'Mafia Only Kills in Summer' tells the story of Sicily circa 1980 by interweaving the lives of a prototypical Italian family with the real leaders of the Cosa Nostra and the heroes they killed. It's alternately charming, funny, and full of righteous anger; and it gets the balance just right, showing how the Mafia permeated through civil society.. While aspects of the humour are somewhat stereotypical, they go down well anyway because of the sheer heart of the portrayals. A favourite moment of mine is when the central protagonist, a boy on the brink of adolescence and obsessed with the Mafia, is taken by his parents to a psychologist, and in the Rorsach blots he is presented with sees alternately breasts, and (Prime Minister) Andreotti meeting with a Mafioso. Two series have been made to date; it's creator wants take the story through to the 1990s, and I hope he gets the chance to do so.
Review of La mafia uccide solo d'estate
