IL TRADITORE / THE TRAITOR
Marco BELLOCCHIO — ITALY, FRANCE, GERMANY, BRAZIL — 145 minutes
IN A NUTSHELL
Marco Bellocchio’s Il Traditor follows Tommaso Buscetta the so called “boss of the two worlds”, first mafia informant in Sicily 1980’s. (words by Bianca Garner)
CRITICAL RESPONSE
“The Traitor doesn’t pretend to go inside his psyche, but Favino arrestingly builds a character guided by his principles — who then betrays everyone around him. That irony — one Buscetta never quite acknowledges — is potentially dramatically rich. But it’s also another indication of the story’s nagging déjà vu: this is hardly the first mafia movie to explore the limits of honour among thieves.” — Tim Grierson, Screen Daily
“While “The Traitor” never flatlines, the scenes between Buscetta and Falcone are too unfocused to sustain the momentum that Bellocchio suffuses into the first act. The script, which the director co-wrote with four other people, begins to mistake obfuscation with complexity, as Buscetta slowly devolves into a mystery the film is moving too fast to solve.” — David Ehrlich, IndieWire
“The Traitor feels a bit too anonymous. It’s clearly made by a master filmmaker questioning the nature of repentance, and as such is far from superficial; and yet while it never loses our attention, it also doesn’t deliver much of a punch.” — Jess Weissberg, Variety
PRIZE PROSPECTS
Turning 80 this year, Marco Bellocchio has popped in and out of the Cannes Film Festival since 1980. With Vincere, Il regista di matrimoni, L’ora di religione (Il sorriso di mia madre), La balia, Il principe di Homburg, Enrico IV, and Salto nel vuoto, there is still no Golden Palm on the director’s mantel piece. And it is unlikely that The Traitor will resolve this.
Catch the competition Jury in a sentimental mood, then you might find they find a way to reward the man over his movie. Not that his new effort is bad, on the contrary. There are, of course, opportunities for unforeseen wins come prize night, but this will still have to join the queue. Quite a long one, too. (words by Robin Write)
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