Only a few Francesco Rosi films live up to his ‘illustrious’ reputation, this is one of them. At heart a murder mystery (three Sicilian judges; later more victims among judges in Rome) and study of a top-ranking police detective brought in to work the case, imperturbable Lino Ventura, it demonstrates how every tragedy is also an opportunity for someone. And because this is ‘70s Italy, the alternate avenues of investigation and likely suspects ‘suggested’ as possibilities are picked according to political winds & whims. A revenge-seeking victim of judicial injustice? Anarchist or Mafia involvement? Communists? Fascists? And just when Ventura seems to be getting a handle on things, superiors offer new marching orders: Max Von Sydow’s logic-skewed Dostoevsky nightmare of a Judge Magistrate; Rightist Politico Fernando Rey (the film’s one comfortable soul); department boss Tino Carraro, constant as a weather-vane; a wire-tap specialist; a Center-Left conspiracy-minded official, the case too useful to too many factions for any solution to ever be accepted; a blame game personified. Rosi probably errs with a nihilistic ending too pat/too easy, but the film, so beautifully wrought & elegantly composed ((Pasqualino De Santis lensed), its pace funereal chic, you’ll hardly mind or notice.
DOUBLE-BILL/LNK: Developing similar themes and tone, Rosi’s film might have been instrumental to both Alan J. Pakula’s THE PARALLAX VIEW and Francis Ford Coppola’s THE CONVERSATION, if only those films hadn’t preceded this by two years. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/05/conversation-1974.html
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