This is an outstanding achievement. While many European productions basically look like made-for-tv films, this is cinematic in the best way.
Still, you have to be patient to be rewarded. Much like Soderbergh's "Traffic", the movie features several protagonists and sub-plots that, in the end, all come together. The violence is all there, but not in a show-off action movie style, it is really closely connected to plot and characters. I have not seen a contemporary movie that shows you so much about the power of organized crime. Throughout the movie, police is nonexistent. The crime is not just restricted to gangsters, politicians are part of the system, even the Vatican (just some hints of it).
The actors are great, for non-Italians some are real discoveries. Production values first rate, music, locations all combine to create something really special.
I watched the movie in its dubbed German version because my Italian is just shaky, but it was still great!
