Mafiosa

Great story but some episodes gets you boring as it does seem to know to where to go. Isn't there any other actress to portray the lead? This actress acts so boring and isn't convincing at all in portraying a criminal group matriarch. She looks and acts like a transvestite in most scenes. The brother although good looking is the most pathetic and weak criminal I have ever watched.

The series is great. I totally recommend it. From this type you don't stop until the last episode is done. I am really shocked by the fact that there are no reviews here till now?! You will enjoy a great atmosphere of the authentic presented Corse for the rich mafiosi families, a little bit the modern version of Godfather but really away from it's plot. I've never watched no one from the cast before and I watch a lot of European cinema, that comes to prove you don't always need known actors to make the movie but just to choose the right type and just to let them play, one can feel that those people are really a good representation of the Corse underworld. The last season moreover is the best one. Enjoy this show, I envy you!

I first tried to watch it several years ago but, I don't know why, I could not make it. After all, I think because of the female leader in a Corsican gang. Corsicans who, as the Sicilians, are machos among machos...I tried again just a couple of weeks ago, four eps per day, and I just finished it. This is a pure jewel, AWESOME piece of work. Of course there are clichés, every movie talking about mafia contains clichés, because that looks like the real underworld...What would you like to see, mobsters taking care of babies or racketting nurseries or pet toiletting shops? That's also a tragedy tale, family tragedy, as SONS OF ANARCHY was, in another register, but also speaking about mobsters, not priests....Every sentence, characters, scene is engraved like a diamond. This is a flood of violence, brutality and emotion. DON'T MISS IT.

This is a Corsican cousin to "Godfather II", only with a woman taking over the family. It begins with her - a lawyer - apparently inclined to live closer to a normal life than that she's been called to, but through the two seasons I've watched shows her embracing the role she's been given all the way. Which soon includes a lot of violence. The real key here is her relationship with her brother, who has been passed over for the top role, but fully supports her for a long time. The anchor of the series is Hélène Fillières, who has a fascinating face with the angry sexuality of a teen, a smoldering way of looking at those she's confronting - for business or otherwise. Many of the scenes come down to her staring intently at someone else - whether with menace, seduction or decison. The big weakness is in the writing, which isn't always consistent, notably in her sexual behavior, which may well spice up the series but seems out of character at times. Also, for those used to this genre of the fundamentally decent person somehow involved in unsavory activity, there are certain rules, which are blithely violated here: the family keeps its word (not always here); the protection of the family is guaranteed (not so much), Sometimes when people are killed the reason is obvious; sometimes it seems very arbitrary. And the show gets increasingly violent as it goes on. It retains a unique quality and a variety of engaging relationships, so I'm sure many will be drawn in to keep watching. But to a large degree, I think it's more for Fillières's compelling presence than well-crafted stories.

Mafiosa is a French TV series that ran for five seasons and deals with the Corsican mafia. The story revolves around Sandra Paoli (Hélène Fillières), a lawyer and the daughter of a mob boss who ends up inheriting most of her family's mafia assets after her beloved uncle is gunned down. Sandra is joined by her hot headed brother Jean-Michel (Thierry Neuvic) in an almost dysfunctional drama with your typical mobster subjects like murders, drug deals, extortion, gambling, etc.

Not quite as violent as Italy's Gomorra, nor does it have the complex characters of HBO's The Sopranos or the historicity of Boardwalk Empire, Mafiosa tends to go back and forth between being a soap opera and a mobster show. Sandra tends to fall in love with the hit men she employs and in the ludicrous first season- shuttles back and forth between being a defense lawyer and mafia queen.

The second season gets better as she finally ditches the lawyer subplot and goes full mob boss and the third season is actually quite good as the stakes go higher. But you just can't help but feel it's a little contrived when Sandra does things that no mobster would tolerate: like giving away information to cops, or dating her soldiers and allowing them to abuse her.

There are occasional side plots with goofy gangsters and family angst with her brother's teen daughter (the very hot Phareelle Onoyan), but on the whole it feels a little too tame for the subject matter its supposed to portray. Nevertheless if you're a fan of gangster shows you might want to check it out, just don't expect to be blown away by it.