“The Cosa Nostra has time“ says the former “boss of two worlds“ Tommaso Buscetta (Pierfrancesco Favino) during his interrogation, and IL TRADITORE also takes its time with a lot of things that usually happen briefly or in the background of other mafia films. The last phase of Buscetta‘s life begins with him leaving his old family in Italy behind and building a new, quiet life with his third wife in Brazil right up until he gets a call and discovers that over 100 of his relatives and friends have fallen victim to the wrath of the Corleonesi clan and that they know where Buscetta is. Captured by the Brazilian police, he is deported to Italy and certain death. Buscetta decides to break the silence as a chief witness and go on record with all the details about the “honorable society“ to judge Giovanni Falcome. The resulting “Maxi trial“ took six years in a bulletproof room and resulted in the indictment of 475 mafiosos.

Christian Klose