HOME |  CULT MOVIES | COMPETITIONS | ADVERTISE |  CONTACT US |  ABOUT US
 
 
 
Newest Reviews
American Fiction
Poor Things
Thunderclap
Zeiram
Legend of the Bat
Party Line
Night Fright
Pacha, Le
Kimi
Assemble Insert
Venus Tear Diamond, The
Promare
Beauty's Evil Roses, The
Free Guy
Huck and Tom's Mississippi Adventure
Rejuvenator, The
Who Fears the Devil?
Guignolo, Le
Batman, The
Land of Many Perfumes
Cat vs. Rat
Tom & Jerry: The Movie
Naked Violence
Joyeuses Pacques
Strangeness, The
How I Became a Superhero
Golden Nun
Incident at Phantom Hill
Winterhawk
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Maigret Sets a Trap
B.N.A.
Hell's Wind Staff, The
Topo Gigio and the Missile War
Battant, Le
Penguin Highway
Cazadore de Demonios
Snatchers
Imperial Swordsman
Foxtrap
   
 
Newest Articles
3 From Arrow Player: Sweet Sugar, Girls Nite Out and Manhattan Baby
Little Cat Feat: Stephen King's Cat's Eye on 4K UHD
La Violence: Dobermann at 25
Serious Comedy: The Wrong Arm of the Law on Blu-ray
DC Showcase: Constantine - The House of Mystery and More on Blu-ray
Monster Fun: Three Monster Tales of Sci-Fi Terror on Blu-ray
State of the 70s: Play for Today Volume 3 on Blu-ray
The Movie Damned: Cursed Films II on Shudder
The Dead of Night: In Cold Blood on Blu-ray
Suave and Sophisticated: The Persuaders! Take 50 on Blu-ray
Your Rules are Really Beginning to Annoy Me: Escape from L.A. on 4K UHD
A Woman's Viewfinder: The Camera is Ours on DVD
Chaplin's Silent Pursuit: Modern Times on Blu-ray
The Ecstasy of Cosmic Boredom: Dark Star on Arrow
A Frosty Reception: South and The Great White Silence on Blu-ray
You'll Never Guess Which is Sammo: Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon on Blu-ray
Two Christopher Miles Shorts: The Six-Sided Triangle/Rhythm 'n' Greens on Blu-ray
Not So Permissive: The Lovers! on Blu-ray
Uncomfortable Truths: Three Shorts by Andrea Arnold on MUBI
The Call of Nostalgia: Ghostbusters Afterlife on Blu-ray
Moon Night - Space 1999: Super Space Theater on Blu-ray
Super Sammo: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son on Blu-ray
Sex vs Violence: In the Realm of the Senses on Blu-ray
What's So Funny About Brit Horror? Vampira and Bloodbath at the House of Death on Arrow
Keeping the Beatles Alive: Get Back
   
 
  Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion The Guilty Party
Year: 1970
Director: Elio Petri
Stars: Gian Maria Volontè, Florinda Bolkan, Gianni Santuccio, Orazio Orlando, Sergio Tramonti, Arturo Dominici, Aldo Rendine, Massimo Foschi, Aleka Paizi, Vittorio Duse, Pino Patti, Salvo Randone, Giuseppe Licastro, Filippo De Gara, Fulvio Grimaldi
Genre: Drama, ThrillerBuy from Amazon
Rating:  7 (from 1 vote)
Review: A well-dressed, well-kempt man (Gian Maria Volontè) walks up to the apartment block of his girlfriend (Florinda Bolkan) and lets himself in, then proceeds to her apartment where she is very pleased to see him. She asks him how he will murder her today, and he replies he will slit her throat, then they start taking off their clothes and climb into bed. But the man was not joking: as they are in the act of lovemaking, he takes a blade and cuts her throat, killing her almost instantly. Then he casts her aside, wipes the blood off on the sheets, and has a shower; after that, he dresses and commences his other goal: to make it clear to all and sundry that he was the killer - the Chief of the Homicide Division.

Elio Petri's Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto, or Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion as it was known in English, made quite an impact on its initial release, ranked alongside works like The Conformist or Garden of the Finzi-Continis as a new classic of Italian cinema as the decade changed to the seventies. But somewhere along the way, it lapsed into a netherworld of not being widely seen, and its standing dropped, though those who did catch it remained highly impressed at its qualities that won it a Best Foreign Film Oscar for its inverted Kafkaesque games-playing with the audience - Franz was quoted right at the end, apparently as a sardonic punchline.

Really, this was not one man pitted against a state of authority and unseeing confusion, since the main character, who is never named, was in that authority, and has a perverse desire to be caught for his crimes. However, that desire is thwarted at every turn in a style that can be horribly surreal, yet can also be of the blackest comedy, certainly there was a twinkle in Volontè's eye as he laid traps for himself, toyed with his equals and underlings, and generally behaved like some scoundrel contained in a cruel universe that is happy to entertain personalities like his since they fit right in with the state corruption that allows him to go about his business, as to admit one of their chiefs was wrong is a no-no.

As you can see, co-writer and director Elio Petri had a savage observation to make about how Italy, any country in fact, could so easily slip into fascism when its leaders were given carte blanche to do whatever they liked as long as they were in a position of power. The unsettling element had it that the Chief here represented not merely a corruption gone unchecked, but an indication that the people given permission to spy on you, to arrest you and gather evidence against you, were quite possibly insane, and even if they were that was no hindrance to their task. Indeed, the crazier they were the better suited they were for the job of those investigations, and as the antihero, who we learn is about to head the Political Crime Division, sets about incriminating himself (after all, he perpetrated the crime), he is indulged and if any tricky information arises, it is ignored.

Everything must feed into the appearance of respectability and justice must be seen to have been served, as long as it has been also regarded as fighting the political and social forces identified as anti-social and anti-state, so if those citizens who are above suspicion, as the title says, are misbehaving, or going as far as getting off on their own twisted power trip, then they will now be permitted to do so for they are useful in the fight against the insurgents and undesirables, who may be innocent, but are going down anyway. It fits the purpose. Petri shot this in a palette of greys, all the more bureaucratic and nightmarish that way, and his star was at the top of his game in practically every scene, a magnetic yet loathsome presence, as Bolkan appeared almost exclusively in flashbacks, accusing both her killer and the machinations of the authorities from beyond the grave, yet similarly futile in her need for justice. It was a shade too one note and relentless to be judged much fun, but it was intelligent and rigorous, and Ennio Morricone's off-kilter theme was the perfect accompaniment.
Reviewer: Graeme Clark

 

This review has been viewed 4983 time(s).

As a member you could Rate this film

 
Review Comments (0)


Untitled 1

Login
  Username:
 
  Password:
 
   
 
Forgotten your details? Enter email address in Username box and click Reminder. Your details will be emailed to you.
   

Latest Poll
Which star probably has psychic powers?
Laurence Fishburne
Nicolas Cage
Anya Taylor-Joy
Patrick Stewart
Sissy Spacek
Michelle Yeoh
Aubrey Plaza
Tom Cruise
Beatrice Dalle
Michael Ironside
   
 
   

Recent Visitors
Enoch Sneed
Darren Jones
Mark Le Surf-hall
  Louise Hackett
Andrew Pragasam
Mary Sibley
Graeme Clark
  Desbris M
   

 

Last Updated: