The [main] actor's every-paesan persona makes the film's coda such an effectively bittersweet punch line: Behind every local-boy-made-good success story, there apparently lies a history of violence and tears.
Comment
02/03/07
Mafioso (1962)
96
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:51
Fresh:49
Rotten:2
Average Rating:8.2/10
Consensus: Mafioso begins as an amusing farce and skillfully transforms into a portentous social drama.
Theatrical Release:Jan 19, 2007 Limited
Reviews for Mafioso
Alberto Lattuadas incomparable, half-forgotten 1962 crime comedy-travelogue is at once a giddy mixture of farce, satire and opera buffa.
10/21/06
Top CriticMafioso may be 45 years old, but it's as bracingly relevant as anything else in theaters today. Even in the heat of a dry Sicilian summer, the film looks fresh as a lemon tree. And when you bite down hard, it's just as bitter.
04/20/07
Top CriticSome viewers may feel betrayed when the film’s light-hearted and gently mocking attitude suddenly turns deadly serious. I thought it was breathtaking.
05/18/07
In class dynamics, Mafioso infiltrates every facet of life, summing up the rudimentary boredom of the man from Milan while not turning a deaf ear to the crimes of the Sicilian assassin.
01/18/07
This 1962 film is a marvel, a piece before its time that is incredibly funny while delivering a gut punch of a morality drama.
03/10/07
...a masterpiece film that readily rivals the best modern American gangster film.
03/27/07
Director Alberto Lattuada balances the satirical and shocking aspects of the story on a stiletto's edge.
05/24/07
Top CriticI will say this: If you love mob movies, Mafioso is a must.
03/09/07
Top CriticIt’s a farce with a bitter edge -- a farce with no release.
01/16/07
Top CriticNothing quite prepares you for the unique experience of this film. It's an offer that you ... well, you know. Leave the gun, take the cannolis. Mangiate bene.
03/16/07
The black American offers a brief, sharp bit of tragicomic business that only appears unrelated to Nino's dire plot. He has no idea who he is, and even when he finds out, he's committed to silence.
03/17/07
If you're curious to see the roots of Mafia-related cinema (or even if you simply enjoy a well-made, well-acted film), don't miss Mafioso, a fresh, and still engaging comedy-drama.
05/11/07
The film ripens in an unanticipated way, nimbly shifting from near farce to something quite a bit darker.
04/26/07
Top CriticIt captures, in a stark yet haunting way, the indelible fact that no man is born a mobster.
01/17/07
Top CriticFilmed in Milan, Sicily, and New York, Alberto Lattuada's 1962 black comedy is one of his most critically suc
03/10/07
Top CriticUnclassifiable, ultimately gripping 1962 film about a Sicilian native who discovers he can't resist the corrupting power of what The Godfather would later dub 'this Sicilian thing.'
03/09/07
No wonder Mafioso vanished without a trace when it was released in 1962; the mordant mobster comedy was about 45 years ahead of its time.
05/24/07
Uproariously delightful... Mafioso isn't a straight black satire of Sicilian culture so much as a suspenseful near-tragedy leavened by the zesty, irreverent wit that helped define the golden age of Italian comedies.
10/18/06
Alberto Lattuada's tricky-to-parse Mafioso dates from 1962 but, with its abrupt tonal shifts and disturbing existential premise, this nearly forgotten dark comedy could be the most modern (or at least modernist) movie in town.
01/16/07
Top CriticLatest News for Mafioso
January 18, 2007:
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