Italy is widely known as the birthplace of the Sicilian Mafia, aka, Cosa Nostra, and the Neapolitan Mafia, aka, Camorra. The former (which has always held more power) was formed in the 19th century when Sicily transitioned from feudalism to capitalism and merged with mainland Italy.
So strong was the Italian mob that even petty criminals reported to it. Years later, some of its members would move to the West, forming the American mafia —a faction that would become more prominent than its parent unit.
For decades, thousands of people were murdered, but after the Maxi Trials of the ‘90s, mafia activity in Italy became extremely low-key. By 2021, the country had the third lowest crime rate in Europe, with only Luxembourg and Slovenia beating it.
Still, because the terror unfolded for so long, the violent years will always be remembered by citizens and filmmakers. Over the years, dozens of great gangster movies have been made, showing just how grim the situation once was.
10 One Hundred Steps (2000)
As scary as the tormentors are, there is always someone ready to challenge them. One such person was the anti-mafia activist, Giuseppe “Peppino” Impastato, whose story is told in One Hundred Steps (One hundred steps was how far Peppino’s house was from the mansion of Mafia boss Tano Badalamenti).
Peppino began calling out the mob after his uncle was killed in a car bomb. In the ‘70s, he joined a Communist party, began leaning towards left-wing politics, and even formed a radio station where he ran a daily show dedicated to criticizing organized crime members. As fate would have it, he was eventually whacked.
Dying for the Cause
Peeping at criminal dealings through the eyes of the good guys can be fun. Productions like The Untouchables and Narcos are proof of that. Here, the mob’s dirt is seen through Peppino, who appears genuinely bothered by the amorality on display and keeps channeling his anger and resentment onto the airwaves and the papers.
“THE MAFIA IS A PILE OF SH*T,” reads the headline of one of his articles. From that moment, it becomes easy to predict an execution. And it happens quite brutally. The activist gets blown railway tracks using TNT (Trinitrotoluene). Plenty of family-related drama unfolds before that happens, hence potential audiences can brace themselves for a fun ride.
Rent it on Apple TV+ or buy on Amazon
9 Suburra (2015)
Based on the similarly titled book by Carlo Bonini and Giancarlo De Cataldo, Suburra is a tale of crime and real estate. One of the principal characters is “Samurai” (Claudio Amendola), a former militant neo-fascist guerilla turned mob boss. Like Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, he has “Las Vegas” dreams. He dreams of turning Rome’s Ostia waterfront into a gambling paradise.
To do so, he teams up with an equally ambitious yet reckless politician named Filippo Malgradi (Pierfrancesco Favino) and gets financing from the Vatican Bank. However, the plan doesn’t go as smoothly as anticipated.
Wild Botch Fest
What would Bugsy Siegel not do? The answer lies in everything that ‘Samurai’ does in Suburra. There is a total botch fest on display, and the movie, generally, is a cautionary tale on how to choose business partners. Among all of Samurai’s partners, Malgradi is the worst. He creates a major scandal after one of the prostitutes he was sleeping with dies.
This results in a lengthy murder chain meant to wash away the sins. The chaos is fun to watch, yet it’s impossible not to pity these characters as they jeopardize everything they have worked for.
Stream it on Tubi
8 Mafioso (1962)
In Mafioso, Antonio (Alberto Sordi), an automobile assembly factory worker decides to visit his ancestral land in Sicily, after residing in Milan for years. There, he finds himself in some land-related trouble that forces him to participate in a quid pro quo arrangement with the local mafia boss. The Don agrees to make Antonio’s problems disappear in exchange for the blue-collar worker carrying out a mob mafia hit in America. Without consulting his wife, Anotnio boards a ship and heads to the West.
One of Martin Scorsese’s Favorites
So good is Mafioso that gangster genre connoisseur Martin Scorsese named it one of his favorites. Audiences won’t be left wondering what the filmmaker saw in the film, as its awesomeness is evident from the first minute. The cinematography is breathtaking, first capturing the concrete of Milan, before moving to the greenery of Sicily.
Even though it came earlier, the film also echoes The Godfather in many ways. “Mama commands and the baby obeys,” the boss once tells Antonio during a tete-a-tete, reminding him that if he ever tries to act smart, he will sleep with the fishes. A similar line (“I’ll give him an offer he can’t refuse”) is said by Don Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’s movie. Additionally, the movie, in general, will remind fans of the time Michael Corleone went to exile in Sicily.
Stream it on the Criterion Channel
7 Caliber 9 (1972)
Getting paroled is a reason for celebration for most gangsters, but things get worse for Milanese gangster Ugo Piazza (Gastone Moschin) once he steps out of the cage in Caliber 9. A feared American launderer known as “The Americano” begins threatening him, believing he is hiding $300,000 that he stole before he goes to prison. Elsewhere, the police commissario attempts to make him into a turncoat and force him to turn against everyone, including his former godfather, Don Vincenzo.
Plenty of Action, and a Corpse-Littered Finale
In a movie titled Caliber 9, one can expect plenty of action, and that’s exactly what is served in this critically acclaimed production. Director Fernando Di Leo handles the action sequences with equanimity and suppresses any scene that might require the suspension of belief. And Milan — widely thought of as a haute couture center — is turned into a total battlefield.
The finale is especially Tarantino-esque as it involves several characters murdering each other in quick succession. It’s all shocking, brutal, and, most importantly, electrifying.
Stream it on Kanopy or Plex
6 Fort Apache Napoli (2009)
Fort Apache Napoli is yet another sad story of a young man who dared to defy the mafia and paid dearly for it. In the ‘80s, Giancarlo Siani — a journalist working for the Osservatorio sulla magazine, and the Il Mattino newspaper — began exposing collusion between Camorra members and politicians. Despite receiving numerous threats, he remained defiant and continued to expose the rot in Naples. In September 1985, he was shot dead outside his girlfriend’s house.
