Italian director Marco Bellocchio has started writing the script for a film about Tommaso Buscetta, the first major Mafia leader to turn police informer.
Bellocchio’s plan was announced at Cannes on Tuesday by producer Beppe Caschetto and Rai Cinema Chief Executive Paolo Del Brocco.
“The character of Tommaso Buscetta interests me because he is a traitor,” said Bellocchio in a statement, adding that the film’s title may in fact be “The Traitor”. He said in reality it was not Buscetta who betrayed the “sacred principles” of Sicily’s Cosa Nostra mafia, but Mafia chief Salvatore “Totò” Riina and the Corleonesi faction.
“In history, being a traitor is not always a disgrace. It can also be a heroic choice. Revolutionaries, rebelling against injustice, even at the risk of their lives, have betrayed those who oppress them and those who wanted to keep them in slavery,” he said. Del Brocco said the film would be an international production and filming locations would include Italy, Brazil, and the US.
