User reviews

Everyone has, of course, heard of the mafia but what and who these people are, remains hidden behind lurid headlines and sensational films.

The Traitor offers an insight into who these people really are, their motivations, ambitions and the structure of the organisation, headed by a commission.

What becomes clear is how tribal, loosely cohesive at best and brutal this group is. It underscores too, the fragility, of the judicial system in Italy. Law enforcement and judges intimidated by these groups and politicians potentially collaborating with them. Small wonder they became so powerful.

This film is inherently interesting, made more so by stellar performances, that are simple and honest. There is no pretension here, just an insight into the troubled and tortured life of a man who decided to expose the vicious criminal organisation he once served.

One notable downside is because of the breadth of ambition of this film, covering decades, it can be difficult to follow at times. Making the viewer work to keep up with what happening to who, when and why.

Nonetheless compelling viewing. 7/10 from me.

I liked it. Although certain events of the so-called "Second Mafia war" took place, between the 1981-83, have been changed and rightly accelerated due to the film's rhythms (for istance the death of Salvatore Inzerillo is set in 1982 and not 1981 and is little bit different about how he was killed). Bellocchio has been able to discreetly direct a film that is not at all simple and above all with a character as a protagonist absolutely not easy to manage.

Favino is certainly the strong point of the whole film, with a really intense acting from beginning to end. So much has fallen well in the shoes of Buscetta that sometimes seems to see and above all feel the real Don Masino. The Maxi-Trial of 1986, shot among other things in the Palermo's bunker room, the same where the real historical juridical process took place is certainly the point that entertains the viewer the most. The comparison between Calò and Buscetta is truly faithful to what was really there, the same thing the scenes with the other Pentito, Salvatore Contorno, the scenes when he speaks fluent sicilian slang are really similar with the original deposition, but having proposed with other realism also other salient moments with the other defendants was really classy. Perhaps the film falls just in the act after the Maxi-Trial and following the 1992's Massacres (Capaci and Via d'Amelio) , when going towards the conclusion by now the same Buscetta becomes precisely more and more "invisible" and without anything more particularly interesting to reveal.

From the debates in the halls of Palermo to the killings in the streets, Bellocchio delivers a very well done movie with all the characteristics to be remembered as a great mafia movie. Favino is just fabolous, great acting. A marvelous portrait of a piece of Italian history. Thank you Marco!

... through the life of a famous Cosa Nostra turncoat as he provides evidence to jail some pretty nasty villains/colleagues. A little bit all over the place and confusing as hell at the start, and most of the way through, especially as to the allegiances to a number of families. The court scenes are nonsensical and, if that is the way Italy does justice, I'm surprised anyone ever went to jail or that the truth ever really surfaced.

This film covers more or less 30 years of italian (not only) history, and tells the story of the mafia penitent Tommaso Buscetta, who accepted to collaborate with the judge Giovanni Falcone. The plot is accurate to what really happened and doesn't leave much to the director. Great acting by Pierfrancesco Favino playing Buscetta.

A fabulous movie based on the true story of Tommaso Buscetta, the repentant member of Cosa Nostra which, with the help of the magistrate Giovanni Falcone, revealed the most important names of the mafia. Great directing, and Pierfrancesco Favino is truly awesome. May seem slow, being a film focused on dialogue and words but it is a beautiful portrait of the more psychological side of the character.

This is quite to be the most Underrated Mafia Movies of 2019, Released that the same years like the Irishman The Traitor is a mafia movies meet with Courtroom Drama.

The movie depicts 1 of the saddest pages of the Italian history. Unfortunately is not the unique and there are so many others, so sad and bad.

Favino is one if the greatest Italian actors amd should really deserve a role in a Hollywood movie with a large budget. But directed by an Italian if the movie describes Italian history.

Favino has interpreted his role so great that if you listen to the original recordings of the Mafia process, you hear the exact same accent, tone, voice and words. As he was there.

I strongly recommend to watch.

No parla italiano, and that gave me some problems following the narrative, due to a very bad english CC's, that mustve been issued by an overeager middle schooled italian or siscilian. and that is a major drawback for the film....

which is very good indeed, about the big trials towards the leadership of the cosa nostra divisions of siscily in the late 70's and the 1980's. i do remember some of the names, and especially the bomb attack on giorgio falcone made a deep impression to me when it happened. it also shows the primitive judicial system that were excecuted in italian court rooms, with poor discipline and frightened judges and officials and corrupt police.

the story do spring back and forth very fast and often, but survives by good time and place info on each shift. the pace are slow, but the acting are very well done and the lead male actor gave an excellent performance on many levels. i wish i had those cool demeanors...

if you want to see a film with some similarities to don corleone, and killing spree of blood feuds alla sciciliano style, then the grumpy old man recommend il traditore. a strong 8.

