Just saw it, excellent i recomend it to anyone interested in Mafia history
17 Reviews
Very good
moscalifar-6872713 September 2019
Good Documentary
kyletompkinskt7 November 2019
It was another tale of a Mafia family that lived long hard life because of a man with who was finished with the Mafioso life. What he did had grave consequences for a good many members of his family. Being put in that situation I would have left that alone and rather keep my family safe. It's a shame that those in the high escalon of government most asuradely made a name for themselves in doing this. It's also a shame the government most definitely wasted a gross amount of money protecting him for all those years. But what can you do.
Living the ... good (?) life
kosmasp15 February 2020
Many know Mafia life just from the movies. This documentary does shine a light on one of the first of the Italian Mafia trying to escape that life, by also betraying the way he lived before. And all that for what? For the family - not Mafia family but the one that had nothing to do with crime.
On the other hand testifying agains the Mafia is quite dangerous, for him and everyone who was attached to him. The documentary is nicely structured, has a lot of Italian in there too (with subtitles), therefor might be tough to follow for some. If you can endure that, there is a compelling story you will experience and a look behind the curtain ...
On the other hand testifying agains the Mafia is quite dangerous, for him and everyone who was attached to him. The documentary is nicely structured, has a lot of Italian in there too (with subtitles), therefor might be tough to follow for some. If you can endure that, there is a compelling story you will experience and a look behind the curtain ...
a good and a bad Doc - like 2 but together
huginmuningyldenkam15 September 2020
Their is a really good Doc in there about the end of the old guard of cose nostra,
but i had too constantly skip forward when it showed his family talking on screen. they brought nothing too the doc and it could have been a epic Doc if they just cut out 30.min of useless material about his 'second' family who clearly where a bit blank and had nothing to do with the organisation unlike his first family,,
And here some agendas have made it too the screen and there is a total lack of critical thinking towards the man and family in question, the whole thing would have done much better if we only heard the stories narrated from buscetta without the family, it is him and his oldschool Mindset that captivates not his family and his mindset around home,
the whole thing ended with buscetta family showing they don't even have contact anymore. the notion here is clearly we should get sad - crime do not pay- and all that, but i got mad at these people and did not feel sorry for them with the sacrifice buscetta made in vain for them,
A bit of a mess. but the rest of the Doc is epic and its very much worth watching,
but i had too constantly skip forward when it showed his family talking on screen. they brought nothing too the doc and it could have been a epic Doc if they just cut out 30.min of useless material about his 'second' family who clearly where a bit blank and had nothing to do with the organisation unlike his first family,,
And here some agendas have made it too the screen and there is a total lack of critical thinking towards the man and family in question, the whole thing would have done much better if we only heard the stories narrated from buscetta without the family, it is him and his oldschool Mindset that captivates not his family and his mindset around home,
the whole thing ended with buscetta family showing they don't even have contact anymore. the notion here is clearly we should get sad - crime do not pay- and all that, but i got mad at these people and did not feel sorry for them with the sacrifice buscetta made in vain for them,
A bit of a mess. but the rest of the Doc is epic and its very much worth watching,
A mess
ersbel22 October 2019
This documentary is a mess. The producers had nothing and probably have run our of money so they had to push something to the market.
Who is "our"? The family. But there is a lot, more than half, about things that don't belong to the family life. And it's about the second family anyway, as the first family is barely mentioned.
Is it about the trials? But which ones?
Overall it's a long series of pointless interviews with people who have met Tommaso Buscetta and agreed to appear on camera.
Who is "our"? The family. But there is a lot, more than half, about things that don't belong to the family life. And it's about the second family anyway, as the first family is barely mentioned.
Is it about the trials? But which ones?
Overall it's a long series of pointless interviews with people who have met Tommaso Buscetta and agreed to appear on camera.
Real Life Godfather Who Turned Makes A Compelling Story
AudioFileZ15 September 2019
I'm 60 and I didn't know of this story. It is the one behind the prosecution of flagging Mafia at home and abroad whose new mantra involved drugs and a new take on the old Costra Nostra ways. The Godfather here may not have been known to you as he was not to me. His fall and turning makes a crucial point in the massive take-down of the organization. The costs were, as imagined, quite striking. This doc shows a good measure of the life of Thomas Bucetta (sp?) after he decides to cooperate with both Italian and American governments. The man paid a heavy cost as might be imagined. It is not wholly a horror story as he survives with all but two of his children until his death from health related problems. The simple adage comes to mind: "you play, you pay" in some of the worst ways. Like most criminal organizations who grow like an octopus's tentacles this one began to crumble from within. But, because of it's dark spread it continues in various factions and forms still haunting the remaining family members whose father did the one thing that is unforgettable. I found it fascinating as it does hit on the human costs of such a dark ride.
