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Mafioso (1962) DVD Review
Mafioso (1962) DVD Credits:
Mafioso (1962) Directed by:
Alberto Lattuada
Mafioso (1962) Written by:
Rafael Azcona, Marco Ferreri, and the writing team Age and Scarpelli
Mafioso (1962) Cast:
Norma Bengell, Cinzia Bruno, Alberto Sordi, Ugo Attanasio, Michele Bally
Mafioso (1962) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
Mafioso (1962) DVD Release Date:
17th March 2008
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Mafioso (1962) Synopsis:

In Alberto Lattuada s brilliant dark comedy MAFIOSO, auto-factory foreman Nino (Alberto Sordi) takes his proper, modern wife (Norma Bengell) and two blonde daughters from industrial Milan to antiquated rural Sicily to visit his family and get back in touch with his roots. But Antonio gets more than he bargained for when he discovers some harsh truths about his ancestors and himself. The first Italian film to dramatize the modern mafia, Lattuada s devastatingly funny character study is equal parts culture-clash farce and existential nightmare.

Mafioso (1962) DVD Review:

Alberto Lattuada’s dark comedy Mafioso is about a man (Alberto Sordi) bringing his Northern blonde wife (Norma Bengell) and children to his childhood home in rural Sicily, but just as important is the opening and closing images of auto-factory foreman Antonio “Nino” Badalamenti’s work environment. Nino works in a factory with large metal machines grinding and churning metal all day long. Milan seems a cold and unforgiving environment, requiring dedication and prompt attention and loyalty from Nino. When Nino takes his vacation to his hometown, and although we are allowed brief glimpses of the beauty the country has to offer, Nino is slowly brought into an extreme level of dedication and loyalty that we see expected from him at work. At home is coming from his family, and more specifically from his mafia family. Mafioso shows us the painful similarities between the two worlds, one seemingly corrupt and one just, and finds no escape for the average and likable fool that is our protagonist.

Mafioso could easily have made a melodramatic comparison of these stark truths, but instead it draws on the comedy of every situation, at times a simple fish-out-of-water tale for the modern wife and children who are unaccustomed to the odd traditions of Sicilian life. Much credit is owed to the screenwriters, Rafael Azcona, Marco Ferreri, and the writing team Age and Scarpelli, two of the most renowned Italian comedy screenwriters of the time. Azcona and Ferreri took a true situation told by an Italian painter, although embellishing some of the details, and came up with the story which was handed to Age and Scarpelli for more of the whimsical elements of the dark comedy. There is also absolutely no sentimentality about the Italian culture or heritage.

Everything is shown in clear directness, which is where much of the humor arrives, but it also uncovers the ugly underbelly of both worlds of Italy. This exposing of the Mafia as they are on film had just begun earlier in 1962, the year that Mafioso was released. The culture of rural living is shown as somewhat uncultured and juvenile. All of the men are either lazy and hang out on the beach making sand figures of women to look at, or mafia men like Nino’s father (Carmelo Oliviero), a man with a missing hand who never removes his hat. The women are hardly any better, many of which are unable to maintain even the ability to keep up appearances. Nino’s sister has a great deal of facial and arm hair, which is seen as the probable reason for her inability to get a husband, and she must be helped by Nino’s wife, Maria. Other women are seen with similarly embarrassing beauty flaws, such as large teeth or missing teeth.

Along with the new high-definition digital transfer and improved English subtitles, the new DVD of Mafioso also comes well equipped with special features for a knowledge seeking film fan. Including a great booklet with two essays about the film and one Q&A with Lattuada from 1982, along with plenty of photos the booklet is hefty and impressive. The DVD also comes with some special features, including an interview with Lattuada by filmmaker Daniele Luchetti from 1996 and new interviews with family members of Lattuada. There are also trailers from both the original release and the U.S. re-release in 2007, and a gallery of promotional caricatures for the film.

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Mafioso (1962) DVD review written by: Ryan Izay

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