Alejandro González Iñárritu

Alejandro González Iñárritu, mexican director whose former career as a DJ has instilled in him a spectacular comprehension of pacing and a near-unparalleled ability to weave a compelling, nonlinear tale, Alejandro González Iñárritu stunned filmgoers worldwide with his vital and affecting directorial debut, Amores Perros. Striking a fine balance between brutality and beauty while offering well-defined characters that seem as real as their stark surroundings, Iñárritu's unforgettable take on life in contemporary Mexico City earned the first-time feature director an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film among many other honors — leaving expectations for a strong sophomore follow-up much higher than usual.



Films Directed By Iñárritu:
Amores Perros (2000)
21 Grams (2003)
Babel (2006)


Awards and nominations :
Amores Perros (2000)
Cannes Film Festival Critics Week Grand Prize Winner
Cannes Film Festival Young Critics Award - Best Feature Winner
11'09''01 September 11 (2002)
Venice Film Festival UNESCO Award Winner
21 Grams (2003)
Venice Film Festival Official Selection
Babel (2006)
Cannes Film Festival Prix de la mise en scène Winner
Cannes Film Festival Prize of the Ecumenical Jury Winner

Martin Scorsese

Martin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese (born November 17, 1942) is an Academy Award winning American film director, screenwriter, producer, and film historian. He is the founder of the World Cinema Foundation and a recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award for his contributions to the cinema and has won awards from the Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Directors Guild of America. Scorsese is president of the Film Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to film preservation and the prevention of the decaying of motion picture film stock.
Scorsese's body of work addresses such themes as Italian American identity, Roman Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption,machismo, and violence. Scorsese is widely considered to be one of the most significant and influential American filmmakers of his era, directing landmark films such as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas; all of which he collaborated on with actor Robert De Niro.He earned the Academy Award for Best Director for The Departed and an MFA in film directing from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.

Year Film

1968 Who's That Knocking at My Door
1972 Boxcar Bertha
1973 Mean Streets
1974 Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
1976 Taxi Driver
1977 New York, New York
1980 Raging Bull
1983 The King of Comedy
1985 After Hours
1986 The Color of Money
1988 The Last Temptation of Christ
1990 Goodfellas
1991 Cape Fear
1993 The Age of Innocence
1995 Casino
1997 Kundun
1999 Bringing Out the Dead
2002 Gangs of New York
2004 The Aviator
2006 The Departed
2009 Shutter Island

Akira Kurosawa

Akira Kurosawa (23 March 1910 – 6 September 1998) was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. In a career that spanned 50 years, Kurosawa directed 30 films. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. In 1989, he was awarded the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement "for cinematic accomplishments that have inspired, delighted, enriched and entertained worldwide audiences and influenced filmmakers throughout the world."


Films Directed By Kurosawa:
Year Title
1943 Sanshiro
1944 The Most Beautiful
1945 Sanshiro Sugata Part
The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail
1946 No Regrets for Our Youth
1947 One Wonderful Sunday
1948 Drunken Angel
1949 The Quiet Duel
Stray Dog
1950 Scandal
Rashomon
1951 The Idiot
1952 Ikiru
1954 Seven Samurai
1955 I Live in Fear
1957 Throne of Blood
1958 The Hidden Fortress
1960 The Bad Sleep Well
1961 Yojimbo
1962 Sanjuro
1963 High and Low
1965 Red Beard
1970 Dodesukaden
1975 Dersu Uzala
1980 Kagemusha
1985 Ran
1990 Dreams
1991 Rhapsody in August
1993 Madadayo

steven spielberg

Steven Allan Spielberg, KBE (born December 18, 1946) is an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer. Forbes magazine places Spielberg's net worth at $3.1 billion. In 2006, the magazine Premiere listed him as the most powerful and influential figure in the motion picture industry. Time listed him as one of the 100 Most Important People of the Century. At the end of the twentieth century, Life named him the most influential person of his generation. In a career of over four decades, Spielberg's films have touched on many themes and genres. Spielberg's early sci-fi and adventure films, sometimes centering on children, were seen as an archetype of modern Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking. In later years his films began addressing such issues as The Holocaust, slavery, war and terrorism.
Spielberg won the Academy Award for Best Director for 1993's Schindler's List and 1998's Saving Private Ryan. Three of Spielberg's films, Jaws (1975), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and Jurassic Park (1993), broke box office records, each becoming the highest-grossing film made at the time. To date, the unadjusted gross of all Spielberg-directed films exceeds $8.5 billion worldwide.



