Set in Italy , a time of strikes , communist rebellion and internal political disturbance . A chief of detectives, homicide section, Dottore (Gian Maria Volontè) kills his mistress , a gorgeous , kinky masochist called Augusta Terzi (Florinda Bolkan) and deliberately leaves clues pointing to his own guilt . Then Dottore goes to visit "il questore" (Gianni Santuccio) for the first time to his office where there is a poster hanging on the wall with a portrait of Gabriele D'Annunzio and subsequently he gets tapped to head the investigation. At the end there's an epilogue: "Whatever impression he makes on us, he is a servant of the law, so he belongs to the law and escapes human judgment." --- Kafka.
The tone is interesting , though gruelling at times , more parable than realist narrative , and most people will have thought of Kafka long before the closing quotation from The Trial. This is reverse angle Kafka : authority at its most nightmarish as seen through the eyes of a torturer . The film displays a real psychological study of a deranged inspector with his twisted police procedure , a deep critique to means of investigation , developing a biting critique of Italian police methods , as well as the authoritarian repression and the severe control of the political rival and society . All this is narrated by means of a complex and difficult development with full of flashbacks, and some scenes without true meaning , predominating a peculiar irony and a certain authority satire . Gian Maria Volonte is very good as a police chief who crack down on political dissidents , while cuts his mistress' throat and strews to prove his own responsibility for the crime . Florinda Bolkan's cheerfully erotic presence and Ennio Morricones' suspenseful musical score are main enjoyable elements in this thorny sermon . Splendid duo of protagonists are well accompanied by a good Italian support cast , such as : Orazio Orlando , Arturo Dominici , Massimo Foschi , Saldo Randone and Elio Petri cameo as a man sleeping during The Chief's speech.
It packs atmospheric and evocative cinematography by cameraman Luigi Kuveiller, shot in Incir De Paolis, Via del Tempio, Via del Giorgione, Rome, Lazio, Italy. Ndagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto (original title) or Enquête sur un citoyen au-dessus de tout soupçon (France) or Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (World-wide, English title) was well but complexly directed by Elio Petri . This is first part of the "Trilogy of Neurosis", also including La classe operaia va in paradiso (1971) and Property is no longer a theft (1973). Petri was an expert on political cinema and thrillers , such as : The Assassin , Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicicion , The Working Class Goes to Heaven , We Still Kill the Old Way . The 10th Victim and Investigation of a citizen above suspicion were his two greatest hits . Rating : 6/10 . Decent thriller that will appeal to Italian cinema enthusiasts .
The tone is interesting , though gruelling at times , more parable than realist narrative , and most people will have thought of Kafka long before the closing quotation from The Trial. This is reverse angle Kafka : authority at its most nightmarish as seen through the eyes of a torturer . The film displays a real psychological study of a deranged inspector with his twisted police procedure , a deep critique to means of investigation , developing a biting critique of Italian police methods , as well as the authoritarian repression and the severe control of the political rival and society . All this is narrated by means of a complex and difficult development with full of flashbacks, and some scenes without true meaning , predominating a peculiar irony and a certain authority satire . Gian Maria Volonte is very good as a police chief who crack down on political dissidents , while cuts his mistress' throat and strews to prove his own responsibility for the crime . Florinda Bolkan's cheerfully erotic presence and Ennio Morricones' suspenseful musical score are main enjoyable elements in this thorny sermon . Splendid duo of protagonists are well accompanied by a good Italian support cast , such as : Orazio Orlando , Arturo Dominici , Massimo Foschi , Saldo Randone and Elio Petri cameo as a man sleeping during The Chief's speech.
It packs atmospheric and evocative cinematography by cameraman Luigi Kuveiller, shot in Incir De Paolis, Via del Tempio, Via del Giorgione, Rome, Lazio, Italy. Ndagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto (original title) or Enquête sur un citoyen au-dessus de tout soupçon (France) or Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (World-wide, English title) was well but complexly directed by Elio Petri . This is first part of the "Trilogy of Neurosis", also including La classe operaia va in paradiso (1971) and Property is no longer a theft (1973). Petri was an expert on political cinema and thrillers , such as : The Assassin , Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicicion , The Working Class Goes to Heaven , We Still Kill the Old Way . The 10th Victim and Investigation of a citizen above suspicion were his two greatest hits . Rating : 6/10 . Decent thriller that will appeal to Italian cinema enthusiasts .