This film, largely created in Palermo, is a decidedly solid attempt, in a quasi-documentary form, at presenting many of the facts revolving about the courageous efforts of the Sicilian judge, Giovanni Falcone (played by Chazz Palminteri), to staunch the political power of the Mafia in Italy. Few real-life stories could be as dramatic or as meaningful to a nation as Falcone's sacrifice for his country. Director Ricky Tognazzi, son of Ugo, kept this work within a tight and neatly edited framework. The acting was solid throughout, particularly by Palminteri and Anna Galiena. It will probably be of limited interest to those not familiar with the facts upon which it is based, but will reward those who watch it by its well-crafted performances by cast and crew.
8 Reviews
A docudrama with the emphasis on "docu"
=G=10 February 2004
"Excellent Cadavers" is an HBO docudrama which tells the story of Italian hero Giovanni Falcone; a Sicilian judge who dared to take on the Mafia in its homeland and did more to rid Sicily of its age old scourge than any other man since Mussolini. As with most docudramas, this film leapfrogs through time hitting the historical high-points while trying to maintain continuity and build a dramatic tale. The result is a better history lesson than dramatic biography and a film which will play best for those with a specific interest in the Sicilian Mafia of the late 20 century. (B-)
Good, but already a forgotten film
Aylmer15 September 2006
Excellent Cadavers has only two things going against it: A) it gives away the ending in the first couple minutes of the movie, and B) it is way too short and never gives us a chance to really hear the whole story. The ending is awfully truncated, but then again the main character's life is just like the movie.
F. Murray Abraham and Chaz Palminteri both turn in expectedly strong performances, as do a number of native Italian actors doing their best to deliver their lines in English and generally doing quite well. Fausto Lombardi (from RATS and TERROR EXPRESS) has a good cameo as a mafioso interviewed while in prison. Dubbing voice provider Andy Luotto, who made no impression on me at all as Ben Gunn in TREASURE ISLAND IN OUTER SPACE, turns in a surprisingly heartfelt performance as Palminteri's second-fiddle who takes over the battle later on.
The romance for once feels fairly realistic and not too tacked-on. The woman he falls in love with sort of reminds me of an Italian Charlotte Rampling (the eyes anyway). It actually works more toward the movie's benefit than it's detriment, as well as the numerous mafia gun battles and assassinations which are all generally handled quite well.
Definitely worth a purchase if you can find it. It tends to pop up in bargain bins where you'd least expect it to be.
F. Murray Abraham and Chaz Palminteri both turn in expectedly strong performances, as do a number of native Italian actors doing their best to deliver their lines in English and generally doing quite well. Fausto Lombardi (from RATS and TERROR EXPRESS) has a good cameo as a mafioso interviewed while in prison. Dubbing voice provider Andy Luotto, who made no impression on me at all as Ben Gunn in TREASURE ISLAND IN OUTER SPACE, turns in a surprisingly heartfelt performance as Palminteri's second-fiddle who takes over the battle later on.
The romance for once feels fairly realistic and not too tacked-on. The woman he falls in love with sort of reminds me of an Italian Charlotte Rampling (the eyes anyway). It actually works more toward the movie's benefit than it's detriment, as well as the numerous mafia gun battles and assassinations which are all generally handled quite well.
Definitely worth a purchase if you can find it. It tends to pop up in bargain bins where you'd least expect it to be.
One Fatal Mistake in This Fine Movie !
elshikh412 April 2010
Warning: Spoilers
As a TV movie, it's incredible. The script did a splendid job, making a hard to forget experience. The lines are perfect, the details are insightful, and the case is shown extremely effective. It gives us many events, points of view, and characters in a classy breathless way, showing Italy vs. mafia in the first half of the 1980s, exposing how the mob bought all; the ministry of justice, the parliament, and even the church.
As for the direction, I was amazed. Not too many "based on true story" TV movies got that concern. Look at the clothes, the cars' brands, the haircuts.. the accuracy is outstanding. For instance, the movie's first sequence; the pre-credits one that takes place in the 1970s, is clever to a degree that forces you to swear that that was made in the real 1970s (otherwise, it's a stock shot). The movie is intense, having a non-stop energy as the same as its main character. There are so many good moments, and simple yet powerful artistic touches. And I just can't forget the final assassination scene; that was richly done and unforgettably shocking. By the way, in the real murder, 350 kg of dynamite were used.