Perhaps the western world's most famous living filmmaker, Steven Spielberg succeeded in combining the intimacy of a personal vision with the epic requirements of the modern commercial blockbuster. Though his astonishing success delayed his acceptance as a serious artist for many years, few could deny that Spielberg's work decisively influenced twentieth century filmmaking through his potent visual imagery and universally recognizable emotion. If nothing else, Spielberg's films were landmarks in special effects, both in their visual and aural aspects, and they additionally possessed an uncanny knack for eliciting audience response. Spielberg's success also allowed him to pursue numerous philanthropic and cultural projects like no other filmmaker of his generation. An active supporter of projects that affected modern Jewish life, Spielberg served as chairman for the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, an ambitious project devoted to filming interviews with Holocaust survivors. In addition, he was a vocal champion of artists' rights and creative freedoms, whilst continuing to deliver beloved films that resonated with moviegoers the world over.












"Spielberg was far more collaborative than I ever imagined he would be. He really wanted ideas and encouraged people to give their input. Everyone had told me he shoots fast and that was so true - it makes your head spin. I had also been told he is very technical, which I didn't find at all. He was far more of an actor's director." --Jude Law to The Daily Telegraph, February 17, 2001.




Films Directed By Steven Spielberg
1970s
Duel (1971) .The Sugarland Express (1974) · Jaws (1975) · Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) · 1941 (1979)

1980s
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) · E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) · Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) · The Color Purple (1985) · Empire of the Sun (1987) · Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) · Always (1989)

1990s
Hook (1991) · Jurassic Park (1993) · Schindler's List (1993) · The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) · Amistad (1997) · Saving Private Ryan (1998)

2000s
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) · Minority Report (2002) · Catch Me If You Can (2002) · The Terminal (2004) · War of the Worlds (2005) · Munich (2005) · Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)





Academy Award for Best Director

1977 - Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1981 - Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982 - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
1993 - Schindler's List (win)
1998 - Saving Private Ryan (win)
2005 - Munich

Academy Award for Best Picture

1975 - Jaws
1981 - Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982 - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
1985 - The Color Purple
1993 - Schindler's List (win)
1998 - Saving Private Ryan
2005 - Munich
2006 - Letters from Iwo Jima (producer)

The Searchers

Cast:
John Wayne , Jeffrey Hunter , Vera Miles



Director : John Ford
Year : 1968
imdb score : 8.0/10




Plot:
Ethan Edwards, returned from the Civil War to the Texas ranch of his brother, hopes to find a home with his family and to be near the woman he obviously but secretly loves. But a Comanche raid destroys these plans, and Ethan sets out, along with his 1/8 Indian nephew Martin, on a years-long journey to find the niece kidnapped by the Indians under Chief Scar. But as the quest goes on, Martin begins to realize that his uncle's hatred for the Indians is beginning to spill over onto his now-assimilated niece. Martin becomes uncertain whether Ethan plans to rescue Debbie...or kill her.

scarface

Cast: Al Pacino, Steven Bauer,Michelle Pfeiffer



Director : Brian De Palma
Year : 1983
imdb score : 8.2/10 rank : #171

Plot:

When Fidel Castro opens the harbor at Mariel, Cuba, he sends 125,000 Cuban refugees to reunite with their relatives in the United States. Among all the refugees, there is one who wants it all, his name is Tony Montana. Tony and his friend Manny when they arrive in the United States and start in small time jobs, soon they are hired by Omar Suarez to pay money to a group of Colombians. When the deal goes wrong, Tony and Manny leave with the money and succeed in their job. Soon Tony meets with drug kingpin Frank Lopez and falls for his boss's girl Elvira. Pretty soon Tony will know that those who want it all, do not last forever and that is the price of power. The world will know Montana by one name....SCARFACE

Awards:

My Opinion:

Goodfellas

Cast:
Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta

Director : Martin Scorsese
Year : 1990
imdb score : 8.8/10 rank : # 15

Plot:

This film views the mob lives of three pivotal figures in the 1960's and 70's New York. Henry Hill is a local boy turned gangster in a neighborhood full of the roughest and toughest. Tommy Devito is a pure bred gangster, who turns out to be Henry's best friend. Jimmy Conway puts the two of them together, and runs some of the biggest hijacks and burglaries the town has ever seen. After an extended jail sentence, Henry must sneak around the back of the local mob boss, Paulie Cicero, to live the life of luxury he has always dreamed of. In the end, the friends end up in a hell of a jam, and must do anything they can to save each other, and stay alive.....