"The Traitor" (2019 release from Italy; 145 min.) brings the story of Tommaso Buscetta. As the movie opens, it is "4 March 1980, Palermo", and the heads of various Mafia crime families are gathered to celebrate the patron day of Saint Rosalia, and making a toast "for the peace that must never end". They all gather for a group photo, and before we know it, the killings start to happen. We then go to "December 1980, Rio de Janeiro", where Buscetta has resettled so as to avoid the families' infighting, but to no avail, as one day he gets a call from someone back in Italy: "don't you remember who I am?". At this point we are less than 15 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the latest film from legendary Italian writer/director Marco Bellocchio, a/k/a the Italian Martin Scorsese, and now a crisp 80 years young. Here he brings an epic Mafia crime drama about one of the first Mafia bosses who'd betray and become a "pentito" (literally, a "repentant"). This is a plot-heavy movie and hence I'm not going to say much more about the story line. But I will say this: the movie contains lots and lots of violence, not surprisingly. The movie's overall tone and approach is gritty and terse, making for compelling viewing if you like that sort of thing. And yes, the 2 hrs. 20 min. are needed as Bellocchio looks at many different characters (which at first is a bit confusing if not intimidating). The movie hence features a large ensemble cast, none of which were previously familiar to me (and in a way that is not a bad thing). Kudos also to the excellent photography.

"The Traitor" premiered at last year's Cannes film festival to positive acclaim, and is currently rated a very respectable 76% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie opened out of the blue on 2 screens this past weekend and I didn't hesitate as I'm guessing this will have a very limited US theater run. Indeed, the Sunday early evening showing where I saw this at was attended dismally (3 people including myself). If you like a tough Mafia crime drama (and you know who you are!), I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater (if you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

The Traitor has wasted a series of really big opportunities, despite taking two and half very long hours of the viewers' time (definitely too much for the results it achieves). The Traitor could have been the opportunity to explore in depth the complex and controversial personality of Tommaso Buscetta but the movie barely scratches the surface of this multifaceted character. It could have been the opportunity to dig into the overall role of the "pentiti" of the mafia, the former "men of honour" turned into witnesses for the state; this was a very controversial, ambiguous and surely humanly difficult choice for those people yet again the movie misses its chance. It could have been the opportunity to offer a deep look into a dramatic moment of the contemporary history of the Italian mafia, the bloody 80' and 90's, but these events are presented in a rather fragmented, disjointed manner, bordering sometimes the caricature (like the trial scenes). The one thing to be saved of the movie is Favino's performance, really stunning.

Main role: excellent acting. Movie feels too documentaric and fragmented. Film should have been 20 min shorter, and it lacks the point beyond facts and dramatic history.

Based on a true story: in the 1980s, Tommaso Buscetta (Pierfrancesco Favino) was a mafia leader in Sicily and Brazil. He was also one of the first mafia members to inform on others in compensation for a reduced sentence for his own crimes.

"The Traitor" is a film with an enjoyable variety of episodes including criminal life, criminal trials, and life after the trials. The directing by Marco Bellocchio is a dynamic mix that is sometimes chic (aided by great locales), sometimes contemplative, and occasionally distant at a surface level. One of the most fascinating revelations is the unusual proceedings in Italian criminal trials - at least the one highlighted in this film: anyone, including non-lawyers, is allowed to cross-examine any witness.

The film feels a bit long at times but it covers a very important part of history that is worth telling. Enjoyable overall. - dbamateurcritic

"The traitor" is the representation of the biggest process happened in Italy during the 80's, when the war between Sicilian families was at its peak. Tommaso Buscetta together with Falcone, were responsible for putting behind bars many members of Cosa Nostra. The film focus on the ex criminal, revealing slowly his story and reporting all awful acts that this big organization committed. I was not yet born when this happened, but I have watched some original archive videos, and I have to say that director Bellocchio and the cast nailed it. Some scenes are very close to what actually happened, other stuff are clearly novelized, but in general I really enjoyed the take on it.

Favino is absolutely fantastic. I was genuinely fascinated by the character he portrayed. A man of honor, betrayed by Cosa Nostra, an organization that lost its core values; obliged to look over his shoulder for the rest of his life, constantly worrying for the sort of his family. The movie in some parts is very tense and I always wonder what will happen next. I found interactions between him and Falcone very interesting. There is some kind of bound, almost like a friendship, between these two characters, that are the exact opposite of the same medal. I really enjoyed also Fabrizio Ferracane which played Pippo Calò, probably one of the most powerful element of Cosa Nostra. He is a very calm person, but capable of despicable actions, and this is what makes him so fearsome.

The movie is a slow burner, that focus on the human side of this event. There are here and there a few action sequences, but they do not take too much time. The script is solid, and I personally recommend it.

The last film of Marco Bellocchio is the portrayal of Tommaso Buscetta, a former member of Italian mafia who brake ''omerta'' and became an informant. Moreover, through Buscetta's life we can see the Italian mafia history during 60's-80's.

As I was a bit dissapointed from Bellocchio's latest works I didn't expect to see a great movie, but in the end I was amazed both from the direction and the plot line. Some scenes of the movie are a real masterpiece and although it lasts 2,5 hours you don't get tired or bored.

Outstanding acting by Pierfrancesco Favino, he's perfect on his role.

