This film can actually be considered a history of the recent Italian history. Although set us a conventional crime film, it tells a very unconventional real life story about a group of "street kids" from Rome that became the crimelords of the city and whose stories intertwine with national and international politics and interests. Although a very long film, clocking in at nearly three hours, the story flows and we are sucked into the lives of the characters of the film, feeling empathy and compassion for their fates. The film begins in the mid 60s with the first arrest of the boys who became the "Banda della Magliana" and ends with the fall of the Berlin Wall, encompassing all the terrorism and collusion between Mafia and politics in which the "Banda della Magliana" supposedly played a part, and for this at least the film should be cherished. Although not a great fan of recent Italian cinema I could not help but be mesmerized and overawed by this film that, had it been made in Hollywood, would have maybe rivalled the Godfather films, nevermind the Scorsese films on Mafia.
I recommend this film to anyone reading this review, hoping they might spread the word of this little gem of a film.