Review:

More than often, Martin Scorsese is cited as the best American director working today. After watching Goodfellas, one can see why. Only Raging Bull can rival it, in terms of breathtaking quality. Scorsese adapting from Nicholas Pileggi's non-fiction novel Wiseguy (he helped write the screenplay), tells the story of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), an Irish kid who as far as back he could remember, always wanted to be a gangster. This film is a rush of energy, where all the elements come together brilliantly. Scorsese's use of music provides a strong template for the action; such tunes include Gimme Shelter, Rags to Riches, Beyond the Sea, and a brilliant piano version of Layla. Out of the performances (all of which are terrific), Pesci remains the most impressive. Playing Tommy DeVito, he walks a fine line between being funny and deadly serious. As well, the camera work and editing are superlative (as with Raging Bull); there is a memorable sequence that remains one long unbroken shot. Some people may be put off by the violence and coarse language, but it seems essential in this type of movie. It works better than sugar coating everything.

Awards:

My Opinion:

Once Upon a Time in the West

Cast:

Henry Fonda , Charles Bronson , Jason Robards, Claudia Cardinale

Director : Sergio Leone
Year : 1968
imdb score : 8.8/10 rank : #19

Plot:

Story of a young woman, Mrs. McBain, who moves from New Orleans to frontier Utah, on the very edge of the American West. She arrives to find her new husband and family slaughtered, but by who? The prime suspect, coffee-lover Cheyenne, befriends her and offers to go after the real killer, assassin gang leader Frank, in her honor. He is accompanied by Harmonica on his quest to get even. Get-rich-quick subplots and intricate character histories intertwine with such artistic flair that this could in fact be the movie-to-end-all-movies.

Awards:

My Opinion:

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Cast:
Butch Cassidy (played by Paul Newman) and his partner The Sundance Kid (played by Robert Redford)





Director : George Roy Hill
Year : 1969
imdb score : 8.2/10 rank : #150



Plot:
Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) and the Sundance Kid (Robert Redford), the leaders of the Hole in the Wall Gang, are planning another bank robbery. As they return to their hideout in Hole-in-the-Wall, they find out that the gang has selected a new leader, Harvey Logan (Ted Cassidy). He challenges Butch to a knife fight, which Butch wins, using a ruse. Although Logan is defeated, Butch quickly embraces Logan's idea to rob the Union Pacific Flyer twice, agreeing with Logan that the second robbery would be unexpected and likely to involve even more money than the first.
The first robbery goes very well and the marshal of the next town (Kenneth Mars) can't manage to raise a posse. Butch and Sundance listen to his attempts, enjoying themselves. Sundance's lover, Etta Place (Katharine Ross), is introduced; both men vie for her attention as she also goes bike-riding with Butch during a dialogue-free musical interlude, accompanied by the Oscar-winning song "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head."
The second robbery goes wrong. Not only does Butch use too much dynamite to blow the safe, but a second train arrives, which is carrying a posse that has been specially outfitted by E. H. Harriman to hunt Butch and Sundance. The gang flees in multiple directions, with the posse following Butch and Sundance. They try hiding in a brothel but are betrayed. They try riding double on a single horse in the hope that the posse will split up, but that fails. They then try to arrange an amnesty with the help of the friendly Sheriff Bledsoe (Jeff Corey). But he tells them they have no chance of getting one, and that they will be hunted down until they are killed by the posse.
Still on the run the next day, they muse about the identities of their pursuers. They fixate on Lord Baltimore, a famous Indian tracker, and Joe Lefors, a tough, renowned lawman, recognized at a distance by his white skimmer, or straw hat. After reaching the summit of a mountain, they find themselves trapped on the edge of a canyon. They decide to jump into the river far below, even though Sundance can't swim and would prefer to fight. Later they arrive at Etta's house and learn that the posse has been paid to stay together until they kill the two of them. They decide it's time to leave the country and head to Bolivia, a destination Cassidy had spoken about earlier.
They head to New York, then board a passenger ship, eventually arriving by train in a small Bolivian village. Sundance already resents the choice. Their first attempted bank robbery stops before it gets off the ground, as they are unable to speak Spanish. Etta teaches them the words they need. Their next robbery is clumsily executed, as Butch still needs his cribsheet. After more robberies, the duo, now known as the Bandidos Yanquis, are sought by the authorities all over Bolivia. In spite of their success, their confidence drops one evening when they see a man wearing a white straw hat on the other side of the street, and fear that Lefors is once again after them. Butch suggests going straight, so as to not attract Lefors' attention.
They get their first honest job as payroll guards in a mine, directed by an American named Garris (Strother Martin). However, on their first working day, they are attacked. Garris is killed, and Butch and Sundance are forced to kill the Bolivian robbers, the first time Butch kills anyone. They decide to return to robbery; that evening, Etta decides to leave them, sensing that their days may be numbered.
A few days later, Butch and Sundance attack a payroll mule train in the jungle, taking the money and the mule. When they arrive in the nearest town, San Vicente, a stable boy recognizes the brand on the mule's backside and alerts the local police. While Butch and Sundance are eating at a local eatery, the police arrive and a climactic gun battle begins.
The two of them find shelter in an empty house, but they're soon low on ammunition. Butch makes a run to the mule to fetch the rest of the ammunition while Sundance provides cover fire, but during his return they are both wounded. While tending to their wounds in the house, about 100 soldiers of the Bolivian cavalry arrive and surround the place.
The pair, unaware of the cavalry's arrival, discuss their next destination, with Butch pushing the English-speaking and wide-open continent of Australia. Butch tells Sundance that when they get outside and get to their horses to remember one thing. Before he can say it, Butch asks Sundance if he saw Lefors "out there". Sundance says that he didn't and Butch replies "I thought for a minute there, we were in trouble" as the two head out to meet their fate.



