THE GODFATHER PART II

On knight errantry: "It is a science, replied Don Quixote, "that contains all or most of the sciences in the world, because the man who professes it must be a jurist and know the laws of distributive and commutative justice so that he may give to each person what is his and what he ought to have; he must be a theologian so that he may know how to explain the Christian law he professes, clearly and distinctly, no matter where he is asked to do so; he must be a physician, and principally an herbalist, so that he may know, in the midst of wastelands and deserts, the herbs that have the virtue to heal wounds, for the knight errant cannot always go looking for someone to heal him; he must be an astrologer, so that he can tell by the stars how many hours of the night have passed, and in what part and climate of the world he finds himself; he must know mathematics, because at every step he will have need of them; and leaving aside the fact that he must be adorned with all the theological and cardinal virtues, and descending to the small details, I say that he must know how to swim as well as the say the fishman Nicolas, or Nicolao, could swim; he must know how to shoe a horse and repair a saddle and bridle; and returning to what was said before, he must keep his faith in God and in his lady; he must be chaste in his thoughts, honest in his words, liberal in his actions, valiant in his deeds, long-suffering in his afflictions, charitable with those in need, and finally, an upholder of the truth, even if it costs him his life to defend it."

"Connie, listen to me!  If you don't listen to me and marry this man... I'll be disappointed"--The Godfather Part II

It snowed yesterday.  I went to the memoir group but only two people showed up, so we cancelled.

Today I saw Francis Coppola's The Godfather Part II again at the Yonge & Dundas.  I remembered it was great, but I'd forgotten how great it was!  Three and a half hours long, and worth every minute of your time.  It's about the USA and immigrants and crime and politics and family and business and power and corruption...

This sequel cleverly reworks some of the famous details of the original.  Like, the first movie ends with Michael's wife watching his office door being closed on her.  There's a similar shot late in this movie, but this time it's done from his perspective! (The subtext is that Michael's cutting himself off from those who are close to him.) Michael Corleone is still Al Pacino's greatest role.  

Among other things, this film's a superb visual achievement--the restorers did a great job. (How did Gordon Willis lose the Best Cinematography Oscar to The Towering Inferno?)  Johnny Ola was played by Dominic Chianese, who was later Uncle Junior on The Sopranos.  I want some of that Cuba cake they were sharing!