One of the greatest sequels in movie history, Coppola's The Godfather Part II managed to live up to the impossible standards of the original movie, in large part because of the intense, emotional pull of Michael Corleone's (Al Pacino) relationship with his family members, namely brother Fredo (the late John Cazale). The movie concludes with Michael unexpectedly having his brother assassinated while out fishing, leading to this beautiful image. The still is a clever work of juxtaposition by Coppola, contrasting the gorgeous visual landscape with an exceedingly ugly act, though even if we remove the image from this known context, it still greets viewers with a certain dark tone: why is this man standing up, looking down at the boat? What is the object protruding from the boat? The image conveys a certain loneliness, and this is coincidentally rather apt as a commentary on Michael himself, but even on its own merits, it proves to be a powerful statement. It's an at once unsettling yet undeniably serene image, and one that helped give this magnificent sequel the emotional edge over the original.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
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