Synopsis
Palermo, Sicily, 1980. Mafia member Tommaso Buscetta decides to move to Brazil with his family fleeing the constant war between the different clans of the criminal organization. But when, after living several misfortunes, he is forced to return to Italy, he makes a bold decision that will change his life and the destiny of Cosa Nostra forever.
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Cast
- Pierfrancesco FavinoTommaso Buscetta
- Maria Fernanda CândidoMaria Cristina de Almeida
- Fabrizio FerracanePippo Calò
- Fausto Russo AlesiGiovanni Falcone
- Luigi Lo CascioSalvatore Contorno
- Bruno CarielloAlfonso Giordano
- Giovanni CalcagnoTano Badalamenti
- Rosario PalazzoloGiovanni De Gennaro
- Nicola CalìTotò Riina
- Vincenzo PirrottaLuciano Liggio
Recommendations
- 90
The New York Times
Bellocchio’s approach to the story is at once coolly objective — the movie is part biopic, part courtroom procedural — and almost feverishly intense. He has a historian’s analytical detachment, a novelist’s compassion for his characters and a citizen’s outrage at the cruelty and corruption that have festered in his country for so long. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Its most valuable asset is actor Pierfrancesco Favino. - 67
The Playlist
A handsome production and ambitious in scale, the impact of The Traitor is muted by the familiarity of its well-worn tropes. - 67
The A.V. Club
The screenplay — written by Bellocchio in collaboration with several others — has no particular point of view regarding Buscetta, seeming content merely to take us step by step through his two decades as an informant. - 63
Slant Magazine
It’s at its best when showing how gangsters undermine their lofty notions of nobility with displays of narcissism. - 60
The Guardian
The film has the authoritative air of official history: sometimes brash, sometimes stolid, sometimes with flashes of inspiration and sometimes with long stretches of courtroom dialogue. - 60
Screen Daily
The film digs into the minutiae, giving off an unmistakable air of expertise, but the screenplay ends up being a collection of footnotes and intriguing digressions without necessarily feeling like an authoritative handling of this sprawling material. - 60
Variety
It’s clearly made by a master filmmaker questioning the nature of repentance, and as such is far from superficial; and yet while it never loses our attention, it also doesn’t deliver much of a punch.