Probably was really good but
emeaj14 October 2019
Just as the movie the storytelling is lacking, but the history is great
JurijFedorov31 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I watched the interesting movie, The Traitor. About a mafia don who decided to give all the mafia names to the police to protect himself. The movie was quite a mess with most scenes not making a ton of sense, but it was fun to watch how the mafia in Italy fell apart. Tommaso Buscetta had moved to Brazil with a fake ID. Then Riina decided he wanted all the power in Italy and stated to kill off all other mafia families in Italy. They worked together before that to share the wealth. Now he wanted monopoly on the heroin trade to Italy and USA. And he got this as the other families didn't know what hit them and were soon wiped out. Even just random family members or people who helped them like doctors were killed. Hundreds of people. Italy did nothing about it as most of the state was run by the mafia.
Tommaso Buscetta had his family in Italy wiped out one by one. At 42 he met a 20 year old blonde in Brazil and was happy and safe. He was arrested by the Brazilian cops and sent to Italy. He digested poison, but it failed. Finally he felt like he had to protect his family in another way by working with the government against the mafia to get Riina, but first and foremost be sent to USA in witness protection as that would be worthless in Italy. He also got a lenient prison sentence for it. He gave up all the mafia connections he had. Hundreds went to prison in Italy. Later Riina was found as he threatened to kill one of his members for not being a family man. Only having 1 wife all your life was extremely important to Riina, but he made the mistake of telling the guy about it instead of just killing him. The guy gave the cops Riina's address and finally they caught him. The guy who killed hundreds of people and even the prosecutors going after the mafia.
This doc is about how Buscetta, but largely his family, experienced all of this. Them moving every few months in USA to keep safe. Them moving to Italy, being found by journalists, and then moving back to USA. Buscetta on the witness stand. His family whining about their bad life just moving around all the time. Largely his wife and children are interviewed. They all respect him and don't much care about him once being a killer and mafia member. But they dislike him for creating danger for them. Even today they are in some danger because of the connection alone.
The doc does present the story in a way better way than the movie. But it's a bit too long I think. Probably 20 min too long. They linger a lot on his family and their emotional statements which are worth little 30 years later. Nice of them to be angry and sad about their dad, but it means very little historically.
Furthermore the doc presents stuff the movie doesn't and the other way around. For example, they claim in the doc we never found out who killed his 2 sons in Italy. It's a mystery! But in the movie there is a full scene where his childhood friend in court admits to having killed his sons. The same friend who he in the doc and movie is questioned by in court. So what else is the doc missing? Why this giant miss and what else did they miss while focusing on the family stuff? Similarly the movie misses stuff too and both totally overlook how Riina was captured. Which is essential as they show Riina in court saying he refuses to speak to Buscetta because he remarried. That's clearly his great moral thing and his downfall. When you tell a story it's extremely important to get all these main points down. Just the main stuff you don't need to show details. Just tell us who is who and who wants what. What happened where. Both stories overlook this as there are so many small stories and family members to focus on. But both are still good. Just not as great as they should have been. A bit lazy and lacks focused storytelling. Still I greatly enjoyed both!
There are probably like 10-20 things I noticed was missing in the doc. And I haven't even read about the story. For example, they don't tell us when Buscetta is in prison. They only tell us what he is doing at a certain point in time. So how long was he in prison for what year? The doc totally misses this. Again, very weird choice in storytelling. The movie does exactly the same! Are both stories made by the same people? Clearly not as the doc misses many things the movie made clear. Not sure what is going on here. You get like 20% of the mafia story. But 95% of the family story. We never even hear anything about what Buscetta did for the mafia. Not here and not in the movie. Again, exactly the same mistake.
Tommaso Buscetta had his family in Italy wiped out one by one. At 42 he met a 20 year old blonde in Brazil and was happy and safe. He was arrested by the Brazilian cops and sent to Italy. He digested poison, but it failed. Finally he felt like he had to protect his family in another way by working with the government against the mafia to get Riina, but first and foremost be sent to USA in witness protection as that would be worthless in Italy. He also got a lenient prison sentence for it. He gave up all the mafia connections he had. Hundreds went to prison in Italy. Later Riina was found as he threatened to kill one of his members for not being a family man. Only having 1 wife all your life was extremely important to Riina, but he made the mistake of telling the guy about it instead of just killing him. The guy gave the cops Riina's address and finally they caught him. The guy who killed hundreds of people and even the prosecutors going after the mafia.
