The Traitor (2019) - Criticism & Analysis

• Genre: Drama, Historical, Police
• Director: Marco Bellocchio
• Release year: 2019
• Cast: Pierfrancesco Favino, Maria Fernanda Cândido, Fabrizio Ferracane
• Synopsis: In the early 80s, the war between the godfathers of the Sicilian mafia is at its height. Tommaso Buscetta, a member of Cosa Nostra, fled his country to hide in Brazil. Meanwhile, in Italy, settling of accounts is linked, and the relatives of Buscetta are murdered one after the other. Arrested by the Brazilian police then extradited, Buscetta, makes a decision that will change the story of the mafia: meet Judge Falcone and betray the oath made to Cosa Nostra.

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※ The beginning of the Traitor will remind, necessarily, to those who have seen, that of the Godfather. Of course, the two introductions are far from identical on the form, the film of Coppola staging a wedding when that of Bellocchio shows a simple party. However, in the intention and in the interest, they come together, showing all these individuals living in pomp, between friends and family, to become familiar with this microcosm based its richness in dark and parallel markets. Bellocchio offers to tell a true story, that of Tommaso Buscetta, a member of Cosa Nostra, who fled to Brazil to avoid tensions that threaten the organization, and who finds himself extradited to Italy, where he decides to testify against Judge Falcone. A story of a mobster like no other.

"The whole game of Marco Bellocchio in The Traitor revolves around the question of fidelity and values, never hesitating to question the viewer to give more consistency to his characters. "
Because if it is question of mafia in The Traitor , Marco Bellocchio does not stop, during 2h20, to break the myth of the mafia, to break the image of these charismatic figures by putting them back to the wall. Powerful, dangerous, they must, following the testimony of overwhelming Tommaso Buscetta, show themselves in their true faces, cowards, cowards ready to do anything to keep their share of the cake and save themselves. Bellocchio will also use, at a moment, the image of a hyena to answer those of these mafia, to illustrate their perfidy and greed. A situation all the more strange that the real traitor, in the history, it is indeed Tommaso, which, nevertheless, is perceived by the spectator as a man honest and right in his boots, that one wants to defend. All the game of Marco Bellocchio inThe Traitor revolves around the question of fidelity and values, never hesitating to question the spectator to give more consistency to his characters.

An approach served by an interesting and intelligent montage, such as the introduction of images of a hyena cited above, or the introduction of imagined scenes directly related to reality, to suggest a state of mind and out of the simple restitution of the facts as they have been. Because, for the rest, The Traitorremains relatively classical on the form, although very well mastered, with this long plot spanning twenty years, to track the evolution of different characters, and to pass through all states. And Marco Bellocchio's film also has the merit of approaching this Mafia story in a different way, reducing the violent settling of accounts by assassinations to favor verbal confrontations, playing on the strength of the words more than on that balls.

The Traitor is one of the good wines of this 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Probably not the Palme d'Or, but a very possible prize for male interpretation for Pierfrancesco Favino who embodies Tommaso Buscetta to the marvel and accompanies it perfectly in its evolution. Marco Bellocchio illustrates here with mastery the fall of the myth of the gangster, that of the omnipotence and impunity of the mafia, making a traitor a man of principles against a horde of hungry hyenas. A great success that allows, in addition, to show that Italian cinema always knows how to offer quality films.

National release date: November 6, 2019.

• Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/575452-il-traditore?language=en-US
• Critic: AA