The film ends with a freeze frame sepia tone shot of the pair exiting the house firing their guns, while a voice is heard ordering: "Fuego!" ("Fire!") accompanied by the sound of dozens of rifles being fired in three consecutive volleys.


,

High Noon

Cast:
Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly



Director : Fred Zinnemann
Year : 1952
imdb score : 8.3/10 rank : #118



Plot:
Will Kane (Gary Cooper), the longtime marshal of Hadleyville, New Mexico Territory, has just married pacifist Quaker Amy (Grace Kelly), turned in his badge, and is preparing to move away to become a storekeeper. Soon after, the town learns that Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald), a criminal Kane brought to justice, is due to arrive on the noon train. Miller had been sentenced to the gallows, but was pardoned for reasons never stated in the film. In court, he had vowed to get revenge on Kane and anyone who got in his way. His three gang members wait for him at the station. The worried townspeople encourage Kane to leave, hoping to defuse the situation.
Kane and his wife leave town, but Kane, fearing that the gang will follow and hunt them down on the open prairie, turns back. He reclaims his badge and scours the town for deputies—even interrupting Sunday church services in order to do so—but it becomes clear that while many townspeople profess to admire Kane, none, except a 14 year-old boy, is willing to lend a hand. His deputy, Harvey Pell (Lloyd Bridges), resigns, because he wants the glory of facing Frank Miller for himself. Only his former lover, Helen Ramírez (Katy Jurado), supports him, but there is little she can do to help. Disgusted, she sells her business and prepares to leave town. Kane's wife threatens to leave on the noon train with or without him, but he stubbornly refuses to give in. In the meantime, Pell heads for the saloon, orders a bottle of whisky, and sits down at a table to drink, alone.
While drinking, Pell observes Kane passing by the saloon, and follows him to the stables. In the stables, Kane admits to Pell that he has thought about leaving town, but that he reconsidered. In attempt to force Kane to leave town, Pell begins to saddle up a horse for Kane, but Kane momentarily hesitates and then turns and walks away. Pell then punches Kane from behind and a knockdown drag-out fistfight ensues, which Kane eventually wins, but which results in Kane being covered in dirt, with a contusion on his jaw. Kane goes to the barber shop to get cleaned-up, where hammering suggests that Kane's coffin is being built in the back room while Kane reclines in the barber's chair. Kane returns to the sheriff's office and shortly before noon
prepares his last will and testament.



In the end, Kane faces the four gunmen alone. He guns down two of Miller's men, though he himself is wounded in the arm. Helen Ramirez and Amy both board the train, but Amy gets off when she hears the sound of gunfire. Amy chooses her husband's life over her religious beliefs and kills the third gunman by shooting him in the back. Miller then takes her hostage and offers to trade her for Kane. Kane agrees, coming out into the open. Amy, however, claws Miller's face, causing him to release her. Kane then shoots and kills Miller. Then, as the townspeople emerge, Kane contemptuously throws his marshal's star in the dirt and leaves town with his wife.

