One of the best movies about the American Mafia was made by an Englishman. Mike Newell, whose filmography includes Four Weddings and a Funeral and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, brought to Donnie Brasco a welcome disinterest in swaggering Mafiosi and curiosity about the feelings of career criminals.
Martin Scorsese had already upended the self-important Mafia movie typified by The Godfather with his irreverent, energetic Goodfellas in 1990. Seven years later, Newell made Donnie Brasco, in which the wise guys seem less like ruthless gangsters and more like mid-level managers at a factory trying to work their way up.
Donnie (Johnny Depp) catches Lefty’s eye when he correctly identifies a fugazy, or a fake gem. Donnie isn’t genuine either. A Federal Bureau of Investigation undercover agent, Donnie is using Lefty to worm into one of the five Mafia clans that control the New York City rackets in the late 1970s.
Lefty is full of hot tips (“A moustache is against the rules,” he tells Donnie) and tall claims (he says he has scalped 26 men). Lefty matches his fellow gang members in their “Forget-about-it” banter but reveals his soft side at home, where he lolls around in velvet track pants and devours wildlife programmes.
For all his bragging, Lefty is a grunt, resentful at being passed over for plum jobs. Can Donnie gets himself to betray someone who is so vulnerable, caring and a father figure?
Paul Attanasio’s brilliant script also pays attention to Donnie’s precarious marriage. The closer Donnie grows to Lefty, the more distant he gets from his wife Maggie (Anne Heche) and their children.
Donnie Brasco is out on Netflix. Newell’s direction is as watchful as Donnie, always attuned to the possibilities of turning possible archetypes into flesh-and-blood creatures. Lefty’s runs-in with gang rival Sonny Black (Michael Madsen), Donnie’s fights with his wife, Lefty’s domestic woes – these are handled with a lack of judgement and a tenderness that is not always found in films about the Mafia.
Johnny Depp is memorable as the enigmatic Donnie, who must never let his true emotions come to the surface. Al Pacino knocks it out of the park as Donnie, who is a far cry from the cold-blooded Michael Corleone he played in The Godfather. Gruff, sensitive, a softie beneath the bragging, Pacino’s Lefty is easily one of the best Mafiosi characters, just as Pacino’s performance is one of the best in his own remarkable career.
Also start the week with these films:
Start the week with a film: ‘The Traitor’ breaks the omerta on the Mafia
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!