The Godfather Part II (1974) is the rare sequel that many believe outshined the original.
And for good reason. The post-World War II saga of the Corleone crime family (in which family takes on multiple meanings) is turned into a true coming-to-America immigration tale in Part II, with Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty serving as backdrop for how a tragic crime in Italy is transformed into a vast criminal enterprise in America. Along the way, no one is spared: even the US government, and the intrigues that surround the gambling palaces of Nevada and Havana, Cuba, are set pieces in this tale of ruthlessness and betrayal.
This is a film that shifts back and forth in time – enlarging the scope of the original The Godfather, taking the family from Little Italy before World War I and expanding their influence as fish out of water in Lake Tahoe, all the while retaining their faith in Catholicism and family bonds. Director Francis Ford Coppola adds rich portraits of Vito Corleone, who finds his calling as the titular crime boss, and his youngest son, Michael, who decades later presides over a vast crime syndicate.
On May 20, 2021, FOLCS was joined by critically-acclaimed actor Mark Feuerstein (Royal Pains, 9JKL, In Her Shoes, Defiance, The West Wing, Prison Break) for a Conversation on Coppola’s epic masterpiece, The Godfather Part II.
This event was produced in partnership with the New York Film Academy.
Watch Conversations on Essential Cinema: The Godfather Part II here.
Mark Feuerstein
Actor
Over the past 15 years, Mark Feuerstein has received critical acclaim for his roles in feature film, television and theater, but he is best known for his lead role as Dr. Hank Lawson in the series Royal Pains.
Inspired by his real life experience, he wrote and created 9JKL with his wife, executive producer Dana Klein. Most recently, he appears as DNC power-broker Steven Ott on Power: Book II and Watson Brewer on Netflix’s Babysitters Club. Other recent television credits include The West Wing, Prison Break, and Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later.
His feature film credits include Defiance, In Her Shoes, Abandon, What Women Want, The Muse, Rules of Engagement, Woman on Top, and Practical Magic. Additionally, he played the lead in the independent feature Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant, which he also produced. Feuerstein made his Broadway debut starring in Alfred Uhry’s Tony Award-winning play The Last Night of Ballyhoo.
In his spare time, Feuerstein enjoys mountain biking, yoga, jogging and photography. In addition to coaching his son’s baseball team, he enjoys biking with his kids through his Hancock Park neighborhood and jumping on trampolines with them. He has completed the Malibu Triathalon six times to raise money for the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) pediatric cancer research. He volunteers much of his time with CHLA because they saved his daughter Addie’s life when she was born with a congenital heart defect diagnosed when she was 5 months old. Additional charity involvement includes Leadership Circle of the Waterkeeper Alliance (Bobby Kennedy Jr. charity), Food on Foot, LA Young Playwrights Festival and Ovarian Cancer Research, among others.
Feuerstein attended Princeton University and studied at the LAMDA on a Fulbright Scholarship. While in London, he also studied Clowning at the Ecole Philippe Gaulier. He is based in Los Angeles, where he lives with his wife, Dana Klein, and their children, Lila, Frisco and Adelaide.