A Powerful Performance by Libero De Rienzo
Stories about men fighting powerful systems and getting killed for their constructive nosiness are common, so Fort Apache Napoli doesn’t stand out because of its plot. It’s the lead actor’s performance that’s truly worth applauding. Libero De Rienzo does well in conveying the dismissiveness and know-it-all attitude of a character who is too brave for his own good. Whether he is demanding answers through a phone call or simply caressing tons of documents, he does it with much-needed enthusiasm.
Unfortunately, De Rienzo died too, under unfortunate circumstances, in 2021. Though a crime was suspected, his death was eventually ruled as an accidental drug overdose.
Buy it on Google Play
5 A Judge of Honor (2004)
A Judge of Honor takes audiences back to the ‘80s when a group of judges was tasked with looking into the activities of the mafia. Led by Paolo Borsellino, these judges would form what would come to be known as the Antimafia Pool. The group comprised fearless magistrates from the Prosecuting Office of Palermo (Sicily) who all agreed to merge their steel balls and establish new prosecutorial strategies that would bring down the Sicilian Mafia.
Organized Law Enforcement to Tackle Organized Crime
“Our problem is that we have never been as organized as they are,” barks one judge in the film’s first act. Other characters immediately realize that this is indeed true.
Before the formation of the Antimafia Pool, every magistrate operated in solitude, hence it was easy for the mob to pick on them one by one. This time, they make a vow of unity, and it doesn’t take long for the results to be seen. The work ethic, the caution, and the general thought-process are guaranteed to keep the viewer glued. So will the strategies that some gangsters come up with as a way to fight back.
Stream it on Plex
4 Romanzo Criminale (2005)
Inspired by the true story of the criminal outfit, Banda della Magliana, Romanzo Criminale follows three youngsters who, shortly after getting released from a juvenile facility, vow to become the most powerful criminals in Rome. Their dream becomes true, but as one of them sees the bigger picture and seeks to expand, the others get caught up in their hedonism and spend their time pursuing thighs and booze. Soon, cracks begin to form.
The Gestation of Gangsters
Romanzo Criminale is better watched for educational rather than entertainment purposes. The film keenly examines the gestation process of mobsters, from young, clueless teams, to cigar-smoking high-players who control everything from racketeering to drug trafficking. How they sink their tentacles, who they align with, and how they avoid capture are all explained.
Still, there are plenty of wonderful little plots to dilute the gritty feel. One of them involves a policeman who is in love with the same escort that one of the gang leaders is seeing. Even better is that the story doesn’t end here. The mayhem flows over to a spinoff series that is just as good as the movie.
Buy it on Amazon
3 Salvatore Giuliano (1962)
Salvatore Giuliano is a biopic of the bandit of the same name, who became one of Italy’s most notorious criminals following the Allied invasion of the key Axis power in World War II. Because the economy was on its knees and most people were hungry, Guliano tapped into the black market food smuggling business. It was also rumored to have been a power broker and is reported to have engineered many bloody showdowns, notably the Portella della Ginestra massacre.
The Relationship Between Crime and Politics
Martin Scorsese also listed Salvatore Guiliano as one of his favorite cinema works, and this is understandable, considering that he enjoys making movies about glorified criminals. The titular character is depicted as someone who is using the wrong means to do the right thing, making him hard to detest.
Undoubtedly one of the must-see ‘60s gangster movies, the biopic also excels through it’s neo-realist style and unconventional storytelling approach. Salvatore himself rarely appears on the screen. Instead, the focus remains on the impact of his actions.
Stream it on the Criterion Channel
2 In the Name of the Law (1949)
In In the Name of the Law, the young Palermo magistrate (Guido Schiavi) heads to the small town of Capodarso to investigate to look into a murder that is rumored to have been carried out by the mob. As expected, he has a hard time getting anyone to cooperate. Despite the challenges, the doesn’t give up. Like a film noir detective, he comes up with creative ways to enable him to get to the bottom of the matter.
One Man Against the World
The template used in In the Name of the Law isn’t too alien. Numerous movies feature an outsider who walks into new territory and acts like they own it, yet the protagonist here remains likable because he never makes a mistake.
Through him, the cultural differences between the North and South are examined from all angles, ranging from religious practices to the laws of the underworld. A memorable scene involves the magistrate issuing a lengthy rallying cry to villagers, urging them to fight back against the mob. Everyone becomes charged, but then the time comes for actual confrontations, separating the cowards from the lionhearted.
Stream it on Plex
1 Gomorrah (2008)
Based on Roberto Saviano’s non-fiction book of the same name, Gomorrah highlights the power and influence of the Casalesi clan, — a crime organization within the Camorra. In the movie, unruly teens Ciro (Ciro Petrone) and Marco (Marco Macor), make the uninformed decision to steal a cache of weapons belonging to the Casalesi and end up facing the consequences.
Another subplot involves Pasquale (Salvatore Cantalupo), a tailor trying to avoid paying the weekly protection fees. He, too, realizes the Camorra cannot be messed with.
Features Actual Mob Members
Gomorrah could be described as an anti-mob film as it points out all the major ways that “made guys” oppress the people. So haunting is the violence, that audiences might refrain from watching a gangster movie again.
Away from the gore, the film aims to be as realistic as possible, so much so that it features actual Camorra members in the cast. Interestingly, many of them were later jailed for different crimes. Bernardino Terracciano got a life sentence for murder, Giovanni Venosa was locked up for extortion, and Salvatore Russo received a sentence for drug trafficking.
Stream it on Prime Video
