Bella Mafia

The extravagant look, sunny locations and the "distant lands" atmosphere make this movie a great escape on a winter's day. Le Plante is tied by US law but succeeds in keeping the story flowing with some sweet touches here and there. Being a big Carmen Argenziano fan, there's plenty to drool over and he plays the part of an influential Don with style. Others players add little but on the whole this is an enjoyable piece.

The only thing I have to say about the film BELLA MAFIA is that it is utterly amazing. This is no doubt in my opinion the best drama that I have ever seen. The cast was superb. The writing amazing. The movie drew me in from the first scene. And I admit that I didn't expect it to be good at all. I was sort of just looking for a film to past the time.

The one thing I loved the most was the development in character. As a viewer, I saw all of the characters lives change in great detail. From Sofia to Luca to Moyra. Even though the plot had some violent scenes, the writer managed to put in aspects of loyalty and love which made you kind of root for vengeance against the opposite characters. All in all. One of the best, if not the best in my opinion. If you want drama and action, see this movie.

I was extremely disappointed with Bella Mafia. I was expecting a female version of the Godfather (although nothing can compare with the actual Godfather). Although the plot was the best thing about this movie, it was lukewarm at best. The passion (when Vito loses Sonny), orchestration of events (like when Michael takes out the five families), and epic feeling are all missing from this film. Vanessa Redgrave is wonderful, although only about three people from the entire cast could actually pull off sounding Sicilian. The directing was very weak, and the progression of the story was hurried (every five minutes, you were seeing text on the screen that said "Ten Years Later," "Five Years Later," etc. Overall, I was VERY disappointed with Bella Mafia...not that I expected anything more from a "T.V. Movie," but that it wasted so much potential.

What can I say! This movie is one of the best movies that I have ever seen. No matter how many times I see this movie I just love it more and more. Nastassja Kinski is absolutely delightful as Sofia. Vanessa Redgrave is a great matriarch and James Marsden is great at being the evil and insane Luca.

A JOY!

'Bella Mafia' was a TV mini-series that is available on VHS tape in two versions: one an apparently truncated version of 117 minutes on one tape while the preferable version is over two tapes and 180 minutes or three hours (but that includes seven minutes of previews of other films). One could think of this as a poor cousin to 'The Godfather,' but from the point of view of the women. These women are the wives or would be wife of the Luciano family. The men, father and sons, are all killed and it is up to the women to even the score. It has a nice look to it, but seems to overly draw from 'The Godfather' by using the name Michael and without compelling supporting character actors. Unfortunately for 'Bella Mafia' there are no equivalents of Al Pacino to be found here or anything resembling the presence of Marlon Brando. Hence, the movie is dominated by two presence's: Vanessa Redgrave as the matriarch of the family and Nastassja Kinski, one of her daughters-in-law. With the end of the first half of the movie, it is more than obvious what will eventually happen in the second half. The only question being what will be the details? In that sense, the movie unfolds very predictably and there is little suspense. It is a problem that the author of the novel, Lynda La Plante, never overcomes because she is also credited with the 'teleplay.' It is then a matter of appreciating the performances. All of the male actors seem to be weak and are easily overshadowed first by Vanessa Redgrave and then by the take-control of the film by Nastassja Kinski. Nastassja's performance is intelligent, as usual, and exceedingly even throughout at an elevated level. She is more than believable and has at least given a very good performance, covering lots of emotional range. Make no mistake, this is no 'Godfather' or anything close. Just never mess with Nastassja's Sophia character, otherwise one is likely to end up dead.