Organized crime, the mafia, or Cosa Nostra, has been the subject of many of the greatest releases in movie history. Nicholas Pileggi is responsible for writing a few of them, collaborating with legends like Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Martin Scorsese to name a few. Now, with The Alto Knights, Pileggi and De Niro have teamed up with producer Irwin Winkler and director Barry Levinson to put a bow on their long history of telling mob tales.
What is it that makes The Alto Knights
a cap to the amazing work these men have done across decades in the genre? In our exclusive interview, Pileggi articulates, “This movie is… the end of that world. And the depiction of these two men fighting it out in the end is what brought the mob to its knees.”
De Nero does double duty in The Alto Knights as the two men in question, Frank Costello and Vito Genovese. Two figures who have been depicted on the outskirts of other mob movies and shows of the past. These men were the top of the Cosa Nostra food chain in its actual hey-day.
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If you can imagine that in every mob movie you’ve seen to date, be it fictional or based on fact, there was somewhere a bigger boss at the top of the mafia pyramid… it would have been Costello and Genovese. They were there at the start with Tommy Luchese and other key early figures, and they were there at the end. They, in fact, brought about the end themselves. For Pileggi, a student of actual mafia history and a scribe of some of its best cinematic entries, this was the only way to end it:
“I’ve done three movies on the mob, in a way in its history. The first was the ‘Goodfellas’ movie, which is how these young guys get started. You know, this is when they were all young and they were all hungry, and then all it all goes bad. The second one was ‘Casino’. This is when you get the mob, and you give them millions and millions of dollars, and they open up casinos, and they still screw it up. And [The Alto Kngihts] was the end of that world.”
What is that world exactly? The film puts it in beautiful perspective in a late monologue by De Nero’s Frank Costello. By the time his wave of immigration came, the land and resources of the young American nation had been taken. The first waves had made their fortunes in land, oil, and various other forms of exploitation of resources. The wave of immigrants in the late 19th century had to make due with what was left. In the war between Costello and Genovese the whole thing would come crashing down. Beware of spoiler alerts.
“[The Mob] started in the early 1900s, it went through prohibition, and it ended when Frank Costello fails to arrive at Appalachia, and they all get arrested, and they are exposed for the first time as quote, organized crime, Cosa Nostra, the mafia, and they’re exposed on the front page of the papers, and even the FBI has to acknowledge that they existed.”
Double the De Niro
One of the more unique aspects of the film is that Robert De Niro plays both leading roles. Producer Irwin Winkler simply couldn’t see anyone better for either of the titans of organized crime. He said:
“Nick (Pileggi) didn’t write it specifically for any one actor. He wrote two really interesting characters. I gave the script to Bob (De Niro). He called me, and he said that he liked the Costello character, and who did I think could play Genovese. I frankly, couldn’t think anybody better than De Niro, because if he had said he wanted to do Genovsese and who would play Costello would have said the same thing, “play both.” And he thought about it a little bit, and then said, “Yeah, yeah, okay.”
De Niro is one of the most accomplished actors of all time, and many of his great performances have come in projects with Levinson, Winkler, and/or Pileggi involved, so in many ways it was a perfect opportunity to find a new way to stretch. Using make-up, prosthetics, and characterization, De Niro truly does make you forget you’re watching the same man in both roles.
Alto Knights
Release Date
March 21, 2025
You can view the original article HERE.
