Direction: Marco Bellocchio
Country: Italy
The Traitor, an Italian mafia account based on the life of the powerful and wealthy Sicilian ‘soldier’ Tommaso Bruschetta, is told with invariable pace and mood. It does pretty much hold our attention in its initial phase, but it loses a bit of direction with the time, making us increasingly detached from the course of events.
Directed by veteran filmmaker Marco Bellocchio, whose career peaks are Fists in the Pocket (1965); Good Morning, Night (2003); and Vincere (2009), the film succeeds in the way that elucidates about the mafiosi pacts, breaches in honor, and the general criminal mechanisms adopted by the Cosa Nostra. It also makes a good point of view in showing how these mad dogs have all the comfort in prison and are treated with permissiveness by the justice and the state.
Unafraid, yet tired of the heroin war that opposes the old Palermo mafia and the new Corleone clan, Bruschetta (Pierfrancesco Favino), known as ‘boss of the two worlds’, became one of the first mafia informants in the mid 80's, after a frustrated attempt to lead a calm life in Brazil with his family. His arresting and torture in Rio de Janeiro and subsequent extradition to Italy caused him to attempt suicide, a fact reinforced by the news that his two eldest sons, Benedetto and Antonio, had been cruelly assassinated, likely by one of his trusted men.
His decision to expose the Sicilian mafia to the authorities caused severe damage in the organization, which saw 366 mafiosi being sent to jail. Bruschetta always defended he was a man of honor, claiming that his former associates were the true vile creatures.
The ridiculing courtroom episodes at the famous Maxi Trial unveiled a limitative script that is more interested in informing about the multiple connections of the man than stepping up the narrative side of things. It’s a film that never quite catches fire despite some creativity in the visual department and the frantic editing by Francesca Calvelli.
There’s no such thing as noble cause or respect for human life in the mafia. Apart from the inflexible judge Giovanni Falcone (Fausto Russo Alesi), The Traitor exclusively portrays men of brute insipidity, only partially digging the dark depths of mafia crime. This film wouldn’t have had a small amount of expressiveness if the performances weren’t so solid.