The Good The Bad & The Ugly

Cast:
Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach




Director : Sergio Leone
Year : 1966
imdb score : 9.0/10 rank : #4

Plot:
In a desolate ghost town during the American Civil War, bandit Tuco ("The Ugly," Eli Wallach) narrowly shoots his way past three bounty hunters to freedom. Miles away, Angel Eyes ("The Bad," Lee Van Cleef) interrogates a former soldier Stevens (Antonio Casas) about a missing man named Bill Carson (Antonio Casale) and a cache of Confederate gold, shooting Stevens and his son after the interrogation but not before Angel Eyes also collects a bounty given to him by Stevens to kill Angel Eyes' employer; Angel Eyes then collects his bounty for the killing from his employer and then shoots him. Meanwhile, Tuco's journey across the desert leads him into a group of bounty hunters, who prepare to capture him when they are approached by Blondie ("The Good," Clint Eastwood), a mysterious lone gunman who challenges the hunters to a draw, which he wins with lightning speed. Initially elated, Tuco is enraged when Blondie delivers him to the local authorities for the reward money. Hours later, as Tuco awaits his execution, Blondie surprises the authorities and frees Tuco, the two later meeting to split the reward money, revealing their lucrative money-making scheme. The two repeat the process at another town before Blondie, weary of Tuco's incessant complaints, abandons him in the desert. A livid Tuco rearms himself in a nearby town and surprises Blondie in his hotel room in the middle of a skirmish between Union and Confederate troops. As Tuco prepares to kill Blondie by fashioning a noose and forcing Blondie to put it around his neck, a cannonball demolishes the room, allowing Blondie to escape.
Following a relentless search, Tuco ambushes Blondie and marches him across the harsh desert. As Blondie collapses from dehydration, Tuco prepares to kill him when a runaway carriage appears on the horizon. Inside, Tuco discovers a dying Bill Carson, who reveals that Confederate gold is buried in a grave in Sad Hill cemetery but falls unconscious before naming the grave. When Tuco returns with water, he discovers Carson dead and Blondie slumped against the carriage. As he passes out, Blondie says that he knows the name on the grave. Tuco takes Blondie, both disguised as Confederate soldiers, to a Catholic mission, allowing Blondie time to recover before the two leave, still disguised as Confederate soldiers. They inadvertently encounter a force of Union soldiers (which they mistakenly thought as Confederate soldiers due to grey dust on their uniforms), who capture and march them to a Union prison camp.
At the camp, Corporal Wallace (Mario Brega) begins a roll call, and Tuco answers for Bill Carson, catching the attention of Angel Eyes, now a Union Sergeant stationed at the camp. Angel Eyes has Wallace torture Tuco into revealing Sad Hill Cemetery, but confesses that only Blondie knows the name on the grave. Angel Eyes offers Blondie an equal partnership in recovering the gold. Blondie agrees and rides out with Angel Eyes and his posse while Tuco, being transported by train to his execution, escapes from his captors. Blondie and Angel Eyes and his posse stop at a war-ravaged town to rest. Tuco, on the other hand is put on a train with a goon ordered to kill him. However, Tuco tells the goon he has to pee and jumps off the train with the goon. He then beats the goon's head with a brick, killing him and lets the train cut their chain so that he is free to go. Across town, Tuco aimlessly wanders through the wreckage, oblivious to the bounty hunter that survived in the beginning of the movie (Al Mulock), who tracks and ambushes Tuco. Despite the surprise, Tuco kills the bounty hunter. Blondie leaves to investigate the gunshot, finding Tuco and informing him of Angel Eyes's involvement. The two resume their old partnership, skulking through the wrecked town and killing Angel Eyes' henchmen before discovering that Angel Eyes has escaped.
Tuco and Blondie locate Sad Hill Cemetery where they discover a great battle brewing between large Union and Confederate forces, separated only by a narrow bridge. Eager to disperse the standing armies, Blondie and Tuco wire the bridge with dynamite. During the process, the two trade information, with Tuco revealing Sad Hill Cemetery and Blondie saying that the name on the grave is Arch Stanton. The two detonate the bridge and take cover as the two armies angrily resume their battle. The next morning, the Confederate and Union soldiers have moved on. Tuco abandons Blondie to retrieve the gold for himself and stumbles upon the sprawling Sad Hill Cemetery. Frantically searching the sea of makeshift tombstones, Tuco finally locates Arch Stanton's grave. As he digs, Blondie appears and offers him a shovel. Moments later, the two are ambushed by Angel Eyes, who holds them at gunpoint. Blondie kicks open Stanton's grave to reveal only a skeleton. Declaring that only he knows the real name of the grave, Blondie writes it on a rock in the middle of the graveyard and tells Tuco and Angel Eyes that "two hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money. We're going to have to earn it."

