The Godfather: Part II fleshes out and extends themes only suggested in its predecessor. It takes the aging Vito Corleone of I back to his youth, pointing up the irony of his rise in Little Italy's crime hierarchy after having lost his parents to a vendetta in his native Sicily. Coppola cuts from the younger Vito (Robert De Niro) to his troubled successor, Michael, to dramatize a legacy of hypocrisy and crime. Corruption has been infectious, passing from father to son and family to family, until it enters the very atmosphere of the Corleones' adopted country.
It's marvelous to see how the new prints bring out the storytelling details. During the wedding scene, when hot-blooded Sonny signals a bridesmaid to join him for a tryst, we now see that his wife, Connie, knows exactly where he's going - and with whom. And it's fun to be able to read the fruit signs on every crate on the market outside Vito's office, or the sign advertising a Jake La Motta fight in the window. But what's most important is the way these vibrant prints bring viewers into a warmer relationship with the characters.
