RESOURCES

Excellent Cadavers

The movie Excellent Cadavers was based on the book Excellent Cadavers: The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic.

Which one did you like better, the movie or the book?  There are 9 votes for the book, and 7 votes for the movie.

Movie details for Excellent Cadavers

The movie was released in 1999. Excellent Cadavers was produced by Hbo Home Video. More information on the movie is available on Amazon.com and also IMDb.

Actors on this movie include F. Murray Abraham, Francesco Benigno, Fabio Carfora, Pierfrancesco Favino, Arnoldo Foà, Anna Galiena, Ivo Garrani, Giuseppe Ieracitano, Lorenza Indovina, Frank Karla, Andy Luotto, Antonio Manzini, Sonia Martinelli, Chazz Palminteri, Davide Petrucci, Lina Sastri, Mattia Sbragia, Carlo Silvani and Gianmarco Tognazzi.

 

Read More About This Movie

A rash of assassinations of prominent government officials occurred in Sicily in the late 1970s and early 1980s--including the president of Sicily--by the Cosa Nostra, better known as the Mafia. The Mafia had a name for these highly placed victims: cadav... Read More
A rash of assassinations of prominent government officials occurred in Sicily in the late 1970s and early 1980s--including the president of Sicily--by the Cosa Nostra, better known as the Mafia. The Mafia had a name for these highly placed victims: cadaveri eccellenti, or excellent cadavers. Judge Giovanni Falcone (Chazz Palminteri), a Sicilian native investigating some routine bankruptcy cases, ended up on an obsessive crusade to bring down these killers, who had been getting away with murder for so long. The HBO docudrama Excellent Cadavers dramatizes Falcone's heroic efforts as he met with ferocious resistance from every quarter, even the Ministry of Justice. An essential witness came to Falcone's aid: Tommasso Buscetta (F. Murray Abraham), a former mob kingpin whose sons had been murdered by the Mafia. A special courthouse was built to hold the thousand lawyers and witnesses in the ensuing trial, with 30 steel cages for the 400 accused Cosa Nostra members. The script and direction of this movie lacks focus and originality at times, and Palminteri, Abraham, and the other fine cast members are not always used to best advantage, but the facts of this true story are so gripping in and of themselves that the film is worth the watch. --Laura Mirsky

Book details for Excellent Cadavers: The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic

Excellent Cadavers: The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic was written by Alexander Stille. The book was published in 1995 by Vintage. More information on the book is available on Amazon.com.

 

Read More About This Book

In 1992 Italy was convulsed by two brazen Mafia assassinations of high-ranking officials. The latest "excellent cadavers" were Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, the Sicilian magistrates who had been the Cosa Nostra's most implacable enemies. Yet in t... Read More
In 1992 Italy was convulsed by two brazen Mafia assassinations of high-ranking officials. The latest "excellent cadavers" were Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, the Sicilian magistrates who had been the Cosa Nostra's most implacable enemies. Yet in the aftermath of the murders, hundreds of "men of honor" were arrested and the government that ad protected them for nearly half a century was at last driven from office. This is the story that Stille tells with such insight and immediacy in Excellent Cadavers. Combining a profound understanding of his doomed heroes with and unprecedented look into the Mafia's stringent codes and murderous rivalries, he gives us a book that has the power of a great work of history and the suspense of a true thriller.


"Riveting...a well-paced and highly informative account stocked with well-drawn characters."--Philadelphia Inquirer


"Masterful...[Stille] delivers a stiletto-sharp portrait of the bloodthirsty Sicilian mafia."--Business Week