The three stare each other down, calculating alliances and dangers in a famous five-minute Mexican standoff before suddenly drawing. Blondie shoots Angel Eyes, who rolls into an open grave, while Tuco discovers that Blondie unloaded his gun the night before. Blondie directs Tuco to the grave marked "Unknown" next to Arch Stanton's. Tuco digs and is overjoyed to find bags of gold inside, but is shocked when he turns to Blondie and finds himself staring at a noose. Seeking a measure of revenge for what Tuco has done to him, Blondie forces Tuco atop a grave marker and wraps the noose around his neck, binding Tuco's hands before disappearing with his share of the gold. As Tuco screams for mercy, Blondie's silhouette returns on the horizon, aiming a rifle at Tuco. As Tuco screams in rage, Blondie fires and severs the noose rope, dropping Tuco face-first onto his share of the gold. Blondie smiles as Tuco screams at him and then rides off into the frontier.

Godfather2

Cast :
Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, John Cazale, Talia Shire, Robert De Niro, Michael V. Gazzo and Lee Strasberg



Director : Francis Ford Coppola
Year : 1974
imdb score : 9.0/10 rank : #3



Plot:
The Godfather Part II presents two parallel storylines. One involves Mafia chief Michael Corleone following the events of the first movie from 1958 to 1959; the other is a series of flashbacks following his father, Vito Corleone, from his childhood in Sicily (1901) to his founding of the criminal Corleone Family in New York City while still a young man (1917–1925).
In 1901, in the town of Corleone in Sicily, at the funeral procession for young Vito's father, Antonio Andolini, who had been ordered killed by the local Mafia chieftain, Don Ciccio. During the procession, Vito's older brother Paolo is also murdered because he swore revenge on the Don. Vito's mother goes to Ciccio to beg him to let young Vito live. When he refuses, she holds a knife to his throat, sacrificing herself to allow Vito to escape, and Ciccio's gunmen shoot her. They scour the town for Vito, warning the sleeping townsfolk that they will regret harboring the boy. With the aid of a few of the townspeople, Vito finds his way by ship to New York. Arriving at Ellis Island, an immigration agent, mishearing Vito's hometown of Corleone as his surname, registers him as "Vito Corleone".
In 1958, Michael Corleone, Godfather of the Corleone Family, deals with various business and family problems at his Lake Tahoe, Nevada compound during an elaborate party celebrating his son's First Communion. He meets with Nevada Senator Pat Geary, who despises the Corleones, but has shown up with his wife to accept a large endowment to the state university. Senator Geary demands a grossly exaggerated price for a new gaming license and a monthly payment of 5% of the gross profits from all of the Corleone Family's Nevada gaming interests, to which Michael responds with a counter-offer of "nothing ... not even the fee for the gaming license, which I would appreciate if you would put up personally."
Michael also deals with his sister Connie, who, although recently divorced, is planning to marry a man with no obvious means of support, and of whom Michael disapproves. He also talks with Johnny Ola, the right hand man of Jewish gangster Hyman Roth, who is supporting Michael's move into the gambling industry. Finally, Michael meets with Frank "Five Angels" Pentangeli, who took over Corleone caporegime Peter Clemenza's territory after his death, and now has problems with the Rosato Brothers, who are backed by Roth. Michael refuses to allow Pentangeli to kill the Rosatos, due to his desire to prevent interruption of his business with Roth. Pentangeli leaves abruptly, after telling Michael "your father did business with Hyman Roth, your father respected Hyman Roth, but your father never trusted Hyman Roth or his Sicilian messenger boy Johnny Ola."
Later that night, an assassination attempt is made on Michael, which he survives when his wife Kay notices the bedroom window drapes are inexplicably open. Afterwards, Michael tells Tom Hagen that the hit was made with the help of someone close, and that he must leave, entrusting Hagen to protect his family.
In 1917, the 25-year-old Vito Corleone, now married with one son, works in a New York grocery store with his close friend Genco Abbandando. The neighborhood is controlled by a blackhander, Don Fanucci, who extorts protection payments from local businesses. One night, Vito's neighbor Clemenza asks him to hide a stash of guns for him, and later, to repay the favor, takes him to a fancy apartment where they commit their first crime together, stealing an expensive rug.
Michael meets with Hyman Roth in his home near Miami and tells him that he believes Frank Pentangeli was responsible for the assassination attempt and that Pentangeli will pay for it. Traveling to Brooklyn, Michael lets Pentangeli know that Roth was actually behind it and that Michael has a plan to deal with Roth, but needs Frankie to cooperate with the Rosato Brothers in order to put Roth off guard. When Pentangeli goes to meet with the Rosatos, he is told "Michael Corleone says hello," as he is garrotted; but the attempted murder is accidentally interrupted by a policeman. Pentangeli is left for dead, and his bodyguard, Willi Cicci, is wounded by gunfire.
