The Traitor

Can the space of a movie theater for watching cinema be replaced with something else? Not at all - otherwise the viewer would be deprived of the trailer for another film before the start of the actual film: in this case, an advertisement for the film La belle époque, in which pensioners create an experiential agency in a film studio set in the 1970s, so they can relive their first love there... It has also been proven that Alzheimer's disease is best stopped in older people by placing them in period settings, with original furniture from their youth, exposing them to their memories, etc... Although Bellocchio, in his age as an author, logically lost many of his artistic iconoclasm and formal inventions, he is not only still above the level of ordinary conventional cinema, to which this film belongs in terms of its category but also functions as Bellocchio's historical tribute to the Italian film belle époque: a blend of poliziotteschi and Italian politically-engaged police thrillers, within which Bellocchio created one of his famous films, Slap the Monster on Page One from 1972. Italians to this day prove that they are the best in Europe at making American films. (12/09/2019)

At first, there was slight confusion about who the character is, what the character is all about, and what side he is on, which the audience could sort of figure out after the first half-hour. Then they could sit back and enjoy a reconstruction of the historic trial of Sicilian mafia bosses, whose hot-headedness seems completely authentic and is highly entertaining for the audience. Here, the ruthlessness of the mafia bosses ordering bloody hits in the streets contrasts wonderfully with their subsequently downright childish and absurd squabbling in court. It is a bit of a shame that they did not make more use of the relationship between Buscetta and Falcone (a character that deserves more screen-time in the movie, however, there are other more specific works exploring him), however, in the context of showing the many years of the process as much as possible, faithfully, in its entirety and in context, it probably could not have been done any better than this. I am satisfied, albeit with minor reservations. [KVIFF 2019] (06/28/2019)

Marco Bellocchio, for your utterly reckless, irresponsible, and god-awful use of a high-frame-rate digital camera in a film about the Cosa Nostra that takes place from the 1960s to the 1990s, I sentence you to nine years of community service, during which I expect you to reshoot the nighttime and interior scenes so that they don't look like they were shot on a phone. I have chosen a reduced sentence not only because of your previous clean record, but also because of my personal admiration for your ability to create a portrait of a strong, distinctive man through your everyday dialogue and lack of pathos without making him into an artificial idol. Your sentence begins today. Thank you. (02/18/2020)

The Traitor convincingly shows why certain substances disappear from cinema and are subsequently used by television companies. Marco Bellocchio tries, but capturing the competition of mafia clans and the war of Cosa Nostra against the state apparatus over a period of almost two decades in a single film is not satisfactorily possible. Most highly interesting characters only briefly appear in the film and important events are abbreviated. The main character is observed by the screenwriter with evident empathy, regardless of the fact that his cooperation with justice was purposeful. His opponents are depicted as exemplary monsters (which undoubtedly they were), but the film only marginally deals with Buscetta's colorful register and blood under the nails, and actually only at the very end. Watching it once is fine, but it doesn't make sense to return to the film. Overall impression: 60%. (12/17/2020)

The Traitor is a nice reconstruction of a great event in Italian history. Its mafia entanglements are a rewarding topic for the audience - lovers of dramas and thrillers will appreciate watching the actors’ various impersonations of mafia bosses. Therefore, it is a pity that it is almost as if the first third of a three-hour film was missing, because we do not know much about the supporting characters who keep appearing. Most of the mobsters whom the main character rats out and whom we later see in court (or elsewhere) are like disposable dummies and neither their personal relationship with Buscetta, nor what they’ve been through together is known to us. Apart from this drawback, which some viewers might not mind, it is a high-quality production with the excellent Pierfrancesco Favino. But personally, I am more drawn toward the fictitious, but more cinematic, atmospheric and dramatic Suburra. [Cannes] (05/24/2019)