Excellent Cadavers (1999)

Director:

Ricky Tognazzi

Writers (WGA):

Alexander Stille (book)
Peter Pruce (teleplay)

Release Date:

25 August 2000 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

They have a name for government officials who defy the mafia...excellent cadavers.

Plot:

Fact based story about the political battle that was waged against the Mafia in Sicily during the late 1980's and early 1990's...

Plot Keywords:

Mafia | Independent Film | Based On True Story | Based On Book

Cast

Chazz Palminteri	...	Giovanni Falcone
F. Murray Abraham	...	Tommaso Buscetta
Anna Galiena	...	Francesca Falcone
Andy Luotto	...	Paolo Borsellino
Lina Sastri	...	Agnese Borsellino
Arnoldo Foà	...	Judge Antonino Caponnetto
Ivo Garrani	...	Judge Gaetano Costa
Gianmarco Tognazzi	...	Ninì Cassara
Pierfrancesco Favino	...	Mario
Mattia Sbragia	...	Judge Quinzi
Francesco Benigno	...	Pino Greco
Mario Erpichini	...	Judge Rocco Chinnici
Victor Cavallo	...	Totò Riina
Giuseppe Cederna	...	Judge Giuseppe Ayala
Stefano Benassi	...	Inspector

Also Known As:

Falcone (Australia) (Europe: English title) (video title)
Cadaveri eccellenti (Italy) (working title)
Giudici - vittime eccellenti, I (Italy)
Nella terra degli infedeli (Italy) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence.

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

Italy | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Australia:M | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:12 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Dir International Films

Trivia:

The woman who catches the bouquet at Giovanni Falcone and Francesca Morvillo's wedding is Simona Izzo, director Ricky Tognazzi's wife.

See the documentary for the truth about the Mafia...

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.