The Mafia   Narrator: Jack Fortune Acorn Media UK RRP: £19.99 AV9778 Certificate: E Available 05 July 2010

Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas. Joe Pistone, undercover cop better known by his mob name - and the title of the movie - Donnie Brasco. These are the wiseguys made famous by the movies. Now, meet the real guys. You’ll discover 1950s home movie footage that reveals mob family life - just like The Sopranos, only for real. You’ll encounter interviews with surviving gangsters and join them in visiting locations that still bring a shudder of fear. You’ll witness interviews with the FBI agents who risked their lives to break the mob, examine rare surveillance footage, hear taped conversations that took the Dons down, and more. This is a history of the Mafia that has remained shrouded by its code of honour until now...

This DVD collection contains four episodes spread over two disc (although to be honest they would have easily squeezed onto a single DVD). The four episodes are:

Mafia, What Mafia?: Which examines the history of the Mafia and why, in the early days, everyone was willing to look the other way and pretend that the organisation didn't exist.

Going Global: Looks at the Mafia's move from Italy to the rest of the world. However, it mainly concentrates on the US Mafia families

The Great Betrayal: Looks at how the Mafia was brought down by those it thought it could trust the most. Basically, worried that its members who were caught dealing heroine would start talking to the authorities for a shorter prison sentence, the Mafia started to kill those who were arrested. This had the undesired result that those caught were forced to talk to the police as otherwise they knew they'd end up dead.

The Godfathers: This examines the US Godfathers mob meetings which eventually came to the attention of the authorities - who then raided one such meeting and arrested all of the members.

This release features interviews with Bill Bonnano, mobster-son of Joe Bonnano, the longest-serving New York Boss of all time; Henry Hill, mobster who became the subject of the movie Goodfellas; Joe Pistone, undercover agent best known by his undercover name, Donnie Brasco; mobsters Dominick Montigilio and Frank Culotta; former Mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando; and Town Councilor of Corleone in Sicily Dino Paternostro.

These and more reveal - from firsthand experience - the rituals and structure, the murders and corruption that make up the business end of organised crime and the secret world of The Mafia.

The biggest problem I had with this release was that the ex-Mafia members interviewed are only "reformed" characters because they were forced out of the mob. If not, no doubt, they would still be killing and dealing drugs on the streets of America. They try to come across as reformed characters, but it sounds as though they miss the old days... which is a little frightening.

Also it was a little strange to note that in two reconstructed scenes the producers decided to employ a Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci look-a-like.

For those who are fascinated by the Mafia as depicted in the movies, this DVD release offers an interesting look at the history into the origins and practices that made the mob so feared. However, for those looking to hear tales of how those that crossed the mob were dealt with this won't deliver what you're after.

7

Nick Smithson