The Sicilian (1987)

13% of critics liked it
(16 reviews)
41% of users liked it
(3,015 ratings)

Adapted from Mario Puzo's novel, The Sicilian is an attempt to chronicle the life and times of Mafia leader, patriot and real-life Robin Hood Salvatore Giuliano, the infamous bandit who, together with his rag-tag band of guerillas, attempted to liberate 1940s Sicily from Italian rule and make it an… More Adapted from Mario Puzo's novel, The Sicilian is an attempt to chronicle the life and times of Mafia leader, patriot and real-life Robin Hood Salvatore Giuliano, the infamous bandit who, together with his rag-tag band of guerillas, attempted to liberate 1940s Sicily from Italian rule and make it an American state. Giuliano (Christopher Lambert) robs from the rich conservative landowners to give to the poor, serf-like peasants, who in turn hail him as their savior. As his popularity grows, so does his ego, and he eventually thinks he is above the power of his backer, Mafia Don Masino Croce (Joss Ackland). The Don, in turn, sets out to kill the upstart by convincing his cousin and closest advisor Gaspare (John Turturro) to assassinate him. Nearly thirty minutes of screen time were haphazardly hacked off director Michael Cimino's original cut by the studio. ~ Jeremy Beday, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 2 hr. 26 min.
Directed By: Michael Cimino
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense

In Theaters: Oct 23, 1987 Wide
On DVD: Nov 20, 2001

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
The Sicilian represents a botched telling of the life of postwar outlaw leader Salvatore Giuliano.
Vincent Canby, New York Times
The film is a mess, though hardly on the panoramic scale of Heaven's Gate.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
One of this film's big problems is that you can hardly see it. The foregrounds are dark and indistinct. The backgrounds are overlit and washed-out.
Hal Hinson, Washington Post
The Sicilian is unambiguously atrocious, but in that very special, howlingly grandiose manner that only a filmmaker with visions of epic greatness working on a large scale with a multinational cast can achieve.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
If Cimino had gone along with the campy nosedive this movie takes, Sicilian could have been to mob films what Blazing Saddles was to westerns.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
This is one of Cimino's best films, with a fine sense of spectacle and landscape.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
The actors aren't bad; they are simply miscast.
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com
This, not Heaven's Gate, is Cimino's true self-indulgent boondoggle.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
The dialogue is ponderously poetic, stilted and over-emphatic, characters are convenient cyphers, and both cutting and photography tend towards the bombastic. Folly, then, but gloriously inept and overblown.
Kevin A. Ranson, MovieCrypt.com
See? He's not JUST the Highlander!
Chuck O'Leary, Fantastica Daily
Cimino's least satisfying film, but still an interesting failure.
, Film4
Any film that unites the writer of The Godfather and the Director of The Deer Hunter may sound tempting, but don't give in: this is a plodding and interminable film with a dreadful central performance.

Read all 12 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Andre T

This could be a good mafia movie, but the actors and actuatios are so poor (except John Turturro) that makes this movie a crap.
Anthony V

Does have its moments, but has the feel of being cut from a much longer film.

Cast

            Christopher Lambert as Salvator Guiliano

            Terence Stamp as Prince Borsa

            Joss Ackland as Don Masino Croce

            John Turturro as Aspanu Pisciotta

            Richard Bauer as Prof. Hector Adonis

            Barbara Sukowa as Camilla Duchess of Crotone

            Ray McAnally as Minister Trezza

            Giulia Boschi as Giovanna Ferra

            Barry Miller as Dr. Nattore

            Andreas Katsulas as Passatempo

            Michael Wincott as Cpl. Silvestro Canio

            Derrick Branche as Terranova

            Richard Venture as Cardinal of Palermo

            Ramon Bieri as Quintana

            Stanko Molnar as Silvio Ferra

            Oliver Cotton as Comdr. Roccofino

            Joe Regalbuto as Father Doldana

            Tom Signorelli as Abbot Manfredi

            Aldo Ray as Don Siano of Bisacquino

            Nicholas Kepros as University President

            Justin Clark as Boy

            Trevor Ray as Frisella The Barber

            Danilo Mattei as Lieutnant

            Massimo Sarchielli as Enzo

            Tony Sperandeo as Barracks Policeman

            Leonardo Treviglio as Policeman in Wheatfields

            Franco Trevisi as Policeman in Wheatfields

            Riccardo De Torrebruna as Adjutant

            Anita Laurenzi as Mrs. Frisella
See full cast