The mafia in cinema, between fantasy and reality

Marlon Brando in The Godfather by Francis Ford Coppola (1972) • DR

Mafia films are almost a cinematic genre in their own right. It is above all American directors, especially of Italian origin, who are at the origin of the most famous productions. The "imaginary" of the mafia that has spread across the planet due to the global distribution of American cinema is largely derived from these works. Produced by Hollywood, these films logically gave pride of place to the mafia of the United States.

Sordid paranoia at Scorsese

Martin Scorsese, filmmaker of Sicilian origin, has thus regularly looked into it. In Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995) or even The Infiltrators (which won the Oscar for best film in 2007), it places its plot within the framework of serious mafia crime. A few faces recur regularly in these films, notably that of Robert de Niro, himself of Italian origin. Scorsese's films have the particular merit of highlighting the sordid and often paranoid atmosphere in which the mobsters are immersed, to the point that it is difficult for the viewer to identify with them.

Coppola's elegant fresco

Conversely, Francis Ford Coppola confers an aura of violence as well as elegance, mystery, luxury and a certain sense of honor to the Corleone clan, which he depicts in his famous trilogy. The Godfather (1972, 1974, 1990). This fresco focuses on one of the main mafia families of post-war New York, whose members are interpreted by actors as eminent as Al Pacino or Marlon Brando. The first opus of this fresco is particularly considered by critics as a masterpiece, to the point that Stanley Kubrick considered it "without doubt the best film ever made" in the history of the 7 ^e art. Italian cinema has also taken an interest in the mafia, especially in recent years.

The success of Gomorrah

The book by Italian journalist Roberto Saviano Gomorrah , drawn from an investigation into the Neapolitan Camorra, is at the origin of a film by Matteo Garrone (2008), which depicts the actions of the mafia without any romanticism. This book also inspired a series, also titled Gomorra , but with a very different tone (4 seasons from 2014 to 2019). This production, which immerses the viewer in the daily life of mobsters not always depicted in a negative way, has been a huge success in Italy and internationally.