SPOILER ALERT!!! While some Italian crime films (particularly post-1977 ones) are just mindless violence (particularly violence against women), many pre-1977 ones are serious commentary on corruption and the justice system in Italy...and by extension to other Western countries. THE BIG FAMILY is such a film. The Mob is in charge at the film's beginning, the Mob is in charge at the film's end. Anyone who challenges it is killed or somehow taken out of the picture. A police inspector or prosecutor who is making progress may suddenly get the offer of a significant promotion...to another part of the country. Every branch of the government...and the church...is compromised. American businessman Richard Conte can come to Sicily hoping to do some construction projects and thinking that his friendship with the Don back in New York will help him here and that he doesn't have to play by the local rules. An honest cop works hard and makes countless sacrifices, and many good people die because he keeps on his quest. Eventually, he nabs the top man...and it turns out he has achieved nothing and he is back at square one. Even the top man is expendable to the overall survival of the big family. I was impressed by this film when I saw it fifteen years ago, and I'm still impressed with it today. It has enough action to satisfy any fan of 1970's Italian crime films, one of the most exciting genres in film history, but it also has a sobering message, one that is relevant to anyone watching the film anywhere. Although both CROSS CURRENT and GREAT TREASURE HUNT have their moments, THE BIG FAMILY is probably Tonino Ricci's most successful film as a director (I haven't seen his recent family films, although I especially want to see the Buck film with John Savage, nor have I seen the shark film with Treat Williams). Highly recommended to fans of the genre and those willing to see the value in a dubbed genre film.
2 Reviews
exciting Italian crime film, but also serious study of corruption
django-121 December 2003
Warning: Spoilers
Cosa Nostra 2: Moustache Vendetta
Bezenby27 September 2018
Tonino Ricci hits the mark with this serious study into the working of the Cosa Nostra in a film that is similar in tone to Damiano Damiani's films of the same topic, but with a lot more action.
Things kick off with American businessman Richard Conte thinking that he doesn't need to get involved with the local mob as he's got links back home, and he doesn't even get the hint when a bunch of thugs turn up and gun down his hired goons. This draws the attention of the cops, including a moustachioed Giancarlo Prete, a Sicilian himself who really wants to clear up crime in Palermo.
That's not as easy as it sounds, and it didn't sound easy in the first place. The main boss guy, Don Pelligrino, don't like being told what to do and doesn't like being set up, so after some clashes, Conte gets murdered, courtesy of hitman Sal Borghese, and although there's potentially a witness, we come against that Sicilian habit and suddenly not seeing or witnessing anything. But then again, that's a sensible option when it comes to Mafia matters...
Giancarlo and his cop sidekicks try their best to get a witness to stand up against Don Pelligrino, and after some tragic deaths they actually do (in a creatively filmed scene where the court officials appear only as shadows), but Giancarlo soon finds that even having a witness is not enough, but he also finds that being a cop has an advantage, as the Mafia know how much trouble they can stir up by killing a cop.
Nicely acted all round, this one isn't full of car chases or gunfights, but sure has a lot a Mafia executions in it, mostly courtesy of Sal Borgehese, who has a much bigger role than usual. I don't know the name of the guy playing Don Pelligrino and I can't be bothered looking it up, but he was good too. Tonino Ricci certainly amps up the frustration of a cop trapped between a bunch of gangsters who really run the show, and the reticence of a populace unwilling to risk their lives in order to get rid of the gangsters.
Edmund Purdom (who plays the Don's lawyer) may well be the palest actor I've ever seen. He always gives off a strange Bela Lugosi vibe. What's that about? This also might be Tonino Ricci's most accomplished film.
Things kick off with American businessman Richard Conte thinking that he doesn't need to get involved with the local mob as he's got links back home, and he doesn't even get the hint when a bunch of thugs turn up and gun down his hired goons. This draws the attention of the cops, including a moustachioed Giancarlo Prete, a Sicilian himself who really wants to clear up crime in Palermo.
That's not as easy as it sounds, and it didn't sound easy in the first place. The main boss guy, Don Pelligrino, don't like being told what to do and doesn't like being set up, so after some clashes, Conte gets murdered, courtesy of hitman Sal Borghese, and although there's potentially a witness, we come against that Sicilian habit and suddenly not seeing or witnessing anything. But then again, that's a sensible option when it comes to Mafia matters...
Giancarlo and his cop sidekicks try their best to get a witness to stand up against Don Pelligrino, and after some tragic deaths they actually do (in a creatively filmed scene where the court officials appear only as shadows), but Giancarlo soon finds that even having a witness is not enough, but he also finds that being a cop has an advantage, as the Mafia know how much trouble they can stir up by killing a cop.
Nicely acted all round, this one isn't full of car chases or gunfights, but sure has a lot a Mafia executions in it, mostly courtesy of Sal Borgehese, who has a much bigger role than usual. I don't know the name of the guy playing Don Pelligrino and I can't be bothered looking it up, but he was good too. Tonino Ricci certainly amps up the frustration of a cop trapped between a bunch of gangsters who really run the show, and the reticence of a populace unwilling to risk their lives in order to get rid of the gangsters.
Edmund Purdom (who plays the Don's lawyer) may well be the palest actor I've ever seen. He always gives off a strange Bela Lugosi vibe. What's that about? This also might be Tonino Ricci's most accomplished film.
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