Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray from writer/director Marco Bellocchio and Sony Pictures Classics comes the of a man who knew to much and became THE TRAITOR.

Cosa Nostra Tommaso Buscetta (Pierfrancesco Favino) gathers his family and friends to say goodbye to Palermo, Italy, as he makes his plans to start a new life in Brazil. This also includes starting a new family with wife Cristina (Maria Fernanda Candido) as his older sons prove to have drug problems he doesn’t want to take with him. He entrusts them to friend Pippo Calo (Fabrizio Ferracane) who has always known the boys.

Believing he has left the ‘family business’ in good hands, it becomes clear that rival Toto Riina (Cali Nocla) has different ideas. Attack after attack on many of the families, it finally arrives at his doorstep. The Brazilian officials arrest Tommaso and threatens his wife until he agrees to turn on everyone else.

Preparing for the trip, now Tommaso is attacked and knows that they new Cosa Nostra leadership is making it clear that he can be got to. Arriving in Italy, he is met by Giovanni Falcone (Fausto Russo Alesi) who listens to hours and hours of how Tommaso came into power and an odd friendship is created. The only other person to go along with Tommaso is Contorno (Luigi Lo Cascio).

Once in front of a judge and other bosses in cages behind him, Tommaso lets loose everything he knows – from drugs to murders, everything is out on the table and he doesn’t hold back. When it becomes painfully clear who is responsible for what happened to his sons, Tommaso goes full force to pay them back in pain and long lives in prison.

Never mess with a man’s family!

Favino as Buscetta had his time in the sun and moving to Brazil was a way to spend time with his family and walk away from the madness. The problem is that others had their own plans and they included the madness that would happen to Buscetta. I enjoyed Favino’s portrayal as he throws caution to the wind and comes totally clean without missing a beat. The scenes in the courtroom are particularly entertaining.

Candido as Maria is a woman who understands what her husband does and looks the other way. She wants a quiet life in Brazil as well but when it comes like a sledgehammer to her door, she still stands behind her husband and waits patiently for the madness to end. Ferracane as Calo is Tommaso’s longtime trusted friend, but it only takes a second for that trust to be broken. The give and take between the two actors in the courtroom are brilliant.

Cascio as Contorno is a man who seems to have had enough of the madness as well. As everyone is watching Tommaso’s committing the ultimate sin of turning on the family, they weren’t keeping a close eye on Contorno who has plans of his own.

Other cast include Nicola Cali as Toto Riina, Giovanni Calcagno as Tano Badalamenti, Bruno Cariello as Alfonso Giordano, Bebo Storti as Franco Coppi, Vincenzo Pirrotta as Luciano Liggio, Goffredo Maria Bruno as Stefano Bontate, Gabriele Circirello as Benedetto Buscetta, Paride Cicirello as Antonio Buscetta, Elia Schilton as Giornalista, Alessio Pratico as Scarpuzzedda.

Sony Pictures Classics brings television, digital content, new entertainment services, independent films and technologies to viewers. Such films as GREED, THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY, THE CLIMB, CHARM CITY KINGS, I CARRY YOU WITH ME and THE FATHER are just a few of the current and upcoming releases. For more information on what Sony Pictures Classics has to offer please visit www.sonyclassics.com. 

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THE TRAITOR is the story of Tommaso Buscetta who became the first person to ever betray the Sicilian Mafia. Living the life of the mafia in Italy, he trades it for another life in Brazil until he realizes that he can never just walk away without constant fear and paranoia. From 1986 to 1992, the trials went on as Buscetta is not the only one to give up the secrets of Sicily.

Once the trail is over, Buscetta runs off to the U.S. to enter the witness protection program but that’s another life he hadn’t seen coming. All of this because the mafia went to far with his family and with each attempt, Buscetta told the judges anything and everything they wanted to know. As the organized crime fell apart, he went after political officials and still lived to tell about it.

In the end – his two worlds collided!

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