I can understand that as a capo - Tony might get involved with hits in person, but as boss of family would he realistically still directly whack people? - like the kid who shot Christopher.

Can you guys tell me how involved in executions
- capos and bosses get in real life?

Godfather Part II stresses the importance of buffers in Corleone family and button men and associates never getting direct orders from the top guys.

Does this still apply or is recruitment and trust such a problem that top guys are having to do the whacking themselves?????

Also how big is the difference between caporegime and capodecima. Are Larry Boy, Jimmy Alteri, Raymond Curto etc caporegimes or capodecimas?
What's the difference in practice?

1. The Soprano crime family is no where near as organized as the Corleone eschillions.

2. Tony whacked Matthew Bevilaqua for personal reasons... I'm sure you can recall when Pussy said... "Don't worry T, me and Furio are on this" or something similar... but Tony wanted to handle it.

-Lucky

Thanks Charlie.

Can anyone help with my 2nd question about distinguishing between caporegimes and capodecimas?

I know that we've discussed Mafia rankings a lot, but I feel that this question has not been satisfactoraly answered.

Also, what happens when a guy steps up to become boss like Tony. Who heads his crew? I know Paulie becomes a capo, but this is long after Tony is made Acting Boss. When a capo becomes boss is he still deeply linked with his crew or does he have to loosen the links with his crew to become a good boss for the whole family?

Maybe, we need some real life made guys to give us some inside knowledge??????

What you've got to understand from The Godfather is it's totally a work of fiction but based on seperate real events. Also very old and "back in the day" and reall glamorises the mafia. Nowadays all the tradition and codes are thrown out the window and stupid people take over as bosses. Try somewhere inbetween for the truth. No one but the authorities and the real mob guys will know. We have just got to take what we know and analyse it.

Caporegime/Capodecima - not too sure on this but as far as I know it's the same. Get someone elses opinion on this though. Decima sounds very Roman like. Every tenth or something. Regime speaks for itself. Maybe a translation flaw through time.

Turi's right: the operative syllable is "capo."
Tony Soprano personally whacked several people other than Matthew. That would be unusual by real-life Mafia standards because part of a capo's or don's power is to order others to do so. I always had the impression that Tony did the hits himself (or at least some of them) to thwart Christopher, who was always dying (no pun intended) to whack someone to pave the road toward being "made." However, dons have often ordered people whacked for personal reasons. Paul Castellano ordered his own son-in-law killed because he abused Castellano's daughter. Vito Genovese had his wife's first husband killed so he could marry her. Al Capone personally killed someone who had slapped around Jake Gusik, his bosom buddy, mentor and business manager.

Another thing we have to remember is that the di-meo(soprano) family is more of a 'camorra' than a mafia family, im not sure whether this would result in the bosses or capos doing the hits though, but i dont think the organisation is as detailed as that of the maifa

Tony is a Boss not a Capo (Which means Captain). Also the term Caporegime and capodecina mean Captain

It sounds like the structure in modern day mob families is unclear. I'm sure that this is related to recruitment problems - there has been a relaxation of parental Italian purity in order to create more made guys. This probably takes away a lot of the symbolism and dispels the idea that made men are honourable men, soldiers part of an ancient tradition.
The tribal bond between made guys is maybe weaker without the strict requirements for membership.

Perhaps, there's less trust in this thing of ours which is why the top guys feel they have to be more involved directly. Maybe the Sopranos is an example of this.

It's more difficult for mobsters to convince themselves as Tony Sopranos does that he and his people are soldiers.
Is Omerta dead?

I realise that the Godfather provides an elaborate example of how to manage a successful family - the boss talks to the consiglere, the consilegre talks to the underbosses, the underbosses talk to the capos, the capos took to their soldiers etc. What a wonderful way to run a family. No wonder Tom Hagen could say "this committee owes an apology when the charges wouldn't stick.

This kind of discretion is dead. John Gotti didn't help and I think the Sopranos reflects his sloppiness. He literally held conferences and he courted the media. Nobody trusts anyone anymore.
As Tony Soprano says "only way to run a family now is bunker style'

What is the future for this thing of ours?
Complete restructuring or return to buffer style management.

We need a debate on the mob's future.

"That's right counsellor family had a lot of buffers" Willy Cicci laughs.

That really got me thinking so i've just had a quick look around and found this article on the link of Camorra and the Sopranos.

That\'s Camorra

I don't know enough about the Camorras traditions to really oppose or accept this veiw. I don't know how there ranking goes or how traditional initiation rites are performed (like Christopher getting made). Also you have to realise theres still plenty of non Sicilians (Italians) in the regular mafia anyway.

Thanks a lot Guiliano for making the distinction.

I remember now how in Season 2 the visit to Italy stressed the guys Neopolitian heritage.

I hope this discussion has made us consider the workings of 'organised crime' families (note I didn't say mafia!!)

I wonder what kind of future they have and how future series of the Sopranos can reflect this turmoil.

Perhaps, a wider discussion to be continued on a new topic heading.

Yes, thanks, Turi. Camorra were the original "black handers" in America. But then, in immigrant Italian neighborhoods, even individual extortionists frequently left notes with the "black hand" to imply that they were part of a larger, more powerful and sinister organization.

So are they an offshoot of the Mafia(yeah i know)or they had nothing to do with The Sicilians to do with. Was Fanucci with the Camorra ?

The camorra were a neapolitan, mainland gang, feared back in the old country for their brutality. In the Sopranos we're led to believe that they are a free-standing organisation (in american anyway) but have loose links to the five new york families. I think fanucci was with the 'black hand' (maranzano) which operated seperately from the mafia until they merged, bringing about the modern mafia