1960s, for conservative Catholic believers, abortion was tantamount to going against the will of God, and even contraception was not allowed. So Kay's behavior intensified the conflict between the two, and the divorce became an unavoidable choice for Mike. From Fred to Kay, and the indulgent sister of private life. Mike distrusted his family more and more, and his small decision-making group was all outsiders. Tom can't agree with this approach. He felt that Mike was deviating from the tradition of the Corleone family.
The wife of the first godfather died of illness. The family felt infinite sadness for the death of this kind old lady. The only person who could restrain Mike also left personnel. So Mike quickly began his action, first assassinating Hemen Ross at the airport, then second brother Fredo, and then Frank, who was acting as a tainted witness for the US government. Anyone who betrayed Mike had to die. He had completely turned into a tyrant, sitting on his blood-stained throne. But in fact, he was so lonely. The most trusted family around him had already left him. In the dimly lit room, Mike sat alone on the throne, a symbol of status. The autumn wind outside the window shattered the yellow leaves mercilessly, and the bare tree trunks were lifeless. The scene goes back to the past. Mike was still a college student. The eldest brother Johnny, the second brother Fredo, the younger sister and brother-in-law Carlo and Tom, the family happily together, waiting for his father to return home. Such a scene will never happen again.
The different modes of the two godfathers eventually led to this family, inevitably embarking on a tragic fate. Obviously Mike is more ambitious and ambitious. Although he has always emphasized that his family's business will be washed out, he still relies on violence and terror to weave his own empire of terror.
The difference between the two generations of godfathers is like the difference between the United States before and after World War II. The United States once insisted on isolationism. They lived their own peaceful lives and did not want to participate in international affairs too much. At critical moments, I will enthusiastically help others. But after the Second World War, the US imperialism may be because of fear of communism, or perhaps because of its arrogance to replace European dominance. They began to intervene in the affairs of other countries very frequently, which resulted in the people in the country being constantly exposed to the nuclear threat from the Soviets. The politicians who dream of dominating the world continue to send their people to the land of a foreign country to bleed. From this perspective, there is no difference between the Soviet Union and the United States. While they are constantly exporting so-called universal values, they are also constantly producing divisions, wars, and orphans.
In fact, this comparison shows Coppola's nostalgia for the first generation of godfathers, as well as the nostalgia for the United States. But people can't help themselves in the arena. Just like Mike, what he thinks every day is that you don't kill people, people want to kill me. But if you think about it the other way round, His Excellency Corleone has always emphasized that I am all and all are me. Perhaps one day the American emperor can let go of this persecuted paranoia, the world will truly get out of the Cold War mentality.
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