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Cortechba Overrated

Helllins It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

sergepesic Sicily and mafia. It would be a first thought an average person would have, however unjust or unfair it might be. " The Sicilian Girl" is a strange, a bit clunky movie, torn between the court drama and passionate bloody opera. The medieval, macabre, isolated world of rural Sicily, with its outdated sense of honor and codes of conduct, that nobody else would understand or relate to. The heroine of this movie is a strong willed, privileged young woman, trying to avenge the death of her father and brother. Gradually, she manages to accept the fact that they both, were criminals, like the people she hated. The movie is missing something hard to explain,firmer shape, and there is a bad choice of casting the unfortunate leading actress prone to overacting.

[email protected] Only because more people will have seen "Veronica Guerin," I cite that splendid film as an introduction to "The Sicilian Girl." The themes are similar -- true stories of young women who invite death by exposing murderous activities. In this case, Rita Atrria (Veronica D'Agostino), a 17 year old from a Sicilian village controlled by the Mafia, takes her story, documented by diaries she has been keeping for many years, to an anti-Mafia prosecutor, Paolo Borsellino (Gerard Jugnot) seeking vengeance for the murder of her father and brother, both of whom were themselves members of the Mafia. Rita's diaries confirm incidents which the police have tracked and lead to the arrest of her town's Mafia chieftains, including the ones who had her father and brother killed. To avoid spoiling the story, I will offer no more of the details except to say that Rita's revelations make both her and Borsellino targets for assassination. Ms. D'Agostino and Mr. Jugnot are excellent actors, and a number of other roles are very well done. The movie is exciting and well worth the two hours it takes to watch it. As with any of the movies based on a "true" story, one is left wondering where truth leaves off and fiction takes over. I can guess at the juncture, but for the most part "The Sicilian Girl" is very convincing.

m_pooley Having lived in Sicily, this movie had extra relevance for me, especially as it deals with an aspect of the investigations into the Mafia, by magistrates Falcone and Borsellino, and the resulting maxi-trials in Palermo, with which I was not familiar, namely the part played by Rita Atria. I particularly liked the way the role of the mother typifies the see-nothing/say-nothing attitude of the people. This is emphasized in the scene where Rita's mafioso father is murdered by a rival. Windows and shutters are quietly closed and the piazza is deserted save for the corpse. The director also deserves credit for not making Rita a docile, frightened informer; instead she is feisty and she is not slow to tell the police what she thinks of them. It is a beautifully paced movie,with a well-told tale and is, like, "Gomorra" which concerned the Neapolitan Mafia, the Camorra, a movie that makes you angry. Angry at the utter scum who still permeate society in southern Italy and angry at the corruption of public officials who deal with such scum. At least something good has come out of those investigations and trials. There is a grassroots movement in Palermo called "addiopizzo". Young business people who were so shocked by the excesses of the mafia during the period of the investigations and the maxi-trials that they took to the streets, as can be seen in real-life footage at the end of this movie, and declared they were no longer willing to pay the "pizzo" (extortion) money demanded by the Mafia. A gripping and important movie.

danlougheed This is a movie I would see again and again. The is the kind of film that pays tribute to the true cinematic experience: a perfectly told story with beautiful cinematography that lets us move along with the characters and took the necessary time to let us care about these people. Wonderfully directed, with awesome performances by the actors. While some directors might have chosen more violent scenes in this true account of going up against the mafia, Marco Amenta chose something we don't see too much in films anymore: imagination. This film unfolded rather than assaulted, tantalized rather than terrorized. Bravo!