Mafioso

Albert Sordi is virtually unknown here in the United States. He's been called the Italian Peter Sellars but I think that should be reversed, Sellers was the British Sordi. Just one look at his performance in this film should cement that fact that Sordi was by far a better dramatic actor then anything I've seen Sellars do.

I had the pleasure of seeing this film twice and it really improves the second time. The loud behavior is a little off-putting the first time but the second viewing revealed all the incredible subtleties in the film and the performances.

The direction is extremely good. Director Lattuada is unknown here despite his extensive resume. I could see a definite influence on Sergio Leone in the camera placement and attention to detail. And the music is exceptional as well. The switch to serious drama is what makes this a great film. A lesser production would have made the mafia into clowns.

If the film comes into town make a point to see it. It's better then most of the stuff being made today.

I've never seen black and white film look so rich, sensuous and stunningly attractive; Cinematographer Armando Nannuzzi hit the nail on the head, creating a very rich and vibrant looking film. At times my mind naturally filled in the colors due to the crisp clarity of all the images, both of natural, rural scenes, and modern, city/industrial settings.

Art director Carlo Egidi masterfully blends the surrounding background of everyday life with his set designs and costumes so that it is impossible to separate the two; truly a mirrored recreation of the day in the life of a modern Sicilian during mid-60's. Each scene is so thought out, and crafted so well that at times their is an almost alien effect, due to the deep endearing political and social dynamics which has become lost in our culture and films today in the 21st century. This effect at times appears exaggerated due to its robust social nature, yet does the job in creating a warm, stunning and beautiful feel to this film.

Excellent, underseen comedy/drama by Alberto Lattuada, best known for co-directing Variety Lights with Federico Fellini. In a Fellini biography I once read Lattuada was quoted as bitterly claiming that he invented Fellini, that Fellini had basically participated in the making of Variety Lights but it was Lattuada's film. Lattuada was just trying to be nice, to help the kid start off his career, and Fellini pretty much stole the style for his subsequent films. Judging by this film, made 12 years afterward, Lattuada had apparently moved on, because this isn't much like Fellini's style (though one could imagine Fellini making a similarly plotted film). However, it is an excellently directed film, one that makes me wonder how many other gems might be hiding in Lattuada's filmography. It stars Alberto Sordi, whom you'll recognize from two early Fellini films, The White Sheik and I Vitelloni. He plays a Sicilian who is now a successful man in Milan. He's married with two young daughters, but he hasn't been home to visit the family since he left. This is the story of his twelve day vacation visiting home, bringing along his family. To his wife (Norma Bengell, a Brazilian actress), Sicily seems an extremely backward country. The whole culture is strange and very different from mainland Italy, and there seem to be hints of criminal activity between every line. She's not wrong. Sordi was never exactly in the mafia when he lived in Sicily, but he was more than a little connected, and now some of the high ranking criminals are thinking his status as unknown outsider might be useful to them. The film is very funny, but it also goes to some dark places. One thing's for sure: I don't think he or his family will want to visit the family again anytime soon.

How wonderful it is to start the year and to know that you have possibly already found what is going to be your favorite movie of the year: MAFIOSO is that movie!

I had never seen the film and never seen much of director's LAttuada's work either. I am Italian yet in Italy LAttuada is not really considered as one of the great directors...well it is about time this changed. We have to thank the folks at Rialto Pictures (who id re-releasing the film in the US) for rediscovering this great talent. I wish they started rediscovering him also in Italy...well, too often a country doesn't appreciate its talents! Anyway...

LAttuada directs with a great sense of storytelling, every shot has its reason to be and is there to bring the story forward. His capacity of being in control and keeping all the aspects of the film together is exemplary: The cinematography is incredible, manages at the same time to create a mood and to be absolutely concentrated in serving the script. The way the film uses its musical score is super modern (I would like to mention the genius score by Piero Piccioni) The editing is exceptional, never a flaw, never a scene that lasts too log or too little. The overall feeling at the end is that of a perfectly cohesive film. And one that makes you think too...and think a lot!

I am not a big mafia movie fan, but this one is different from any other I have ever seen, has a way of turning comedy into tragedy and tragedy into comedy that I have not seen too often on the screen.

Alberto Sordi is one of the best actors Italy has ever had: please go and discover his talent and his genius. I say MAfioso is well worth your time, if you don't go and see it it is your big loss!

Mafia ties run deep in this film about a middle level manager in an auto plant in Milan who takes his family to his native Sicily for a summer vacation. Admired by his old childhood friends who can't take their eyes off of his attractive wife, he's the local boy who makes good in the big city. But "Mafioso" presents the deep ties that connect him into his ancestral village, portraying a system that runs deep in this Sicilian setting of an ancient village in which his family's connections intertwine with local Cosa Nostra. The director and the lead actor both make this a film in which one can savor just about every scene. Alberto Sordi connects the comedy with the drama, the good humored happy family man obligated into the "brotherhood" by Don Vicenzo and his right hand man to do his part, keeping him literally in the dark.