The production values are above average. HBO made it look like any big cinematic movie made by independent studio. I think with another, more bankable, cast, this could have made it to the theaters easily. The music glorifies the title's character, mirroring his loftiness, in the same time it has a sad and grieving feeling to it. (F. Murray Abraham) reproves again how charismatic he is, and the script gave him a super role; the noble gangster, the wounded father, the star witness, the lord who's going to live lowly because of his confession, and the literally "wise" guy who his last words are: "Love is the only thing that matters at the end". I just didn't like the shot in which he hides his sudden tears while remembering the murder of his 2 sons; this second looked fake.
Still, what could be more dazzling than the hero himself was the *real* hero (Giovanni Falcone). His courage is historical, and his struggle is inspiring. Very few characters of this kind you would meet in real life, so making a movie about him is rare and desired. It is unbelievable biography that beats all the imaginary superheroes and the true criminals that the American cinema falls in love with. Which sorrowfully leads us to the major flaw that this movie suffers, and I mean its lead actor.
I believe they picked out (Chazz Palminteri) as someone who has Italian roots on one hand, and as American - kind of known - actor, to assure distributing the movie internationally on the other hand. But I was highly disappointed due to his performance. In all of his movies, (Palminteri) is no one but (Palminteri), delivering mostly a usual performance. This time, it was sub-bar usual. The man dealt so belittlingly with that great character, playing him from outside, while using the (Palminteri) known-by-heart signature moves (the same old diction, body language, tone..), in a way made him the movie's weakest factor. And I didn't understand the matter of the big mustache too. The actual (Falcone) was a handsome man, not having that fur ball over his face! So obviously it wasn't enough to see (Palminteri) doing his routine in the totally wrong place, to have even more problems while trying to "see" that itself! Many scenes were ruined by this pale portrayal, and it's just bad irony, considering how high the whole movie was.
Maybe I blamed the editing slightly for using the same spirit while dealing with everything. You can see that the length of cutting was about the same; whether the event was bloody or emotional. Maybe it didn't get to show the side of the enemy, or give us a chance to hear them. But any of this or that wasn't a problem which could harm this fine movie. However, the problem of this movie about (Giovanni Falcone) is the one who played (Giovanni Falcone). He played down the character, and the movie.
As for the direction, I was amazed. Not too many "based on true story" TV movies got that concern. Look at the clothes, the cars' brands, the haircuts.. the accuracy is outstanding. For instance, the movie's first sequence; the pre-credits one that takes place in the 1970s, is clever to a degree that forces you to swear that that was made in the real 1970s (otherwise, it's a stock shot). The movie is intense, having a non-stop energy as the same as its main character. There are so many good moments, and simple yet powerful artistic touches. And I just can't forget the final assassination scene; that was richly done and unforgettably shocking. By the way, in the real murder, 350 kg of dynamite were used.
The production values are above average. HBO made it look like any big cinematic movie made by independent studio. I think with another, more bankable, cast, this could have made it to the theaters easily. The music glorifies the title's character, mirroring his loftiness, in the same time it has a sad and grieving feeling to it. (F. Murray Abraham) reproves again how charismatic he is, and the script gave him a super role; the noble gangster, the wounded father, the star witness, the lord who's going to live lowly because of his confession, and the literally "wise" guy who his last words are: "Love is the only thing that matters at the end". I just didn't like the shot in which he hides his sudden tears while remembering the murder of his 2 sons; this second looked fake.
Still, what could be more dazzling than the hero himself was the *real* hero (Giovanni Falcone). His courage is historical, and his struggle is inspiring. Very few characters of this kind you would meet in real life, so making a movie about him is rare and desired. It is unbelievable biography that beats all the imaginary superheroes and the true criminals that the American cinema falls in love with. Which sorrowfully leads us to the major flaw that this movie suffers, and I mean its lead actor.
