Bella Mafia (1997)

hyped garbage

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Apparently, I must have seen the cut-down version of 'Bella Mafia' - running time: 113 minutes - because like every fifteen minutes there was a time leap into the future (sometimes only months, sometimes years). I just didn't have time to get into the story that way. Also, it had this artificial drama feel to it and the same sappy score to go with it. Now, I understand this way of film making, but I don't exactly approve of it. But than, at the 1-hour mark, a lot of people suddenly get killed in two simultaneous scenes and this made-for-TV movie promptly becomes very, very interesting. And during the next 50 minutes, it totally redeems itself from the flaws of the first half. The ending is marvelous, especially when you've come to learn a lot about the characters' background. Nastassja Kinski's role is the pillar of all the drama & intrigues in 'Bella Maffia' and the best part of it all is that nobody knows about it (except for one person at the very end). There seems to be a two-part mini-series of this film (with a lot of extra scenes, I imagine - 2x105 minutes). So if you're interested in seeing 'Bella Mafia', I could advice you to watch the full mini-series. You'll probably get more out of it. Oh, and there's quite a few shocking scenes in this movie, especially considering it was made for TV. Not bad at all. Just be sure to be persistent biting your way through that first hour.

I saw this movie pt 1 yesterday and pt 2 today on channel 7 here in Australia. I too be honest was not really interested in the story line, more like the acting, for one James Marsden being angry and messed up. Caught me off guard, Partly cause I have only seen him play more up-beat cheerful roles in movies like "hop" and as some prince in "Enchanted" here he was like all angry and getting hardcore and stuff. Not only that he did it well. Better than I would have expected. Maybe I just have not seen him in his other intense roles? Now I would not be surprised.The best acting in the whole movie was by the fellow who played Giorgio Corolla (pig face)Christopher Shaw. I actually started paying attention to the movie when he was present as this deformed person being hidden in the church by his father. He was the best character in the whole film you could actually root for with ease, and it was played the best. Unfortunately Christopher Shaw seems to be a very unknown actor. This movie kinda made me feel sad he is not in more stuff. Or that I could not find any clips on youtube off him in this movie or another movie off his acting, cause he has good stage presence. Very talented. That is all.

One of the best movies that i have ever watched so far and i have seen a lot..i was ready to sleep when i accidentally discovered this movie on TV,it kept me awake all night!The cast was brilliant, Nastassja Kinski was amazing and no movie before have made me feel this way,so many conflicting emotions such as joy ,happiness ,sorrow , grieve, honor, proud, mercy, hate, anger and more! No matter if you like mafia movies or not this one is simply outstanding!It's length may seems a lot(about 3 hours) but the last thing this movie does is get you bored cause the plot is very well put and needs time to evolve which is another plus for this great movie!!

First I want to make this clear - there are two versions of Bella Mafia out there, one is a two hour edited version which doesn't tell the whole story. What people out there in TV Land want to rent is the 180 minute one. The story of tragedy and revenge is one that pulls you in and plays on viewer's heartstrings. Take a rainy day, add a good friend and some popcorn and make an afternoon of it. You wont be disappointed.Vanessa Redgrove (Legally Blonde) is amazing in this movie, as with all the other women in the cast. Bella Mafia is probably the best performances all these actors did. Truly worth the time to watch, actually it's worth the money to own. You'll be happy you watched it.