This doc is about how Buscetta, but largely his family, experienced all of this. Them moving every few months in USA to keep safe. Them moving to Italy, being found by journalists, and then moving back to USA. Buscetta on the witness stand. His family whining about their bad life just moving around all the time. Largely his wife and children are interviewed. They all respect him and don't much care about him once being a killer and mafia member. But they dislike him for creating danger for them. Even today they are in some danger because of the connection alone.
The doc does present the story in a way better way than the movie. But it's a bit too long I think. Probably 20 min too long. They linger a lot on his family and their emotional statements which are worth little 30 years later. Nice of them to be angry and sad about their dad, but it means very little historically.
Furthermore the doc presents stuff the movie doesn't and the other way around. For example, they claim in the doc we never found out who killed his 2 sons in Italy. It's a mystery! But in the movie there is a full scene where his childhood friend in court admits to having killed his sons. The same friend who he in the doc and movie is questioned by in court. So what else is the doc missing? Why this giant miss and what else did they miss while focusing on the family stuff? Similarly the movie misses stuff too and both totally overlook how Riina was captured. Which is essential as they show Riina in court saying he refuses to speak to Buscetta because he remarried. That's clearly his great moral thing and his downfall. When you tell a story it's extremely important to get all these main points down. Just the main stuff you don't need to show details. Just tell us who is who and who wants what. What happened where. Both stories overlook this as there are so many small stories and family members to focus on. But both are still good. Just not as great as they should have been. A bit lazy and lacks focused storytelling. Still I greatly enjoyed both!
There are probably like 10-20 things I noticed was missing in the doc. And I haven't even read about the story. For example, they don't tell us when Buscetta is in prison. They only tell us what he is doing at a certain point in time. So how long was he in prison for what year? The doc totally misses this. Again, very weird choice in storytelling. The movie does exactly the same! Are both stories made by the same people? Clearly not as the doc misses many things the movie made clear. Not sure what is going on here. You get like 20% of the mafia story. But 95% of the family story. We never even hear anything about what Buscetta did for the mafia. Not here and not in the movie. Again, exactly the same mistake.
Easy...just use ENGLISH CC!!
livinglifing21 January 2020
Some reviews are complaining that the movie is only for those who understand Italian. Do you trust the opinions of people who can't figure out to use the English closed captioned option on Netflix to get the translation? It is a very good watch...enjoyable but not breathtaking. Even better for those who can exist in at least a grade-school level of intelligence...
Great documentary, and yes it HAS english subtitles for the italian parts.
rchosen-193-553527 December 2019
As stated in my title, not sure why people said there are no subtitles. There are. Maybe they were to busy listening to the documentary and not actually watching it.
That aside it was a great documentary. I have heard of his name but never really knew much about him, his family or mafia connections. Being italian, I've always had a interest in the mafia of course. I'm sure some of my uncles were involved in the american one. But it's a subject they often won't talk about.
I feel for Buscetta. He is both villian and hero. And I feel for his son that wanted nothing do with him. I can understand why he hated him, but at the same time I can understand that all Tommaso wanted to do was protect his family so they could lead a normal life. Yes, he may have been bad in the past, but he was trying to "atone" for his sins. I am not in the sons shoes so obviously I can never understand what it's like.
In the end, and I don't say this as if anyone should die like this, its as if the cancer was sort of the price to pay for Tommaso's past life. At least he died naturally and not by someone trying to kill him.
That aside it was a great documentary. I have heard of his name but never really knew much about him, his family or mafia connections. Being italian, I've always had a interest in the mafia of course. I'm sure some of my uncles were involved in the american one. But it's a subject they often won't talk about.
I feel for Buscetta. He is both villian and hero. And I feel for his son that wanted nothing do with him. I can understand why he hated him, but at the same time I can understand that all Tommaso wanted to do was protect his family so they could lead a normal life. Yes, he may have been bad in the past, but he was trying to "atone" for his sins. I am not in the sons shoes so obviously I can never understand what it's like.
In the end, and I don't say this as if anyone should die like this, its as if the cancer was sort of the price to pay for Tommaso's past life. At least he died naturally and not by someone trying to kill him.
Good documentary and use subtitles if needed
katieburton-7430111 February 2020
Perplexed by the bad reviews regarding "I don't speak Italian" don't these people not know Netflix offers a very easy system to add subtitles? My 8 year old child even knows how to do it, honestly the mind boggles these bad reviews based purely on this should be removed surely on such a ridiculous basis due to the viewers incompetency....?
