Country: USA
Year: 1997
Duration: 127'
In 1978, FBI agent Joseph Pistone, code-named Donnie Brasco (Johnny Depp), goes undercover in New York’s Mafia families, posing as a jewel thief. He soon enters the orbit of Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino), a longtime low-level mobster who takes him under his wing and introduces him to the criminal underworld. The two develop an increasingly close bond built on trust and loyalty, as Donnie, while reporting back to his superiors, becomes immersed in a world governed by codes of honor, violence and betrayal. In time, however, his double identity becomes increasingly difficult to maintain, putting his family life with his wife and young daughters at risk. And when his cover threatens to be blown, Donnie must choose which life to lead. Based on a true story, this gangster film offers a realistic, melancholic portrait of Mafia life. A cult classic.
Biography
film director
Mike Newell
(St Albans, UK 1942), a British director who initially worked extensively in television, directing several series from the 1960s onwards, he moved into cinema with The Man in the Iron Mask (1977). After establishing himself with Bad Blood (1981) and Dance with a Stranger (1985), which won an award at Cannes, he achieved international recognition with Enchanted April (1991) and especially the comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). He subsequently worked in Hollywood, directing films such as Donnie Brasco (1997), Mona Lisa Smile (2003) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), before continuing with literary adaptations including Great Expectations (2012).
FILMOGRAFIA
The Man in the Iron Mask (tv, 1977), The Awakening (Alla 39ª eclisse, 1980), Bad Blood (1981), Dance with a Stranger (Ballando con uno sconosciuto, 1985), The Good Father (The Good Father - Amore e rabbia, 1985), Amazing Grace and Chuck (La protesta del silenzio, 1987), Soursweet (La legge delle triadi, 1988), Enchanted April (Un incantevole aprile, 1991), Into the West (È vietato portare cavalli in città, 1992), Four Weddings and a Funeral (Quattro matrimoni e un funerale, 1994), An Awfully Big Adventure (Un'avventura terribilmente complicata, 1995), Donnie Brasco (id., 1997), The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Masks of Evil (tv, 1999), Pushing Tin (Falso tracciato, 1999), The Perils of Cupid (tv, 2000), Jo (tv, 2002), Mona Lisa Smile (id., 2003), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter e il calice di fuoco, 2005), Love in the Time of Cholera (L'amore ai tempi del colera, 2007), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (Prince of Persia - Le sabbie del tempo, 2010), Great Expectations (Grandi speranze, 2012), The Interestings (tv, 2016), The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Il club del libro e della torta di bucce di patata di Guernsey, 2018), One Red Nose Day and a Wedding (cm, tv, 2019).
Cast
& Credits
DIRECTOR: Mike Newell. STORY: based on the book Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia by Joseph D. Pistone and Richard Woodley. SCREENPLAY: Paul Attanasio. CINEMATOGRAPHY: Peter Sova. EDITING: Jon Gregory. PRODUCTION DESIGN: Donald Graham Burt, Jefferson Sage, Leslie Pope. COSTUME DESIGN: Aude Bronson-Howard, David C. Robinson. MUSIC: Patrick Doyle. CAST: Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, Bruno Kirby, James Russo, Anne Heche, Željko Ivanek, Gretchen Mol, Paul Giamatti, Tim Blake Nelson, Val Avery, Robert Miano. PRODUCTION: Mark Johnson, Barry Levinson, Louis DiGiaimo, Gail Mutrux for Mandalay Entertainment, Baltimore Pictures, Mark Johnson Productions, TriStar Pictures. CNTACT: Park Circus - https://parkcircus.com.
