{"id":15265,"date":"2020-02-21T00:05:48","date_gmt":"2020-02-21T05:05:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=15265"},"modified":"2020-02-28T16:00:18","modified_gmt":"2020-02-28T21:00:18","slug":"traitor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2020\/02\/21\/traitor\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Traitor\u2019: Mob Turncoat Sparks One Of The Biggest Mafia Prosecutions In History"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cI am not a pentito [Italian slang for \u2018informer\u2019],\u201d Tommaso Buscetta, a Sicilian mobster who turned star government witness in a blockbuster 1986 \u201cMaxi Trial\u201d that saw 360 convictions won against gangsters, once said. &#8221;I am a man who had to defend himself, and to do so had to tell the truth.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sonyclassics.com\/thetraitor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cThe Traitor,\u201d<\/a> a beautifully staged and shot film from Italian director Marco Bellocchio, aims to recount how Buscetta (played by Pierfrancesco Favino)\u00a0came to turn against his fellow mobsters and &#8220;brought down the mafia.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iQF1uhlQH5s\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The story begins in the early 1980s, as Sicilian mobsters are assassinating each other to try to corner the illicit heroin trade. Buscetta keeps a (relatively) safe distance by hiding out with his kids and third wife in Brazil. But in September 1982, mobsters murder his two oldest sons in Palermo. The gangsters follow up by murdering his brother, a brother-in-law, a son-in-law and four nephews.<\/p>\n<p>Brazilian authorities arrest Buscetta in October 1983 and extradite him Italy. There Buscetta tells all (or a hell of a lot) to the Italian judge and mafia investigator Giovanni Falcone (Fausto Russo Alesi).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15271\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15271\" style=\"width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/6w.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-15271\" src=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/6w-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"In &quot;The Traitor,&quot; Italian judge and mafia investigator Giovanni Falcone (Fausto Russo Alesi) questions Tommaso Buscetta (Pierfrancesco Favino). (Sony Pictures Classics)\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/6w-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/6w-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/6w-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/6w-370x247.jpg 370w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/6w.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15271\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">In &#8220;The Traitor,&#8221; Italian judge and mafia investigator Giovanni Falcone (Fausto Russo Alesi) questions Tommaso Buscetta (Pierfrancesco Favino). (Sony Pictures Classics)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cBefore, the mafia would have nothing to do with drugs,\u201d the real life Buscetta testified to the U.S. Senate\u2019s organized-crime hearings in 1988. \u201cDrugs brought too much attention from the authorities, too much heat. Now, drugs were the main part of the mafia&#8217;s business, and everyone in the Sicilian mafia was rich because of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOver the years, I have seen our organization change from within,\u201d Buscetta told senators. \u201cI have seen money, drugs and greed corrupt and destroy the Cosa Nostra code of honor and loyalty to the families.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dishonorable attacks on family members, the film says, turned Buscetta against the mafia. He would say: \u201cI decided to collaborate with the state to prevent others from believing in the dignity and honor of the Cosa Nostra. These values have been buried under a mountain of innocent victims.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15270\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15270\" style=\"width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/13w.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-15270\" src=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/13w-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"In &quot;The Traitor,&quot; Tommaso Buscetta (played by Pierfrancesco Favino) testifies in the 1986 \u201cMaxi Trial\u201d that saw 360 convictions won against gangsters. (Sony Pictures Classics)\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/13w-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/13w-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/13w-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/13w-370x247.jpg 370w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/13w.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15270\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">In &#8220;The Traitor,&#8221; Tommaso Buscetta (played by Pierfrancesco Favino) testifies in the 1986 \u201cMaxi Trial\u201d that saw 360 convictions won against gangsters. (Sony Pictures Classics)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Of course, Buscetta was caught and this was a legal way to deal a devastating blow to his enemies\u2014and to be rewarded with little prison time and a new life. The film doesn\u2019t get into the details, but for his 1985 testimony in an American heroin trafficking case, he was granted American citizenship and a slot for himself and his family in the U.S. witness protection program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTommaso Buscetta is the most important, most wanted and most endangered witness of all-time and he will be until the day he dies,\u201d the real Falcone said\u2014before he was murdered by the mafia in a 1992 car bombing. That attack is recreated here in a virtuoso scene pictured from inside Falcone\u2019s bullet-proof car. But much of the film is curiously free of tension because the film recounts no real threat on Buscetta himself.<\/p>\n<p>Bellocchio brings us into Italian courtrooms and witness protection homes in Salem, New Hampshire; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Miami. He unfolds the story at a leisurely pace\u2014at times too leisurely.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Traitor\u201d leaves us with a vision of Buscetta as a murderer, but this is almost the only time Bellocchio shows Buscetta up to anything nefarious. And even this moment is a parable about how Buscetta studiously avoided harming his victim\u2019s family. The film could also address the compromises that law enforcement makes with bad guys in pursuit of badder guys. But instead, for all the movie\u2019s sophisticated artistry, this telling reinforces a simplistic legend of this mobster as a \u201cman of honor,\u201d as Buscetta liked to describe himself.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/wonderlandlandfanclub\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And <a href=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/subscribe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sign up for our free, weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don&#8217;t miss any of our reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15272\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15272\" style=\"width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/1w.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-15272\" src=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/1w-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"In &quot;The Traitor,&quot; Tommaso Buscetta (played by Pierfrancesco Favino) poses for a photo with fellow mobsters and their families. (Sony Pictures Classics)\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/1w-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/1w-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/1w-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/1w-370x247.jpg 370w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/1w.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15272\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">In &#8220;The Traitor,&#8221; Tommaso Buscetta (played by Pierfrancesco Favino) poses for a photo with fellow mobsters and their families. (Sony Pictures Classics)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cI am not a pentito [Italian slang for \u2018informer\u2019],\u201d Tommaso Buscetta, a Sicilian mobster who turned star government witness in a blockbuster 1986 \u201cMaxi Trial\u201d that saw 360 convictions won against gangsters, once said. &#8221;I am a man who had to defend himself, and to do so had to tell the truth.&#8221; \u201cThe Traitor,\u201d a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15274,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[129,116],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15265"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15265"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15280,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15265\/revisions\/15280"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}