I believe they picked out (Chazz Palminteri) as someone who has Italian roots on one hand, and as American - kind of known - actor, to assure distributing the movie internationally on the other hand. But I was highly disappointed due to his performance. In all of his movies, (Palminteri) is no one but (Palminteri), delivering mostly a usual performance. This time, it was sub-bar usual. The man dealt so belittlingly with that great character, playing him from outside, while using the (Palminteri) known-by-heart signature moves (the same old diction, body language, tone..), in a way made him the movie's weakest factor. And I didn't understand the matter of the big mustache too. The actual (Falcone) was a handsome man, not having that fur ball over his face! So obviously it wasn't enough to see (Palminteri) doing his routine in the totally wrong place, to have even more problems while trying to "see" that itself! Many scenes were ruined by this pale portrayal, and it's just bad irony, considering how high the whole movie was.
Maybe I blamed the editing slightly for using the same spirit while dealing with everything. You can see that the length of cutting was about the same; whether the event was bloody or emotional. Maybe it didn't get to show the side of the enemy, or give us a chance to hear them. But any of this or that wasn't a problem which could harm this fine movie. However, the problem of this movie about (Giovanni Falcone) is the one who played (Giovanni Falcone). He played down the character, and the movie.
Terrible accents in a cheap movie, ugly lighting, boring script, but fine real story
JurijFedorov3 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I watched The Traitor (2019) and wanted to know more about the extremely violent mafia of 1980's Italy. That movie was about the mafia boss Tommaso Buscetta and was a ton of fun even though the story structure was a mess. It was big budget, with quality actors, and most importantly by far: in Italian. It was also about the Maxi trial where Buscetta was the extremely controversial witness vs. The mafia. Something that was unheard of from a mafia member. But as Riina took control of the mafia he started killing family members and killed Buscetta's family members too even those outside the mafia. The trial put hundreds of mafia members in prison and was the beginning of the end for Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian Mafia. It was set in a period where Riina killed hundreds of people to gain full power. Judges and prosecutors were killed left and right in Palermo. It was the most dangerous job in Italy basically and even most civilians seemed too scared to speak up. Even if you had 5 bodyguards the mafia would shoot you down or blow you up. Hell, even if you were in another country they'd do the same. The mafia was always extremely powerful and owned many judges and mayors. But at this point in time they got violent too and finally Italy paid in blood for letting them freely trade heroin to all the world.
The movie tells the story from Giovanni Falcone's point of view. And I must say it's a way more boring point of view. Falcone was basically a nerd prosecutor, a hero for sure unlike the murderer Buscetta, but he did boring work. It's not impossible to present boring work as interesting. The Social Network did it for example by focusing on the social aspects. But this movie is lazily put together. We just get the basics. If he married a year we get a marriage scene. If someone died we get a funeral scene. If he first met someone that year we get a meeting scene. One after another with no great excitement. It's just the real story presented in a shallow way. We are not diving deep into papers, trails, bank accounts, mafia clans. I really wanted the movie to just dare to be about paperwork for 10 minutes. Just Falcone tracking down some drug money one paper after another. But we get zero of that unfortunately. Largely it focuses on his marriage. There are even some overly long scenes where he debates the dangers with his wife. It's soap opera. They were both murdered years later.
When Buscetta was brought to Italy to stand trial he asked for Falcone. They had very long interviews that amounted to a whole structure of the mafia and all the crimes they did. It was 500 pages of evidence. Before that time the mafia even said they didn't exist. An invention. With such evidence we finally understood how the mafia worked and who did what. And we finally all agreed they existed in real life. The movie up to that point feels like it's going somewhere. Buscetta asks for Falcone. The interview starts and then... not much. They again do a bit of shallow exposition and we move on to his marriage and boring marriage conflicts about the danger of his job. We never return to Buscetta. The movie really should have been about the interviews alone. Just that and nothing else. The marriage stuff is boring.
Storywise I did notice quite a few differences from the newer movie, The Traitor (2019). Buscetta takes his poison pill on the plane not on his way to the plane in Brazil. Then a prisoner staples his mouth shut instead of sewing it shut. A lot of such smaller events that are just presented in a way different way. But the story overall is true in both movies. I didn't notice any great bias in either movie as I don't really know the full story.