In Nevada, Tom Hagen is called to a brothel run by Fredo, where Senator Geary is implicated in the death of a prostitute. Tom offers to take care of the problem in return for "friendship" between the Senator and the Corleone Family. It has been suggested that the entire event was staged by the Corleone Family in order to gain leverage with Geary and force his cooperation.
Meanwhile, Michael meets Roth in Havana, Cuba at the time when dictator Fulgencio Batista is soliciting American investment, and guerrillas are trying to bring down the government. At a birthday party for Roth, Michael – having earlier witnessed a rebel deliberately killing himself and an army officer with a hand grenade – mentions that there is a possibility that the rebels might win, making their business dealings in Cuba problematic. The comment prompts Roth to remark, privately, that Michael has not delivered the two million dollars to seal their partnership.
Fredo, carrying the promised money, arrives in Havana and meets Michael. Michael mentions Hyman Roth and Johnny Ola to him, but Fredo says he has never met them. Michael confides to his brother that it was Roth who tried to kill him, and that he plans to try again. Michael assures Fredo that he has already made his move, and that "Hyman Roth will never see the New Year."
Instead of turning over the money, Michael asks Roth who gave the order to have Frank Pentangeli killed. Roth avoids the question, instead speaking angrily of the murder of his old friend and ally Moe Greene, which Michael had orchestrated (as depicted at the end of the first film), saying, "I didn't ask who gave the order, because it had nothing to do with business!"
Michael asks Fredo, who knows Havana well, to show Senator Geary and other important American officials and businessmen a good time, during which Fredo pretends to not know Johnny Ola. Soon after, at a sex show, a drunk Fredo comments loudly that he learned about the place from Johnny Ola, contradicting what he told Michael twice earlier, that he didn't know Roth or Ola. Michael now realizes that the traitor in the Corleone Family is his own brother, and dispatches his bodyguard back to their hotel to kill Roth. There, Johnny Ola is strangled, but Roth, whose health is failing, is taken to a hospital before he can be assassinated. Michael's bodyguard follows, but is shot by police while trying to smother Roth with a pillow.
At Batista's New Year's Eve party, at the stroke of midnight, Michael grasps Fredo tightly by the head and kisses him, telling him "I know it was you Fredo; you broke my heart." Batista announces he is stepping down due to unexpected gains by the rebels. The guests flee as the guerrillas pour into the city. Fredo runs away from Michael, despite Michael's pleas that he is still his brother and that the only way out is with him.
Michael returns to Las Vegas where Hagen tells him that Roth escaped Cuba after suffering a stroke and is recovering in Miami, that Michael's bodyguard is dead, and that Fredo is likely hiding in New York. Hagen also informs Michael that Kay had a miscarriage while he was away, which causes Michael to lose his usually calm and collected demeanor.
In New York, in 1921, Don Fanucci is now aware of the partnership between Vito, Clemenza and Sal Tessio, and demands that they "wet his beak." Clemenza and Tessio agree to pay, but Vito is reluctant and asks his friends to leave everything in his hands to convince Fanucci to accept less money, telling his friends "I make him an offer he can't refuse." Vito manages to get Fanucci to take only one sixth of what he had demanded. Immediately afterwards, during a neighborhood festa, Vito kills Fanucci and takes his money back.
Michael returns to his compound in Lake Tahoe, where he wanders the house in silent contemplation. He sees Kay (whom he has prevented from leaving the compound for her own safety) in the bedroom, but does not approach her. In Washington, D.C., a Senate committee, of which Senator Geary is a member, is conducting an investigation into the Corleone Family. They question disaffected "soldier" Willi Cicci, but he cannot implicate Michael because he never received any direct orders from him.
With Fanucci now gone, Vito earns the respect of the neighborhood and begins to intercede in local disputes, operating out of the storefront of his Genco Olive Oil Company, named after his good friend Genco Abbandando.
When Michael appears before the committee, Senator Geary makes a big show of supporting Italian-Americans and then excuses himself from the proceedings. Michael makes a statement challenging the committee to produce a witness to corroborate the charges against him. The hearing ends with the Chairman promising a witness who will do exactly that.
