Il capo dei capi (2007– ) User Reviews

A must for all mafia-buffs!

[kongstian · 9/10 · 16 July 2009]

After I bought this series on DVD and watched the first episodes, I found myself glued to the television, and finished the 4DVD set in two days. Riveting stuff! The Series follows 4 young boys from the town of Corleone. Two of these are celebrities like Toto Riina and Bernando Provenzano, eventual leaders of the Cosa Nostra, and the hero Biagio Schiro – who in the face of Mafiosi turns to the straight and narrow path (something of a rarity in the mafia stronghold of Corleone). Biagio vs Riina drives the story throughout the better part of 50 years and it is a classic case of cat and mouse.

The Main characters and the people connected to them (wifes and children) are well developed. I quite often found myself in the mindsets of both Schiro and Riina, and the actors portraying this pair did a great job. The only character I felt lacked something was Provenzano. He was a very important figure to the corleonesi-cosa nostra but is not as prominent as one would expect. However, acting, directing and dialogue are top notch in general. The hours just fly by! I particularly enjoyed the scenes between Schiro and Boris/Falcone, where there is some much needed comic relief and nice one-liners.

Don't get scared by the Italian, put the subtitles on and enjoy one of the best mafia tales of the 00's!

A story of the Mafioso based on real events....Superb !

[pavanratnaker · 9/10 · 14 June 2013]

A TV series I liked after a long time. Watched it on TV as a 12 part series. Engrossing from the beginning. They could have easily made it a much longer series as there are so many stories within the story it its the editing and streamline presentation which makes it that's much more intense. Not being Italian had to use the subtitles which I think is more beneficial as you tend to have to concentrate and hence enjoy it more. Also not being Italian I didn't realise notably that these were based on real events but got the clues when I started to see real clippings from TV news etc. The acting from all the central characters is so laid back and real that you'd be forgiven if you thought they were the real characters. The direction is good and does justice to such a difficult story and like I said earlier the editing was the key and a job well done. Occasionally story flow seemed disjointed but I almost felt like it added to the whole charm. A must watch series !

Brilliant

[thekingstaystheking · 9/10 · 27 January 2016]

One of my favourite series hands down. From the beautiful Italian countryside to the wonderful acting by each cast member it will forever stay in my mind.

Toto Riina was a man on a mission to say the least, he rises up the pecking order until he controls it all; along the way you feel both sympathetic and intrigued by such a remarkable demeanour. The role is played by two actors, one youthful riina and an older riina, both played the role extremely well.

Masterpiece to say the least.

Full marks 10/10

il capo dei capi

[wastedmoth · 10/10 · 31 July 2010]

A great mafia film in six parts with excellent acting, I've watched it a few times, something I couldn't understand was the lack of detail in more than one occasion when killings took place in cars, during the killings it was clear to see the windows shatter in the cars but as the camera panned away there was no damage to be seen, this however didn't spoil the film, I speak Italian so it was bonus for me but I had to wait a bit to find an Italian that had also seen it to compare opinions, he thought it was great as well. The story started with the death of Totó Riina's father and the responsibility of Totó becoming head of the family at a young age, Totó soon got the idea of wanting more out of life than working the land as a peasant, he teamed up with three other youths, one of them followed the path of the law and became the fictitious Biaggo Schiró that represented any tenacious and brave cop that was to fight against the mafia over decades, the character of Biaggio as a cop always wanted to investigate even when his superiors would rather leave things alone for the sake of an easy life an he would drop everything to continue his work at the expense of his family. The character Luciano Ligio also played a great part in this film.

A brutal reminder of the last 3 decades in Sicily, Wonderfully put together.

[xtcklubber · 10/10 · 13 May 2010]

A magnificent documentary, in 6 parts, that portrays the life of Toto Riina, a simple peasant that grew out to be the head of the Italian Mafia, a guy that has been hiding out for almost 3 decades to the authorities. Arrested and condemned somewhere around '96, he denied the existence of any underground organization like the Mafia and pleaded as being "a simple peasant". 125 million $ were to be taken out from him later on.

The movie has 6 parts, each consisting of 1:30 hours. It was broad casted on the Italian national TV and it was watched by Toto himself from behind the bars.

