What is Cosa Nostra (translation)

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

One of the most influential criminal gangs - Cosa Nostra - can be talked about for a very, very long time, the story of its origin is very interesting.

History of the "family"

The story began a couple of centuries ago with the usual forced "protection" of plantations, as well as various plots. Gangs often recruited ordinary peasants who wished to get rich by not entirely legal methods. Gradually, year after year, Cosa Nostra (the translation of the term from Sicilian sounds like “Our cause”) expanded its spheres of influence, moving from timid racketeering to open banditry. Accordingly, with the increase in income and the number of members of the mafia, the group continued to expand in territorial terms, extending the reins of government to Calabria, Apulia and Naples.

Trying to eradicate and oust the mafia group from their territories, the government of Sicily forced the Italians to emigrate to the United States, where subsequently Cosa Nostra not only comfortably settled down, but almost single-handedly stood at the head of the entire criminal business in the States, in particular, in the Chicago and New York territories.

Family and Cinema

No wonder this organizationbecame the object of close attention of the public and inspired people of creativity to create works of art, literature and cinema. Among the most popular films that shed light on what Cosa Nostra is, the following films stand out:

"Vallanzasca - angels of evil." Milan. 70s. The city is terrorized by the well-known mafia group Comasina. The leader of the gang is Renato Vallanzasca, nicknamed "Handsome Renault". Along the way, he not only broke the hearts of many women, but also committed many murders. For them, he is imprisoned for 260 years

• "Amazing". The film tells the story of a legendary Italian Prime Minister named Giulio Andreotti who served 6 or 7 terms in this post. He had a good sense of humor, and he also had some connections with the local mafia. Giulio Andreotti was a funny little man who found himself in the center of death, intrigue.

"Capone". After the film "The Godfather" shot by Coppola, various films about gangster sagas began to be mass-produced in the 70s. Like other directors, Roger Corman, who only made low-budget films, decided to keep up and also made a movie about gangsters. The film was based on the biography of the famous head of the mafia world - Al Capone. It tells some episodes from the gangster's biography. First, the young insecure man is offered help by his older friend, whom Al Capone soon decides to get rid of and get him out of his way. But in life everything happens likeboomerang, and now they are trying to remove it already

• "Gomora". The film tells about life in Naples, the poor quarters of which belong to the Camorra mafia. A certain story connects the criminal gang with each character: one took part in the murder, the second betrayed someone and received a reward in return, the third hid toxic waste, and therefore they cannot leave the mafia world in any way. The film is based on a book written by journalist Roberto Saviano. After the work saw the light, the police took the author under their protection.

Mafia America is no stranger

Cosa Nostra settled in the USA. This was reflected in the works of cinema.

• Film "Donnie Brasco". The action takes place in New York in 1978. A new task is entrusted to FBI agent John Piston, he will have to enter a criminal gang in Brooklyn and get information about the actions of a gangster gang. He needs to take a new name for himself, forget friends and family, because he is Donnie Brasco. As partners, the hero is given an old mafioso who trusts the guy to carry out responsible affairs. A new world of impunity draws Donny in, but he realizes he needs to get back.
• Forget Palermo. One of the candidates for the post of mayor of New York City is Carmine Bonavia, whose election campaign contains an item that drugs in the city must be legalized. This state of affairs does not suit mafia groups that specialize in the sale of drugs and are afraid of losing theirmoney, because it is legalization that can lead to this. At a time when, before the elections, Carmine travels to Palermo, the city where he was born and raised, mafia groups are trying by any means to withdraw his candidacy from the elections.

Not the latest in popularity tabloids

Cosa Nostra is just an endless source of inspiration. Below are the films that are leading the popularity tabloids:

• "The Godfather". A film about the criminal world of the city of New York, where the Sicilian mafia Corleone family establishes its own rules. The action takes place from 1945 to 1955. The head of the Corleone family is Don Vito, whose daughter is about to get married. The Second World War took many lives, but the beloved son of Don Vito, who has always been the pride of the family, manages to survive and return home. But contrary to his father, Michael is not going to take part in the cruel family business, because he is a war hero. At the same time, there is a redistribution of influence and power, which is preceded by endless attempts on the head of the family. The film in a short time became infinitely popular, which served as a convincing motivation for the release of the films "The Godfather-2", "The Godfather-3". This trilogy, covering the grandiose period from 1901 to 1980, is considered a masterpiece to this day and is the leader in the tabloids of films dedicated to the Cosa Nostra organization.



