The Best Mafia Film? Not The Godfather

Wherein It Is Shown, by Historical Inquiry and Sober Reflection, That While The Godfather May Reign Supreme in the Realm of Cinema, It Does Not Hold the Crown as the Most Faithful or Excellent Account of La Cosa Nostra.

Listen, by now it should be no surprise that when it comes to guilty pleasures, mine is Organized Crime. How I ended up being sucked into the world of being an LCN sleuth is a story for another day but let's just say I know a guy who knows a guy. 

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I like to read. And every year my reading list is divided into four categories: fiction (topic like WWII), non-fiction, Bible adjacent and... organized crime. I read about it a lot. 

And reading is only one way to study a topic. There are also other ways to tackle it. One is through documentaries of which, there are many great ones out there on the Mafia. None better than Crime Inc: The True Story of the Mafia. It was made in the 1980s by a British company but really, there isn't a better documentary. Well worth the 5 or so hours of watching it. 

Another way to dive into studying organized crime is by watching the numerous cinematic and television attempts to portray it. And while The Godfather is undoubtedly one of the greatest films of all time, it is not the best movie on the mob. Here's where things get weird: the absolute best film about the Mafia wasn't made in America and doesn't take place in America. Nor is it focused on the Old Country like Gomorra (another great one) but focuses on Canada, specifically Montreal. Yes, Montreal. The city that competes with Sicily for being the world headquarters for organized crime. The film is Mafia Inc. 

So, let's get this out of the way first. I love The Godfather. It, and its sequel, are one of my favorite films of all time. I had the pleasure of reading Puzzo's novel before seeing the film and the book is just as good. The reason I say it is not the greatest of all time are for two simple reasons: while certainly authentic to a degree and inspired by real events, it is fictional. And second, it romanticizes The Life. Of course, there are exceptions, Michael having Fredo taken out in the second film is a bit of a course correction, overall, it made it look like an honorable and worthy endeavor. Something which, unfortunately, organized crime absolutely loved (as you'll see later in this post). 

Mafia Inc does not shy away from the brutality and ugliness of organized crime. There is no romanticism of the life. On the contrary, it is extremely bleak and nihilistic. It is a film where, in the end, everyone dies and no one is a good guy or right. The plot hinges almost humorously, on a member of the family doing something to help smuggle drugs into the country that are so horrible even the bad guys balk at it. But their concerns isn't over the morality, it is over the fact that if the truth comes out, there will be an issue with the politicians and police they control protecting them. The discovery of the problem, and the attempt to resolve it, results in lots and lots of murders and family members (in our sense and not LCN sense) turning against each other. It does not have a happy ending. theyo it checks the box of not romanticizing organized crime. 

You should check out the trailer before proceeding to get a feel for what I'm trying to describe. 

The film is based on the book of the same name. That book is a work of non-fiction. And this is important: the movie is based on the true events of the Rizzuto Family.  

The Rizzuto family is a Sicilian family from Cattolica Eraclea, a well established hub for producing Mafia families. In the 1950s, Nick Rizzuto Sr immigrated to Canada. His brothers immigrated to Central America (and this is key). They worked together to quickly establish a global organized crime group with an emphasis on distributing drugs directly from Venezuela. Their Venezuela connection would be useful for whenever it got too hot in Canada, the Rizzuto's could flee to South America. Nick built an Organized Crime family following the traditional Sicilian structure. 

He was The Godfather of Canada. And he knew it and embraced it. In 1995, he and his wife celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary and in these home videos, they came out onto the front row of their home on Mafia Row to the live band playing the theme from The Godfather. 

Think about that for a moment: having the cojones as a mafia leader to gather with your family for your wedding anniversary and pose for a picture while a live band plays the theme from the Godfather. 

The film of course isn't a 1:1 to the Rizzuto crime family. Nick Sr. and his son Vito who took the family to new heights of power, are merged into one character to the point that at one moment in the film, they recreate the above mentioned wedding scene. 

Some incredible moments in the film (not all) that either took place or allegedly happened. 

• Vito did take control of all of the gangs (Hells Angels, Haitians) by brokering peace and dividing the city between them. 
• He was involved as a silent backer in a plan to build a bridge connecting Sicily to Italy. 
• When he finally lost the case and was deported to America to face trial for the Bonnano hits in 1981, Vito made one final plea to the police: they can't extradite him because if they do, "blood will flow on the streets." He claimed that he held it all together.
• And the consigliere in the Rizzuto family was pulled over by the "police" and then disappeared, never to be seen again. This scene is powerfully depicted in Mafia Inc. 

He wasn't wrong. He was sent to America and Montreal devolved into a civil war. Between 2006 and 2012, there were roughly 100 homicides in Montreal directly related to the mob. In 2012, the year he returned to Montreal and began to regain his power, there were 18 homicides directly related to organized crime in Montreal. 

I feel like I've lost the plot. Here's the deal: this film is brutally honest about The Life. It does not glamorize it. Instead, it shows how it tears someone down and destroys them, even if they are rising in the ranks of power. Here is a pretty powerful, and disturbing clip, of a young boy who rises to power in the family, showing him wrestling with the reality of his first murder. It portrays historical, ugly, moments in Canada's history of organized crime. For its accuracy, for its potent brutality, for its complete lack of humanity, it is the most accurate depicting of organized crime I've seen on film and (ironically) a great watch.