I can't find a flaw in this movie to be honest, and i've really tried. The action is as expected constructed around the main character Toto, a brutal individual aiming to overcome his "poor" condition. He followed the simple codes of the brutal, ancient world of the Sicilian countryside, where force is the only law and there is no contradiction between personal kindness and extreme ferocity. "His philosophy was that if someone's finger hurt, it was better to cut off his whole arm just to make sure," As he mentions every now and then "the hunger" is what motivates him and . The acting is flawless. The dialogs are well though. The situations are real.

The movie is a brutal reality of the last 3 decades in Sicily.

I gave it 10/10 and i consider this to be a masterpiece of Italian cinematography. Basically it just keeps you in front of the TV for the whole 9 hours.

Definitely a must see!!! Enjoy.

If you're a hardcore mafia-fan, watch this!

[viking-fjord_90 · 10/10 · 5 February 2010]

When I first got this 4 disc DVD-set as a gift from a sister I thought it wouldn't be as good as it was, but it turned out to be brilliant! The acting is truly outstanding, and there's enough action for those who require that. Almost everything in this series happened with few exceptions. It's important for the viewer to know that Biagio Schiro is a character made up in order to develop the plot through the timelines. The character probably represents all of the brave men fighting against the mafia.

I can't state enough that this TV-series is not the usual romantic view on the mafia you see in The Godfather etc etc.

I give this a 10 out of 10 because of actor performances, setting, plot, dialog, and the fact that someone actually had stones to make this TV-series in a more realistic way.

That been said you should buy this, it's definitely money well spent!

Every detail is believable

[FilippoCarcaci · 10/10 · 30 September 2014]

I am a Sicilian and I also happen to know quite well all the characters represented, apart from Schiro' which is the only fictional one. I am amazed at the way Sicily and the Sicilians are portrayed: so accurate. The dialogues, the accents, the tics, the looks in their eyes are incredibly real. A lot of the actors are not Sicilians yet they manage to capture the essence of the culture of the island. Never during the series does anyone speaks in a less than perfect Sicilian (with a Palermo accent even). The Sicilian dialogues in the Godfather are ridiculous... But apart from this, the series manages to show how it is possible that someone after all so ignorant like Riina becomes so powerful, because he's very smart and clever, and uses his own code of communication in which he's very articulate. The mixture between reality and fiction never comes to the detriment of one or the other, it's a perfectly fine balance. I appreciate that Sicily is not abused in the photography, the background is never too idyllic or too crude. A real masterpiece!

Absolutely Superb

[vicsinghb · 10/10 · 1 November 2013]

I just finished watching the entire series, and I can only heap more praise on the producers and directors of this.

The lead villain is played brilliantly. So menacing, and the thing that got me was that normally you start rooting for the villain. You think, yes they did what they did because they were so poor......however, your sympathy for the villains goes about half way through when they start crossing a line. The brutality gets worse. The assassinations increase.

Even if you don't like mafia type films, just watch this for the sheer spectacle, and storyline. Real people and real emotions and how events effect them. You really couldn't make up a story like this, and what hits home is that these were real people.

Amazing!

[paterson-gang · 10/10 · 5 June 2013]

Having been very fortunate to spend over five years living and working in Italy with my family I look out for 'Italian' series and found in Corleone an amazing storyline that took in events that I even remember! The story line is full of twists and turns and by starting with four young lads and telling their life stories I was (and still am) glued to my television. The two main characters of Toto Riina and his once best friend Schiro Biagio completely captivate you and the 'one step ahead of the other' storyline is spellbinding. You are completely engrossed in the various plots and to even imagine the horror going on around the lives of the Sicilian/Italian people is for us Brits, unimaginable! Loved it.

Could have been so much better

[GrandoFernando · 6/10 · 3 March 2021]

Firstly, if you are looking for the early story of Corleone, the godfather. This isn't it. Secondly, if you can find it, the version I got was almost unwatchable for first few seasons (unless you speak fluent Italian) the subtitles available are completely out of synch. Finally, there are more plot holes/gaps than bank station. Enjoyable in so many ways but could have been so so much better.

The Corleone series

[jonjeksel · 4/10 · 8 August 2017]

Truth & fiction Having read the John Dickie's Cosa Nostra I found the Corleone series a bit disappointing.The main reason is the introduction of the fictitious police officer Bragio Shiro. Unfortunately a most common interspersing strategy in series based on a true story. In this case the trick did not function very well in my opinion. Too much of the story was focusing on the relationship between Schiro and Riino from an early stage, and then later Falcone and Schiro. A series that started out most promising ended up in irritation on my account. A rating of 4 points are all I'm willing to give.

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