Jon Lewis (1)

The Godfather, Part II, by Jon Lewis, is an excellent addition to the BFI Film Classics series. This is a series of short books that present a classic film, usually from a specific perspective, with an eye toward offering more perspective and ways into the film. Lewis succeeds here quite well.

In his introduction he lays out what the main analysis will cover, namely using the production and story of the film to discuss where the film industry was at the time. Turns out the future was nothing like they expected at the time and this film along with Coppola himself helps to understand what went right as well as what went wrong.

While the book does follow the film fairly closely, it is not a simplistic approach, it is using the structure of the film to highlight the many points of analysis Lewis makes. Looking both back to the first film and forward to later scenes, we can situate what is happening and what is produced within the context of the Godfather story and the Hollywood story.

Because of the nature of the series (short, focused books) this can't be everything to everyone. If you understand that these are short books, then to complain about not touching on every aspect is asinine at best.

I would recommend this not only to film buffs and Godfather fans, but also to anyone new to the film. It offers an analysis that presents several avenues into the film without being heavily theory driven.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (más)