80
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
Her photographs are like very bad dreams and simply looking for any period of time at dead bodies is a very strange experience.
Shooting the Mafia
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- United States,
- Ireland
- 2019
- · 94m
Director
Kim Longinotto
Cast
Letizia Battaglia,
Mariachiara Di Trapani,
Eduardo Rebulla,
Santi Caleca,
Franco Zecchin,
Roberto Timperi
Genre
Documentary,
History
A portrait of Letizia Battaglia, a Sicilian who began a lifelong battle with the Mafia when she first pointed her camera at a brutally slain victim. Documenting the Cosa Nostra’s barbaric rule, Battaglia bore unflinching witness to their crimes. Her photographs, art, and bravery helped bring an end to a shocking reign of slaughter.
Stream Shooting the Mafia
What are critics saying?
80
Empire by Ian Freer
An affectionate portrait of a remarkable woman that loses its grip when it bites off more than it can chew.
75
Movie Nation by Roger Moore
It takes guts to take on the mob in a place where its been tolerated for centuries. And sometimes the bravest of those in that fight aren’t in uniform. Some of them are still carrying a Pentax.
75
RogerEbert.com by Nick Allen
In the end, Shooting the Mafia is about recognizing Battaglia as a woman of immense bravery and unflappable individuality. She has seen a great deal of sadness in the world, and captured it in a way that combines art, journalism, and activism. “Shooting the Mafia” aptly conveys Battaglia's many layers, while exemplifying the power in not looking away.
70
Los Angeles Times by Katie Walsh
Longinotto’s film is a rollicking depiction of the wonderfully self-possessed Battaglia.
70
Screen Daily by Allan Hunter
Battaglia talks candidly as she picks over the pieces of a life that could easily stretch to more than one film.
70
Film Threat by Bradley Gibson
The mafia murder images are stomach turning, viewers take note. Letizia talks about her life at great length and some of it is redundant, but she is always charming and inspirational, living as a strong, independent woman in a crushing patriarchy.
63
Slant Magazine by Chuck Bowen
Kim Longinotto is so eager to celebrate her hero that she also glides past thornier portions of Letizia Battaglia’s life.
60
Variety by Guy Lodge
Not quite a fleshed-out personal study, nor fully a meditation on what Battaglia’s camera sees, this intriguing but frustrating film finally makes the case for letting the photographer’s pictures tell their story.
58
The Playlist
Shooting the Mafia is most fascinating when it uses Battaglia’s story, her reminiscences, and her unforgettable photographs, to show rather than tell the painful circumstances of Sicilian life under mob rule.
58
The Playlist by Ted Pillow
Shooting the Mafia is most fascinating when it uses Battaglia’s story, her reminiscences, and her unforgettable photographs, to show rather than tell the painful circumstances of Sicilian life under mob rule.
55
TheWrap by Simon Abrams
Shooting the Mafia is, if nothing else, a decent introduction to Battaglia’s work, even if the rest of Loginotto’s primer doesn’t tell us much about who Battaglia is, or how to appreciate what she does.
50
The New York Times by Glenn Kenny
Idiosyncratic to the point of alienation.
50
The Hollywood Reporter by Caryn James
Mildly informative but superficial, Shooting the Mafia is much less dynamic than its title.
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