Al Pacino met with lawyer David Rubenstein in New York for a Q&A about his career, the first part of a series of talks “about the people who inspire us”.
When talking about the Godfather trilogy, whose first film made him an international star in 1972, Al Pacino mentioned that this year’s Paramount series “The Offer”, about the creation of “The Godfather,” was eerily truthful to what he had experienced:
“I watched it, and I can tell you that not only half of the things told are true. It was shocking.” Pacino reflected on the first day of filming, where "Me and Diane Keaton were drunk, and we were like, 'It's over. Our careers are over. It's a disaster'".
Pacino actually lost the Oscar to co-star Marlon Brando who played Don Vito Corleone in a landmark performance.
On IMDB, the first two ‘Godfather’ films are placed respectively 2nd and 4th in the ranking of the best films of all time, with an average of 9.2 for the first film and 9 for the second. However, for Pacino, it’s obvious to him which is the better film:
“The Godfather is more entertaining. The Godfather Part II corresponds more to a study, to something personal for Francis Ford Coppola. The Godfather 1, I saw it again recently, there are always two or three things happening in a single scene. We are still in the story. You don't know what can happen next, this is storytelling at its best. The Godfather Part II is more linear and very different, darker and slower. But it’s still a great film.”
Pacino again reiterated that “The Godfather: Part II” is inferior to the first. "I would say Part II is more artistic, maybe. I don't know. I'm not trying to be more modest or anything because I'm sharing the bill with Robert De Niro, but at the same time it's a completely different film.”
Obviously, both films are all-timers — I’ve gone back and forth over the years about which is the better ‘Godfather’ film. Lately, I’ve been leaning more towards the second one, a more ambitious and artistically staggering achievement that kept brilliantly playing with its narrative construct. Also, how can you beat De Niro and Pacino at the peak of their powers?
In our Best Films of the 1970s Critics Poll, “The Godfather” finished at the #1 spot and “The Godfather: Part II” was #4. In fact, Coppola had four films in the top 10, the other two were “Apocalypse Now” (#6) and “The Conversation” (#8).