lasttimeisaw This 1970s Italian political drama opens with a compelling murder live show, a dapper man, Volonté (the head of homicide squad) artfully kills his erotic mistress (Bolken) with a sharp blade, and what's befuddling the viewers is after that, Volonté intentionally leaves many traces which could be implicated to him at the scene of the crime, all the more a face-to-face encounter with a witness when he leaves the building. Naturally, one has to divine his motivation of his deviant contrivances, but the film doesn't opt to give a straightforward answer to the illogicality, instead it unwinds itself into a sociological tirade aiming at the blazon compliance of the ruling power echelon, Volonté has been promoted to a more authoritarian post, politics-oriented, and the cover-up process degrades the whole investigation into a farce, lushly recorded by the agile camera. Arguably, this is Elio Petri's most famous film, an Oscar's BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM crowner, and won him 2 awards in CANNES that year, Petri may not occupy an international cachet so high as his Italian peers, but the film can potently justify his talent, it is an authentic gas, wonderfully designed camera-work with a great architectonic predilection, astute sense of unpicking the tacit phone-interception dirty business, a twitchy sensibility towards the rotten authorities, and upbraids an undeniable self-awareness of being politically-biased.Volonté is tailor-made for the leading role, a typical male chauvinist, over-cocksure by appearance while underneath he is a man haunted by his impotence and jealousy (Bolken has mentioned a few times he is only a child which effectively irritates him), although ambiguous about the raison d'être of his act, Volonté is confident, menacing and impressive out of his common Spaghetti image. Bolken is billed as the co-lead, but mostly appears in flashback and the film has curtailed her character to a sexy trophy, a power-worshipper and a dispensable pawn whose stupidity overshadows her own demise, nevertheless she is a stunner in all her shots. The standout of the all-male supporting cast is Salvo Randone as an innocent plumber, who caves in poignantly in front of power, a bona-fide scene stealer. Last but not the least is Ennio Morricone's score, the repeated motif has a synthesized rhythm, catchy and indelible, throughout the film, it renders the film a touch of ridicule and never leave any chance for the audiences to be bored by the doctrinal tone the film unintentionally betrays.

GManfred Our Hero knocks off his girl friend almost immediately as he is promoted to Police Commissioner. But it was not to celebrate his promotion - he is trying to see if he can get caught, or if he is now, in fact, above suspicion. Hedging his bets, he spends a great deal of time covering his tracks in his effort to get caught/not get caught.Gian Maria Volonte gives a hypnotic performance as the Ego Cop. Strutting and preening, he is in nearly every scene as he barks at subordinates and, in flashbacks, engages in sex with his soon-to-be-dead girlfriend, who, by the way, is a knockout. Seemed like a terrible waste of feminine pulchritude, to borrow a phrase from W.C. Fields.The pacing is good and director Elio Petri keeps the action moving at a good clip. Speaking for myself, I thought the picture hit a few false notes in the character makeup of its hero. For a man convinced he is in the clear he turns cowardly and abject when confronted by the only one who could be a witness against him - this, from a macho Alpha male? I also thought it was interesting to note the counterpoint and the hypocrisy in the theme of Democracy as an ideal, as opposed to its practical application throughout the story. Do as we say, not as we do.Good picture, but as I often think, another foreign film that has been overrated by critics and audiences trying not to appear unsophisticated, and that has now achieved cult status after winning an Oscar.

michelerealini "Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto" is one the best films of Elio Petri. This great director used to make films with a strong social content. This movie, which won an Oscar for the best foreign language film in 1970, stars Gian Maria Volonté -one of Petri's favorite actors.The story is about a fascist police boss, who accidentally kills his mistress during an erotic game. Fate wants him to lead the inquiry for this death. The policeman spreads everywhere clues for his guilt (!). He doesn't do that for justice, he only does this for proving to himself that he's untouchable.Gian Maria Volonté performance is memorable -as usual... He was a big actor, he could change from one role to the other like an extraordinary chameleon. The film has a solid structure, it is satirical and cynical. The sarcasm towards the police boss is also supported by an excellent musical score by Ennio Morricone.We miss films like this one, it's one of the examples of Italian masterpieces which aren't produced any more.

frippertronic81 "Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sopetto" ("Investigation of a citizen above suspicion") is a surrealistic police-story directed by the Italian film-maker Elio Petri in 1970 . A very original screenplay tells us the story of a respected police inspector who commits a crime and deliberately leaves clues just to find out how big is his reputation of "a citizen above suspicion" . The theme is developed from this single event and becomes an intelligent and provocative reflection about the concepts of authority and institution . While some could wrongly see this movie as a left-wing political one because of the way it depicts police authorities' excessive power , It is really only a fair illustration denouncing the impotence of institutions of making an impartial investigation about their own mistakes . The main theme of the movie rises up a brilliant and paradoxical question : how can the organs which administrate the "Law" condemn themselves without risking their own collapse and negation ? To this question the movie answers with the pessimistic vision that a real justice is an utopia because of human-beings' weaknesses and self-preservative nature . This brilliant reflection is developed in an highly entertaining and smoothly constructed satirical police-story : in fact the movie has an overwhelming "funny" tone especially thanks to Gian Maria Volonte' superb acting in the main role of the "fascistoid" police inspector . The ending will surprise you with the way it reveals the surrealistic nature of the whole topic . Even if this movie was highly awarded and acclaimed at its time , (1 Oscar for Best foreign film , 1 Nomination for Best original screenplay , won Grand Prize of the Jury and Golden Palm nomination at Cannes Films Festival , 1 Golden globe nomination ) at the present days it has been criminally forgotten . I can only add that I personally consider it one of the best Italian films ever made and one of the most provocative police-stories in the last 40 years . Unfortunately it suffers of a very poor international distribution so , unless you live in Italy , it won't be easy for you to find this movie . But it doesn't matter how hard it will be , it will be worth it .