The main issue besides the weak story is the low budget, low quality lighting, and very unacceptable acting. The low budget means that all scenes are just boring scenes filmed in simple locations. Back then with non-digital cameras you couldn't do much post editing or film a lot. All these scenes use very cheap lighting lamps making it all look like very fake soap opera. Did they hire some cheap Italian crew? It looks awful. You can of course do more with cheap digital cameras today, but all those streets look modern now so the CGI will just take up the extra cost.
The acting was ghastly. They use fake Italian accents. Like, it's not enough to mention Palermo every 10 minutes? All actors put on a fake Super Mario accent and not a single actors is pulling it off. It sounds like theater actors trying to act for the first time. They should have spoken proper English and the movie would have been way better. Only one who was acceptable was Paolo Borsellino. The actor who played him also looks just like him. They gave Chazz Palminteri a cheap fake mustache and thought he looked like Falcone, he doesn't. F. Murray Abraham also looks nothing like Tommaso Buscetta. But largely it's a shame they all are phoning it in. Their fake accents are like nails on a chalkboard. And I know they are good actors outside of this type of movie No fake accents again! Ever! It makes all actors way worse and sounds awful.
The movie is barely acceptable and only for people who really want to see Falcone's point of view. It's an interesting real mafia story. Besides this it's not a fun movie and it looks ugly.
The movie tells the story from Giovanni Falcone's point of view. And I must say it's a way more boring point of view. Falcone was basically a nerd prosecutor, a hero for sure unlike the murderer Buscetta, but he did boring work. It's not impossible to present boring work as interesting. The Social Network did it for example by focusing on the social aspects. But this movie is lazily put together. We just get the basics. If he married a year we get a marriage scene. If someone died we get a funeral scene. If he first met someone that year we get a meeting scene. One after another with no great excitement. It's just the real story presented in a shallow way. We are not diving deep into papers, trails, bank accounts, mafia clans. I really wanted the movie to just dare to be about paperwork for 10 minutes. Just Falcone tracking down some drug money one paper after another. But we get zero of that unfortunately. Largely it focuses on his marriage. There are even some overly long scenes where he debates the dangers with his wife. It's soap opera. They were both murdered years later.
When Buscetta was brought to Italy to stand trial he asked for Falcone. They had very long interviews that amounted to a whole structure of the mafia and all the crimes they did. It was 500 pages of evidence. Before that time the mafia even said they didn't exist. An invention. With such evidence we finally understood how the mafia worked and who did what. And we finally all agreed they existed in real life. The movie up to that point feels like it's going somewhere. Buscetta asks for Falcone. The interview starts and then... not much. They again do a bit of shallow exposition and we move on to his marriage and boring marriage conflicts about the danger of his job. We never return to Buscetta. The movie really should have been about the interviews alone. Just that and nothing else. The marriage stuff is boring.
Storywise I did notice quite a few differences from the newer movie, The Traitor (2019). Buscetta takes his poison pill on the plane not on his way to the plane in Brazil. Then a prisoner staples his mouth shut instead of sewing it shut. A lot of such smaller events that are just presented in a way different way. But the story overall is true in both movies. I didn't notice any great bias in either movie as I don't really know the full story.
The main issue besides the weak story is the low budget, low quality lighting, and very unacceptable acting. The low budget means that all scenes are just boring scenes filmed in simple locations. Back then with non-digital cameras you couldn't do much post editing or film a lot. All these scenes use very cheap lighting lamps making it all look like very fake soap opera. Did they hire some cheap Italian crew? It looks awful. You can of course do more with cheap digital cameras today, but all those streets look modern now so the CGI will just take up the extra cost.
The acting was ghastly. They use fake Italian accents. Like, it's not enough to mention Palermo every 10 minutes? All actors put on a fake Super Mario accent and not a single actors is pulling it off. It sounds like theater actors trying to act for the first time. They should have spoken proper English and the movie would have been way better. Only one who was acceptable was Paolo Borsellino. The actor who played him also looks just like him. They gave Chazz Palminteri a cheap fake mustache and thought he looked like Falcone, he doesn't. F. Murray Abraham also looks nothing like Tommaso Buscetta. But largely it's a shame they all are phoning it in. Their fake accents are like nails on a chalkboard. And I know they are good actors outside of this type of movie No fake accents again! Ever! It makes all actors way worse and sounds awful.