Tom Hagen and Michael discuss the problem. They have found out that Frank Pentangeli is the witness who will testify against him, and observe that Roth's strategy to destroy Michael is well planned. Michael's brother Fredo has been found and persuaded to return to Nevada, and in a private meeting he explains to Michael his betrayal: upset about being passed over to head the Family in favor of Michael, he wants respect and his due. He helped Roth, thinking there would be something in it for him, but he swears he didn't know they wanted to kill Michael. He also tells Michael that the Senate Committee's chief counsel is on Roth's payroll. Michael then tells Fredo: "You're nothing to me now. Not a brother, not a friend, nothing," and privately instructs Al Neri that nothing is to happen to Fredo while their mother is still alive; the understanding is that Fredo will be killed after her death.
Frank Pentangeli has made a deal with the FBI to testify against Michael, believing he was the one who organized the attempt on his life. At the hearing in which Pentangeli is to testify, Michael arrives accompanied by Pentangeli's brother Vincenzo, brought in from Sicily. Vincenzo is a Sicilian mafia chieftain who upholds the mafia code of honor, Omerta. Pentangeli, not wanting to break this code of honor in front of his brother, claims that he just told the FBI what they wanted to hear, and makes no direct statements about Michael, the Corleone family, or his time served as a Corleone capo. With no witness to testify against Michael, the committee adjourns, with Hagen, acting as Michael's lawyer, loudly demanding an apology.
At a hotel room afterwards, Kay tries to leave Michael and take their children with her. Michael at first tries to mollify her, but loses his temper and hits her when she coldly reveals to him that her recent "miscarriage" was actually an abortion to avoid bringing another son into Michael's criminal family.
In 1925, Vito visits Sicily for the first time since leaving for America 24 years earlier. He is introduced to the elderly Don Ciccio by Don Tommasino (who initially helped Vito escape to America) as the man who imports their olive oil to America, and who wants his blessing. When Ciccio asks Vito who his father was, Vito says, "My father's name was Antonio Andolini, and this is for you!" He then plunges a large knife into the old man's stomach and carves it open, thereby avenging the deaths of his father, mother and brother. In the ensuing gun battle, Tommasino is shot, confining him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
Carmella Corleone, Vito's widow and the mother of his children, dies and the whole Corleone family reunites at the funeral. Michael is still shunning Fredo, who is miserable and depressed, but relents when Connie implores him to forgive his brother. Michael and Fredo embrace, but at the same time Michael signals to his capo Al Neri that Fredo's protection from harm, in effect while their mother lived, is now over.
Michael, Tom Hagen, Al Neri, and Rocco Lampone discuss their final dealings with Hyman Roth, who has been unsuccessfully seeking asylum from various countries, and was even refused entry to Israel as a returning Jew. Michael rejects Hagen's advice that the Corleone Family's position is secure, and killing Roth and the Rosato brothers for revenge is an unnecessary risk. Later, Hagen pays a visit to Frank Pentangeli on a military base and suggests that he take his own life in return for having his family taken care of.
With the help of Connie, Kay visits her children, but cannot bear to leave them and stays too long. When Michael arrives, he closes the door in her face.
The film reaches its climax in a montage of assassinations and death, reminiscent of the end of The Godfather:
As he arrives in Miami to be taken into custody, Hyman Roth is killed by Rocco Lampone disguised as a journalist, who is immediately shot dead in turn.
Frank Pentangeli is found dead in his bathtub, having followed Hagen's instructions and committed suicide, slashing his wrists while taking a bath.
Finally, Fredo is murdered by Al Neri while they are fishing on Lake Tahoe, as Fredo is saying a Hail Mary to help him catch a fish.
The penultimate scene takes place as a flashback to 1941, as the Corleone family is preparing a surprise birthday party for Vito. Sonny introduces Carlo Rizzi, Connie's future husband and eventual betrayer of Sonny, to his family. Sal Tessio comes in with the cake, and they all talk about the recent attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. Michael shocks everybody by announcing that he has just enlisted in the United States Marines. Sonny angrily ridicules Michael's choice, while Tom Hagen mentions how his father has great expectations for Michael and has pulled a lot of strings to get Michael a draft deferment. Ironically, Fredo is the only one who supports his brother's decision. When Vito arrives (offscreen), all but Michael leave to greet him.
The film ends with a final flashback depicting Vito and a young Michael leaving Corleone by train, and Michael sitting in the Lake Tahoe compound, alone in silence.


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