The Traitor Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

The Traitor Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 23, 2020

Marco Bellocchio's "The Traitor" (2019) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. The only bonus feature on the disc is an original trailer for the film. In Italian, with optional English, English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The rat

The avalanche of names and dates the film produces is unavoidable because it gives you a sense of the unprecedented blow Cosa Nostra suffered after Tommaso Buscetta started talking. This guy was an old-school boss who committed the unthinkable crime -- he broke omerta -- and made the notorious organization’s transformation irreversible. The drug trade had initiated the process because it created previously unimaginable revenue options for the crime families whose greed then slowly became incompatible with their loyalty to the organization, but the old order they had established after WWII was still viable. (In the South, Cosa Nostra was still the only antidote for the North’s economic and cultural dominance, which by the way is precisely why the film highlights the public support for its activities. The old order ensured survival there, and in return, Cosa Nostra received loyalty from everyone that was benefiting from it). When Buscetta started talking to the authorities in Rome, everything changed.

The film opens up with an important ceremony in Palermo where the biggest crime families in the South divvy up the drug trade and agree that peace is essential for their business activities. Buscetta (Pierfrancesco Favino) is also present but is not directly involved in the negotiations. Hours later, he informs old friend and crime boss Pippo Calo (Fabrizio Ferracane) that he has decided to move to Rio de Janeiro with his third wife (Maria Fernanda Candido) and requests that he takes care of his family and business interests. The stunned Calo begs Buscetta to reconsider because with the new business arrangement there are millions to be made, but eventually accepts his decision and they part ways. After relocating to Rio de Janeiro under a false identity Buscetta keeps in touch with trusted associates like Totuccio Contorno (Luigi Lo Cascio) and locally connects with some important people that allow him to do enough business to support his preferred lifestyle, so for a while, it looks like his decision to leave Italy was entirely justified. But when back home the peace deal unexpectedly falls apart and members of his family are slaughtered, and a quick undercover investigation by the Brazilian authorities reveals his true identity, Buscetta is promptly arrested and then extradited to Italy. A special prosecutor from Rome, Giovanni Falcone (Fausto Russo Alesi), then begins questioning Buscetta and offers him a deal that would allow him to begin a new life in exchange for his testimony against Cosa Nostra. Buscetta accepts the deal, but only after he makes it explicitly clear that he isn’t a rat and is cooperating because his former partners have abandoned the old order and turned against his family.

Structurally, and to a certain extent even stylistically, Marco Bellocchio’s new film is put together in much the same way Olivier Assayas’ Carlos is. Indeed, even though it is significantly shorter, The Traitor has the same very busy episodic structure and offers an equally impressive amount of factual information, with seemingly countless references that reveal a complex big picture and Buscetta’s exact role in it.

Whether the film gets everything right is hard to tell because certain revelations are impossible to authenticate, but then again it is the bigger picture that actually matters. The trial against the Cosa Nostra bosses that is at the heart of the film represents the end of an era, so the events that preceded it -- from the proliferation of the drug business to the public display of support for Cosa Nostra to the assassination of Falcone to Giulio Andreotti’s connection to the underworld -- are far more important than the evolving dynamics of various personal relationships. In other words, the film uses a single character’s fascinating transformation to place in proper historical context the monumental breakdown of an organization that in many ways shaped Italy’s post-war identity. It is a tricky business for sure, but with Bellocchio behind the camera, the end product is predictably brilliant.

The leads are very easy to praise. However, there are a lot of supporting actors playing secondary characters that are astoundingly good. Some of the caged men during the trials look like real Southern mafiosi that were booked by Belloccchio to play themselves in his film.

The Traitor Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Traitor arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

On my system, the film looked magnificent, though perhaps this isn't entirely surprising because it is a contemporary production that was done with top-notch equipment. Delineation, clarity, and depth are outstanding. There is some interesting use of light throughout the film that also produces plenty of beautiful nuances, especially during nighttime/indoor footage. Colors are lush, stable, and boast excellent ranges of healthy nuances. Image stability is terrific. All in all, this is a great technical presentation that makes it very easy to appreciate the artistic vision of its creator. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

The Traitor Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. English descriptive audio track is included as well. Optional English, English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles are provide for the main feature.

The film's audio design is very aggressive. There is one particular sequence, which I do not want to spoil, with a powerful explosion that will quite possibly test the muscles of your system. During the shootouts separation is excellent as well. The dialog is clean, sharp, and stable. There are no encoding anomalies to report.

The Traitor Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for The Traitor. In Italian, with imposed English subtitles. (3 min, 1080p).

The Traitor Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Traitor was the best film to compete for the Palme d'Or Award at Cannes. For obvious reasons, it is a very busy film, but the incredible amount of factual information it offers is extremely easy to digest and place in proper historical context, which is hardly surprising because it is just another masterpiece from a master director. Folks that enjoyed Carlos should consider an automatic 'blind buy' because The Traitor is that type of an intelligent and illuminating crime film. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.