The Sicilian

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The Sicilian

R

1987

1h 55m

Biography

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10%

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20 Reviews

42%

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2,500+ Ratings

Salvatore Giuliano (Christopher Lambert) steals money from the wealthy and gives the funds to the downtrodden in his native Sicily. As word of Salvatore's work spreads and he becomes beloved by the Italian working class, his head begins to swell. But Salvatore makes a potentially lethal mistake when he crosses his benefactor, the powerful Mafia boss Don Masino Croce (Joss Ackland). Seeking revenge, Don Masino pulls in Salvatore's cousin, Pisciotta (John Turturro), to take out the bandit.

Variety Staff

Variety

The Sicilian represents a botched telling of the life of postwar outlaw leader Salvatore Giuliano.

Jul 22, 2008

Full Review

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.

Jun 24, 2006

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Vincent Canby

New York Times

The film is a mess, though hardly on the panoramic scale of Heaven's Gate.

Rated: 1.5/5

May 20, 2003

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Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Cimino's euphuistic portrait of misplaced romanticism is barely durable.

Rated: 1.5/5

Oct 8, 2020

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Octavi Marti

El Pais (Spain)

Not since Midnight Express had a film premiered where a certain Anglo-Saxon arrogance was so evident. [Full Review in Spanish]

Jun 17, 2020

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Richard Freedman

Newhouse News Service

A wallow in bloodshed, cliches and grandiose effects coming from no discernible causes.

Rated: 1/4

Nov 15, 2019

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Jeff D

Set in the 'old country' Sicily. Extremely dry mood film. Most of the actors aren't Italian and don't pass for Italian. I just didn't feel this one. I watched the first half and listened to the second half while scrolling my phone for something more interesting.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

10/28/24

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andy c

Very underrated film. Another Michael Cimino classic. The movie is like almost like a neo realistic painting, and Sicily is the perfect canvas, from a Mario Puzo (Godfather) story

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/26/23

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Steve D

Not really my taste but well done.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

09/02/23

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Audience Member

Not bad but several miscast roles including the male and female leads scupper the overall tone

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

05/22/22

Full Review

delysid d

i want to like this but i will try again later

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/17/21

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Audience Member

Considering that they have everything prepared in book that was awesome and they still managed to make an american hollywood, based on love ,brotherhood and bad big mafia guy stuff film it makes it one of the worst adaptation I have ever seen, bad dialogs, bad scenario and they just skip from scene to the scene to show what was "best" in the book but they loose it all and change the most important things and make them shallow and cheap. Crap!

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

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Michael Cimino

Director

Christopher Lambert

Salvatore Giuliano

Terence Stamp

Prince Borsa

Joss Ackland

Don Masino Croce

John Turturro

Pisciotta

Richard Bauer

Hector Adonis

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Synopsis

Salvatore Giuliano (Christopher Lambert) steals money from the wealthy and gives the funds to the downtrodden in his native Sicily. As word of Salvatore's work spreads and he becomes beloved by the Italian working class, his head begins to swell. But Salvatore makes a potentially lethal mistake when he crosses his benefactor, the powerful Mafia boss Don Masino Croce (Joss Ackland). Seeking revenge, Don Masino pulls in Salvatore's cousin, Pisciotta (John Turturro), to take out the bandit.

Director: Michael Cimino
Producer: Michael Cimino
Rating: R
Genre: Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 2, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $4.4M
Runtime: 1h 55m
Sound Mix: Surround