christopher-underwood Made in between, Lucky Luciano and the much acclaimed Christ Stopped at Eboli, this is a fabulous, very impressive tale of the power of corruption and paranoia. The wonderful Lino Ventura is spot on as the laconic detective investigating, first the assassination of judges and then to what lies behind. Not everyone is so keen, of course, and as the plot thickens we begin to join up the dots that represent, the church, the judiciary, the mafia and the government. Maybe its all the fault of the hippies and students or maybe the corrupted officials will inadvertently fan that flame. Measured, beautifully photographed and never too explicit, we journey with mr Ventura and just hope he is on the right track. Fantastic opening with long corridor and religious artefacts and mummies that wouldn't look amiss in a Luis Bunuel film leading us to the first brutal killing. Surely a candidate for best film opening ever.

[email protected] Just a couple of additional points - The first assassination victim is Charles Vanel (Tre Fratelli) but also from Wages of Fear (with Montand) as a far younger man.The opening sequence as he emerges from the tombs to the killing in a garden is arguably one of the strongest openings to a film ever. Rosi (an AD to Visconti) is known for this, check out his opening sequence to his "Carmen" (Placido Domingo).On a political note, being a leftist/communist in Italy in the 60s/70s was more accurately being an anti-fascist. Many of the rich claimed to be communists. Lina Wertmuller built a career making fun of this social and political confusion.Wish Illustrious Corpses were available here on DVD!!!

Tonyvdb Near perfect political thriller, with a perfectly cast Lino Ventura in the leading role. Supporting roles, cinematography, direction and score, it's all very close to perfection. This film has this unique dark, typical European 70's-movie atmosphere, of which these French-Italian productions seem to have the copyright.A big 8.

floyd-27 What more can be said? This is one of the finest examples of Italian cinema I have seen. Gripping, intense and thought provoking. Not to mention fantastically acted, directed, edited, shot and produced.The story revolves around Lino Ventura, Italy's No.1 homicide detective. He is called in onto the case of an assassinated judge and has to piece it together. As the movie proceeds more judges are killed by an unknown party....What makes this movie shine more than anything is the plot, it's thicker than cement. When you think you have your finger pointed in the right direction, something else pops up and leads you in yet another direction... FANTASTIC!!!