The movie is barely acceptable and only for people who really want to see Falcone's point of view. It's an interesting real mafia story. Besides this it's not a fun movie and it looks ugly.
Gripping recreation of facts
Vassago2 September 2000
Because it's based on facts, you begin to watch this movie knowing perfectly well what's going to happen and what the ending will be - nevertheless, it's gripping and deeply involving. The story of judge Falcone is faithully recreated - though too shortened for my liking - and does him justice. Chazz Palminteri plays Falcone much better than I expected, and while F. Murray Abraham does not look like the real Tommasso Buscetta, he does a fair portrayal of a "man of honour". The role and part of Toto Riina, while secondary, is worth mentioning too - it's truly frightening!
Impressive!
RodrigAndrisan29 August 2018
Ricky Tognazzi did a really good job, the movie is great. Chazz Palminteri, F. Murray Abraham, Anna Galiena, Andy Luotto, Lina Sastri, are all great. The entire cast is extraordinary actually. Filmed impeccably, impeccably edited, direction, music, everything is superlative.
See the documentary for the truth about the Mafia...
RJBurke19422 April 2007
Why bother seeing a fictionalized account of such trauma and horror when the real McCoy is available as a documentary? I haven't seen this account, but I have seen the documentary produced by Stille in the same year as this.
I have great admiration for Chaz Palminteri and F. Murray Abraham, two fine actors, whom I'm sure acquitted themselves well. Much more interesting, however, to find out how Stille unraveled the truth behind the assassinations of Falcone and Borsellino.
I'd read about the efforts of those two martyrs as it all happened: press coverage at the time was quite good, and I was amazed at how those two judges managed to avoid death so often.
But, as we all know, that cowardly organization of Cosa Nostra aka the Mafia has seemingly unstoppable reach, right into the upper echelons of Italian government. And, Stille holds nothing back as he shows the connections between government officials of all types including another judge and the Mafia. There is even the strong implication that, after the trial and sentencing of 384 Mafia gangsters, rogue elements in the Italian government may have been involved in efforts to stop and kill Falcone and Borsellino.
Unhappily, where there's money, there's always corruption. No society seems to be able to avoid that.
With the Mafia, however, the control of Sicily and Italian government seems complete, proving once again that everything changes, but nothing changes fundamentally.
Scenes in the documentary are not for kiddies, with many real dead bodies, a severed head, bits and pieces from bomb blasts an absolute carnage. Maybe the commercial production had the same shots, but somehow I doubt it.
If you want the whole story well, as much as you're ever gonna get then see the documentary of the same name: Excellent Cadavers.
I have great admiration for Chaz Palminteri and F. Murray Abraham, two fine actors, whom I'm sure acquitted themselves well. Much more interesting, however, to find out how Stille unraveled the truth behind the assassinations of Falcone and Borsellino.
I'd read about the efforts of those two martyrs as it all happened: press coverage at the time was quite good, and I was amazed at how those two judges managed to avoid death so often.
But, as we all know, that cowardly organization of Cosa Nostra aka the Mafia has seemingly unstoppable reach, right into the upper echelons of Italian government. And, Stille holds nothing back as he shows the connections between government officials of all types including another judge and the Mafia. There is even the strong implication that, after the trial and sentencing of 384 Mafia gangsters, rogue elements in the Italian government may have been involved in efforts to stop and kill Falcone and Borsellino.
Unhappily, where there's money, there's always corruption. No society seems to be able to avoid that.
With the Mafia, however, the control of Sicily and Italian government seems complete, proving once again that everything changes, but nothing changes fundamentally.
Scenes in the documentary are not for kiddies, with many real dead bodies, a severed head, bits and pieces from bomb blasts an absolute carnage. Maybe the commercial production had the same shots, but somehow I doubt it.
If you want the whole story well, as much as you're ever gonna get then see the documentary of the same name: Excellent Cadavers.
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