It may seem like there are too many Mafia movies out there but there are a couple of reasons for that: a ) they’re successful and b ) Italian organized crime is an outrageous force to be reckoned with. Part of the fascination with a movie like La Scorta comes from the truth in it – that stuff really happened.
The Sicilian Mafia and it’s Italian cousins like the Camorra have been knocking off judges, politicians, and witness for a long time but here is just a sampling of them since the ’60s:
In 1960 journalist Cosimo Cristina was killed in Palermo and then again, in 1970 another journalist, Mauro De Mauro was killed following his investigations of a mob hit.
In 1971 chief prosecutor of Palermo Pietro Scaglione and his driver were ordered killed by Mafia Boss of the Corleonesi faction.
Marco Tullio Giordana’s movie, I Cento Passi, with my favorite Luigi Lo Cascio is the story of Giuseppe Impastato, a political activist who fought against the Mafia in his hometown Cinisi, and was ordered killed by boss Gaetano Badalamenti on May 9, 1978.
In 1979 there were 3 major incidents – a judge, Cesare Terranova, and his driver, Palermo police chief Boris Giuliano, and Mario Francese, an investigative journalist were all victims of the Mafia.
And in the ’80s things got really bloody.
In 1980 Judge Gaetano Costa, chief prosecutor of Palermo, was killed after he signed 53 arrest warrants. In 1982 a general, Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, his wife, and a police officer were killed three months after Dalla Chiesa was appointed to fight the Mafia in the second Mafia war. Later that year Pio La Torre, regional secretary of the Italian communist party was targeted for initiating a law that allowed the courts to seize the assets of the Mafioso.
In 1983 Judge Rocco Chinnici and two of his escorts were killed for creating a coalition of magistrates who teamed up to fight the Mafia.
In 1985 police chief Antonino Cassara’ and his driver were killed when Cassara’ authored the “Michele Greco + 161 Report” listing 162 Mafioso that were later tried in the famous “Maxi Trial” in which most of the leaders of the Mafia were tried.
In 1988 “incorruptible” judge Antonino Saetta and his mentally retarded son were killed before he was scheduled to hear the appeal of the “Maxi Trial”.
The ’90s saw a killing spree of judges including Judge Antonino Scopelliti in 1991, and the story of the 1992 murder of Judge Paolo Borsellino is told in the movie, The Sicilian Girl. Rita Atria, a Mafia informer,committed suicide when Borsellino was killed and she lost all hope for her safety.
Another of the more famous of the judge murders is that of Giovanni Falcone, who with his wife and three police officer escorts was killed with a car bomb near Capaci. Falcone had been involved in the early stages of the Maxi Trial.
As I watched the movie, La Scorta, it was easy to be judgmental of the people that stood against the judge and his escorts and made it difficult for them to do their jobs, but I ask myself how brave I would have been in such a climate of fear.
I Love Italian Everything 