Redemption Lost.
ezyrider-805817 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
At first I thought the story was about how Tomasso Buscetta, the highest ranking Don in Italy & the US, ratted out and turned on his fellow Mafioso. When you take the oath (Omerta) you give your life to Cosa Nostra. They come first, before family & friends, end of story. Buscetta joined the Mafia as a young boy when there was honor, trust & dignity among those men & if you crossed them, you would pay with your life. No one else would die but you. As the old Don's passed away, the Mafia changed with the times. In the old days, selling drugs was forbidden in the Mafia but as new Don's came into power, got greedy & broke that promise not to sell drugs. This is where Buscetta becomes disillusioned & disappointed with the Mafia & decides he wants out but you can't just walk away. You're married to the mob and you have no choice but to change. He wanted no part of selling drugs so he moves to Brazil and wants to be left alone. The Mafia heads want him dead for leaving so they lie and tell everyone he's a major drug distributer. The head of the Sicilian/US Heroin distribution connection. The same one that Rudy Giuliani busts & breaks apart.
He gets arrested even though he never got involved with drugs or traffiking. The new Mafia decides to kill all the Buscettas connected to Tomasso. Something that was never done before. They kill his sons, brothers in law and other family members & this is when Buscetta decides to turn witness against 400 Mafia members. Most get life sentences and hits are on the heads of all Buscettas. This is the only way he could get back at them for killing his family & loved ones. I am of Sicilian descent and raised as a child, when a promise is made, it is imperative to keep that promise. That's all a man has is his dignity and trust that he will keep that promise. The younger Don's did not respect the promises the old Don's made & Buscetta was caught between the old and the new Mafioso and his leaving put his family in danger to this day. It was a sad story of a man looking for redemption but never getting it for himself or his family.
Interesting & Technical Clarification
bigslug-0107426 April 2020
This was a very interesting documentary. I think it was very well put together..
Many people have noted the lack of subtitles. The subtitles are there, but it's device-dependent. I started watching on AppleTV, and over the years I've found that Netflix subtitles are hit or miss on AppleTV. I ended up watching on the web browser on my laptop and the subtitles were there.
One reviewer here commented on what the "Our" in "Our Godfather" meant. The term "cosa nostra", another name for the Mafia, means "our thing". The title of this film seems to be a play on "our thing" and The Godfather. Makes sense to me.
Let's hope that Tomasso's passing grants freedom and safety to his family.
Many people have noted the lack of subtitles. The subtitles are there, but it's device-dependent. I started watching on AppleTV, and over the years I've found that Netflix subtitles are hit or miss on AppleTV. I ended up watching on the web browser on my laptop and the subtitles were there.
One reviewer here commented on what the "Our" in "Our Godfather" meant. The term "cosa nostra", another name for the Mafia, means "our thing". The title of this film seems to be a play on "our thing" and The Godfather. Makes sense to me.
Let's hope that Tomasso's passing grants freedom and safety to his family.
OK Documentary
bowedeclan3 April 2020
Just watched on Netflix, it's decent but why is there no automated subtitles for Italian and portagese languages I would say only 40%is in English, had t turn on full subtitles and watch it all subtitled which was a bit of a pain...
Please remember that the subtitles are available for this documentary
felsa2 February 2021
God sake. At least 3 different commentaries about the "Italian language issue" because they don't understand that language, and that's is a reason to rate under 6-7 this film. It's incredible that we have people that review films (meaning that they usually see films) and probably have used Netflix or Amazon prime a couple of times at least, but they are not capable of putting manually the subtitles on the film.
By the way: The documentary it's incredible; It helps you to realice what really means to be a gangster, and the consequences of being one; for you and everyone you love.
By the way: The documentary it's incredible; It helps you to realice what really means to be a gangster, and the consequences of being one; for you and everyone you love.
The Rise and Fall of a Mafioso
agentyang18 February 2021
When it comes to the mob life, it is often glamorized in Hollywood. While some aspect of that is true, it downplays the aftermath of it. Sometimes a good film will just end the story with a wink or that they were placed under witness protection. This docufilm starts with a BANG BANG BANG (Quoting Mrs. Buschetta) and quickly dives into the aftermath of being a mafioso. Not just the hiding but the mental shifts he took. The fear, anger, and sadness. While it does drag in some parts of the film. it does a good job in exploring the process of being an ex-mob boss. This is a film about a man trying to protect what's important to him. His real family.
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