Film Review
Elio Petri followed up his enjoyably zany sci-fi thriller romp
La Decima vittima (1965) with
this deliciously tongue-in-cheek thriller based on a popular and highly
influential novel of the time,
A
ciascuno il suo (a.k.a.
We Still Kill the Old Way),
by Leonardo Sciascia. Never one to
disguise his left-leaning politics, Petri embellishes his slick little
thriller (an early example of the conspiracy thriller or
neo-polar that would become popular
in the1970s) with a flagrant assault against what he perceived to be
the main enemies of Italian society - the Mafia, the Catholic Church
and the self-interested bourgeoisie. In his film, these three
appear to form the unholiest of alliances, and even though the Mafia is
not mentioned by name its malignant presence can be felt in almost
every shot, a corrupting and poisonous shadow of evil that is as alluring
as it is deadly.
Not only is the film superbly well-scripted and acted, it is designed
and photographed with remarkable flair. The lush panoramic shots
of Sicily make an unsettling contrast with the moodier shots (street
scenes and interiors), creating a palpable sense of a Mediterranean
paradise that has been tainted by an unseen, all-powerful force of
malignancy, one that is capable of destroying anyone who dares to
oppose it. As the hopelessly inept amateur sleuth and sexual
inadequate Laurana, Gian Maria Volonté typifies the laughable
impotency of anyone who seeks to take a stand against the vice that
underpins Sicilian society - that he fails, and fails spectacularly,
comes as absolutely no surprise.
Volonté was an actor who shared Petri's politics and was greatly
admired by the director; he would feature in his subsequent
masterpiece,
La Classe
ouvrière va au paradis (1971), which was justly rewarded
with the Palme d'or at Cannes in 1972. In common with many of
Petri's early films,
A ciascuno il
suo was criminally overlooked when it was first released but it
did receive an award at Cannes in 1967 for its innovative and quirky
screenplay. An obvious forerunner of the slew of gangster films
that took cinema by storm in the 1970s it is definitely worth
revisiting - a telling yet deeply disturbing commentary on the
invisible threads that bind organised crime to the supposedly
legitimate custodians of power in modern society.
© James Travers 2014
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Film Synopsis
In a small Sicilian town a pharmacist named Manno begins receiving
anonymous letters threatening him with death. Because Manno has
something of a reputation as a Don Juan no one takes the death threats
seriously, until he is shot dead, along with his friend Roscio, during a
hunting trip. Schoolteacher Paolo Laurana, a friend of the
murdered men, smells a rat when three illiterate peasants are arrested
for the killings and sets out to uncover the truth for himself.
Laurana's suspicions that the murders are the work of the Mafia are
confirmed when Roscio's diary comes into his possession. Little
does he know that his own death warrant has already been signed and
sealed...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.