..but decent enough though at times slow moving

Subject matter was of interest but flashbacks could have been more immersed.

Different take on the mafia, not embellishing anything. The traitor was effectively less traicherous than other mafiosi. The film appears raw and not licked, which adds some credibility.

On one hand, this film could have been better. On the other hand, being a real story, means restrictions regarding the scenario. The writers obviously couldn't write whatever they wanted to create a fabulous story. So they tried to create a film with a certain pace working only with only what they had. The real story. The thing is that the real story already had countless elements in it, that would fit in any good mafia movie. Countless killings, betrayal among mafia soldiers and bosses, bosses who reeked of madness like that scumbag Riina, even a top judge blown to pieces.

The movie naturally chooses to focus on the main character, Buscetta. Yes this a movie about him. But any movie about mafia should be a movie about how nasty these people are. Instead this movie kind of makes Buscetta look like a good person. I don't think he was. He claims that he detested the acts of the Corleonesi maniacs, but he only starts to think about testifying against them only after his own family gets a piece of that madness. Later inside the court he testifies about dead babies by the Corleonesi. But he never went state witness when those first innocent families were hurt. He only did it when his own family started counting bodies. Hypocrisy.

Reading the real stories as they took place, as i am a Greek who was already a teen when all these things happened, i think the movie leaves almost untouched the most interesting element about that whole situation.

The monster Riina and the overall war of these two different "schools" in a sense. The bad guys like Buscetta vs the bad guys like Riina and the other Corleonesi thugs. The guy who plays Riina looks like Riina and his eyes do look like the eyes of a madman. But we only see a few scenes with him and we never see any interaction between him and other mafia people he wanted dead. The scenes in Godafther where we visit the past, where among the most crucial. Something similar could have be done in this film too. But we don't see anything. The movie starts with a photo were both Palermo and Corleonesi people pose together, and then it just shows "enemies" of Riina getting whacked. No backdrop, no tension between main rivals, nothing. The movie obviously tries to portray Buscetta as the bad man who had enough and decides to become a good man again leaving his past behind. Obviously, Buscetta was not the psychotic monster Riina was. But does this make Buscetta, a good man? I don't think so. He was drug trafficking mafia boss.

This movie could have been better but it chose to stay on the surface.

The overall taste is this. If you help us catch guys that are nastier than you, you gain back your status as a good logical human being. Well i disagree.

We would first have to see Buscetta's past in order to judge him as a personality. This man was a heroin distributor. How many nights did he spend sleepless, thinking about kids who ruined their lives with heroin? He was a nobody as a kid, yet he rose to a high status among other mafia people. How does one achieve such a thing in the mafia universe? By peaceful means? I don't think so. So i disagree with the way this movie portrays the main character. Yes he did a ton of good by sending to prison genuinely nasty people. But why should we erase his past? What about the families affected by Buscetta's crimes? Who cares about them?

Pierfrancesco Favino is a great actor and he carries most of the movie solely in his own shoulders. But a lot of things are missing here.

Marco Bellocchio directs a biographical film about a key character in the history of the fight against the Sicilian mafia during the 80s and 90s, Tommaso Buscetta, the so-called boss of two worlds who became the first repentant member of Cosa Nostra, whose collaboration with justice led to the arrest of hundreds of mafiosi and triggered a wave of repentants that practically dismantled the organization and the main Italian political parties at the time.

Far from being a hero, this Buscetta, who the film's title bluntly calls "the traitor", was a murderer, drug trafficker and member of a criminal organization who, when he found himself cornered by the justice system and abandoned by his supporters, decided to repent, tell everything and put himself in the service and under the protection of justice, living the rest of his life, approximately 16 years, at the expense of the State and under the North American witness protection program. All of this leads us to consider this status of repentance and the extent to which the ends justify the means in the fight against organized crime.

This is not about humanizing a sinister figure, because criminals are as human as other people. They are the result of the accumulation of circumstances that make human beings ambiguous, always oscillating between good and evil, between virtue and vice. Buscetta is not and does not consider himself a hero, just a survivor, who would like to die peacefully in his bed instead of being shot in the street, or in jail, despite all the mistakes he made in life.

If there is anything that this film adds to a theme as recurrent as that of the Sicilian Mafia, it is, in my opinion, the idea, rejected outright by Judge Falcone, but which Buscetta seems to believe until the last moment, that Cosa Nostra was an organization of honor and mutual aid, at some point in its history, which was perverted by the struggle for power and wealth. It is in this sense that, when faced with Riina, the capo dei capi, Buscetta accuses him of having been the one to kill the Mafia, with his ambition and thirst for power and revenge.

The truth is that, with or without the Mafia, organized crime continues to exist and proliferate, with close links to all forms of power in the world. There is no true power without organized crime to sustain it, it seems to be an inevitable conclusion.

Another masterpiece by Marco Bellocchio, inspired by the life of Tommaso Buscetta and the Maxiprocesso of Palermo. Pierfrancesco Favino's interpretation as Don Masino was exceptional: a double applause for having been able to recreate the character in every little detail.