Lucky Luciano

Released in Italy the same year as USA's The Godfather, Lucky Luciano is less literary than Mario Puzo's work, less theatrical than Coppola's treatment, and less resonant in general, opting for a dry, matter-of-factly, almost documentarian tone. However, in some ways it is more daring: It is the first film to deal with the real-life capo di tuti capi, arguably the most powerful gangster of the century, a mere decade after his death, and it overtly criticizes US foreign policy.