The Sicilian (film) howlingly grandiose manner that only a filmmaker with visions of epic greatness working on a large scale with a multinational cast can achieve." Leonard Maltin rated the film a "BOMB", calling it a "militantly lugubrious bio of Salvatore Giuliano". Producer McNall was personally disappointed by the film. "Given that "The Sicilian" was a descendant of Puzo's "The Godfather"," wrote McNall, "I had expected something with the same beauty, drama, and emotion. Cimino had shown with "The Deer Hunter" that he was capable of making such a movie. But he had failed." McNall even quoted Ebert's review in his appraisal of
The Professor and the Siren who oversaw the publication and wrote the accompanying preface. The narrative begins in 1938 in Turin and misty winter, where the encounter between two personalities different from each other, both Sicilians: the distinguished classicist Rosario La Ciura, an eminent retired professor of Ancient Greek and member of the Italian Senate, and the young Paolo Corbera di Salina, a Sicilian of noble birth who works as a journalist and chases skirts. Despite the cultural and generational gap, and the harshness of character of the professor, the meeting, which took place in a bar on Via Po, the young man can earn,