![\"Jamie](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Jamie-Lee-Curtis-Actress-2025-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Still)<\/p>\n
If one were to come up with a simple formula for the success of film<\/a> trilogies, it would be this: The first does well, the second is usually pretty good, and the third is at best average and at worst a shame to the franchise. <\/p>\n It\u2019s a common truism that applies to trilogies like Back to the Future<\/a>, Toy Story, Shrek, and The Matrix. As such, it\u2019s rare for the second film to surpass the first in commercial success and critical acclaim. But for many film buffs, that\u2019s exactly what happened with The Godfather II, which is often pops into the conversation as the greatest sequel of all time, if not a rare better than the original; that\u2019s at least according to Jamie Lee Curtis, who described both films as \u201cperfect pieces of film art\u201d and has continually cited The Godfather II in particular as one of her favourite films.<\/p>\n Francis Ford Copolla\u2019s 1974 sequel continues the saga of two generations of successive power within the Corleone family in a sprawling gangster epic set against the backdrop of 1940s New York. The original was hailed as a masterpiece when it was released in 1972. Starring the now-infamous Al Pacino as Michael, the son of mafia don Vito Corleone, played by Marlon Brando, the film won three Oscars and massive critical acclaim.\u00a0<\/p>\n But only two years later, Coppola\u2019s sequel doubled its Oscar wins, bringing home a triple whammy of \u2018Best Picture\u2019, \u2018Best Director\u2019, and \u2018Best Supporting Actor\u2019 for Robert De Niro, who took on the role of a young Vito Corleone, with the film continuing the story of the Corleone family and transporting audiences back to his roots and rise in Sicily before he emigrated to America.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything about it, from every performance, the tiniest performances to obviously the grand performances that we all know and love so much, the cinematography, the art direction, the food, the eating, the families\u201d put The Godfather II in \u201ca separate category\u201d, Curtis told Deadline.<\/a><\/p>\n Warning: spoilers ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n The actor cited two scenes in particular that approached the trilogy\u2019s central themes of power, control, rage, and vulnerability and offered audiences some of the best performances ever put on screen. The first scene is when Kay, Michael\u2019s second wife, played by Diane Keaton, tells Michael about her abortion. \u201cIt\u2019s such a brave action for her to take to dismantle it,\u201d says Curtis. \u201cThere is nothing she could say or do that would hurt him more\u201d. Getting emotional, she commented that she was \u201cso moved\u201d by that moment: \u201cHer performance in that scene, and the two of them, and his range. I have goosebumps\u201d.<\/p>\n Her second favourite scene takes place in the now infamous lake house, which features one of the trilogy\u2019s defining acts, and where Fredo, the second son of Vito Corleone, played impeccably by John Cazale, meets his ultimate demise. \u201cThat character has become now a reference to so many people and so many families,\u201d reflected Curtis. \u201cIt\u2019s such a heartbreaking scene. So beautifully framed. No tricks, no pyrotechnics, just beautiful writing, exquisite acting and really elegant, delicate direction.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat turns me on, that level of the craft. I\u2019m going to start to cry,\u201d she said. Jamie Lee Curtis\u2019 love of The Godfather II is a preference shared by many actors, critics and directors, including seminal Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa and film critic Roger Ebert<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Related Topics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Still) If one were to come up with a simple formula for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3935],"tags":[77,38515,14029,3943,7791,38516,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-229058","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-francis-ford-coppola","10":"tag-jamie-lee-curtis","11":"tag-movies","12":"tag-robert-de-niro","13":"tag-the-godfather","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114777525539671974","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}