Friday 10 July 2009

The Sicilian Girl

The Sicilian Girl (2009) is a fact-based drama about a 17-year-old girl, Rita, from a mafia family who broke the code of silence to bring down mafiosi from her village. I was fortunate enough to win tickets to this subtitled movie (yes, the competition junkie strikes again) and went with a friend to one of the opening screenings yesterday.

The Sicilian Girl paints a raw, unglamourous and unglorified portrait of Mafia life quite different to The Godfather (1972) or anything by Martin Scorsese. It is angry and courageous, dark and gritty, and pulls no punches; corruption and betrayal is rife and the mafioso hierarchy rules all. Initially seeking revenge on her father's (and brother's) killers, Rita comes to see that nothing will change unless the whole mafia is brought down and she puts her life on the line to do it.

I vaguely remember parts of the court case hitting the media several years ago; I had no idea that it was a 17-year-old girl who was responsible for these mafiosi's fall from grace. I'm sure that jailing some mafia leaders will not be the end of the story, but it's certainly an historical start.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
Edmund Burke
View the trailer here:

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