• "Crime novel". The film takes place during a period of turmoil.70s in Italy. Three guys named Lebanese, Ice and Dandy want to conquer Rome and become the embodiment of fear. This trinity becomes the most dangerous gang in the whole country and in the whole criminal world. They begin to engage in daring kidnappings, contract killings and drug trafficking. The investigation of the case is entrusted to the captain of the police Skialodzha, who, having attacked the trail of the gang, aims to stop the lawlessness. After all, he knows that soon the guys will become bloodthirsty wolves, which will be hard to stop. When the mafia, intelligence agencies and terrorists become allies of these three gangsters, the police captain begins to understand that such people do not value their lives, but only bloody glory and dark honor.
• "Malavita". What do you think, what kind of life do your neighbors live and is it possible to know everything about them? What about those neighbors who might knock on your door in the dead of night? That is how one day the writer Blake settles in a provincial French town with his family and a dog named Malavita. After that, the centuries-old tranquility of the town came to an end. How could a supermarket burn down? What happened to the plumber? What can a cute guy carry with him? In fact, no one suspected that Blake was a former head of the mafia who was being pursued, and that the local authorities hid him in the town. Suddenly, a mafia appears in the city - Cosa Nostra…

Not the most famous, but insanely realistic

• "Renegades". Two people who graduated from the policeacademy, doing the same thing, but they have different tactics. One works in law enforcement, but is a mafia agent, and the second is a "mole" who was introduced into the mafia. Each of them believes that it is he who will be able to neutralize the opponents, but suddenly something changes in their inner world.
• "Funeral". Family laws are the main thing. Therefore, when Johnny Tempio is killed, his brothers must definitely take revenge on their brother's killers. They manage to commit lynching, but the consequences of such a decision turn out to be tragic for them…
• "Cursed path". 30s of the twentieth century. At first glance, it seems that the life of the average American Michael Sullivan is quite ordinary. He is a good father, a family man, a responsible worker, but his eldest son is tormented by the question of where his father leaves in his car every morning. One day, Michael manages to quietly get into his father's car and see what his father is doing. It turns out that Michael is a gangster where witnesses cannot be left alive. Therefore, in order to save his son, Michael will have to disobey his boss.

Crime as inspiration

The rise and continued unpunished lawlessness of such a criminal group has given rise to a great many ideas to use its fame for their own needs. The well-known singer Mister Credo (Cosa Nostra became a source of creative inspiration for him) dedicated more than one of his songs to the organization. There is also a whole group in Russia with a similar name.

Veryexactly the whole history of Cosa Nostra as a criminal gang, as well as their wars with other mafia organizations, terrible murders, etc. transferred in the film of the same name - "Cosa Nostra". The film came out very realistic, creepy and bloody.

Modern mafia

Despite its considerable age, the Italian mafia is not the only one in the world, as you might have guessed. Its sphere of influence is very large, but it spreads within the same country, except for the Italian-American families - their activities are also limited to the states entrusted to their "care".

Other criminal gangs based in different countries on different continents use or used their own methods of "control over the situation".

The most serious

The most famous criminal groups that continue to exist to this day are the Japanese Yakuza, Chinese Triads, Russian organized criminal groups, Colombian drug cartels, Jewish and Albanian mafia, Mexican cartels, Turkish mafia (despite the name, located, in addition to Turkey, in the Netherlands, USA, Austria, England, etc.) and others. Cosa Nostra has an international format. Despite their differences, all these criminal groups share the same common goals - money laundering, fraud, murder, robbery, drug trafficking and other illegal acts. The words “the mafia is immortal” come to mind, which means that the source of inspiration for cinema in this direction will not become scarce for a long time. Sad reality.