#682: PETRI, Elio: Investigation Of A Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)

PETRI, Elio (Italy)
Investigation Of A Citizen Above Suspicion [1970]
Spine #682
Blu-ray


The provocative Italian filmmaker Elio Petri's most internationally acclaimed work is this remarkable, visceral, Oscar-winning thriller. Petri maintains a tricky balance between absurdity and realism in telling the Kafkaesque tale of a Roman police inspector (a commanding Gian Maria Volonté) investigating a heinous crime — which he himself committed. Both a compelling character study and a disturbing commentary on the draconian government crackdowns in Italy in the late 1960s and early '70s, Petri's kinetic portrait of surreal bureaucracy is a perversely pleasurable rendering of controlled chaos.

115 minutes
Color
Monaural
in Italian
1:85:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2013
Director/Writers


Written by Ugo Pirro and Elio Petri.
Petri was 41 when he directed Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion.

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Thirty-six page booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Evan Calder Williams and excerpts from a 2001 book by screenwriter Pirro.

Commentary

None.

Archival interview

With director Petri, conducted by critic and filmmaker Alexandre Astruc.

Elio Petri: Notes About a Filmmaker (2005)

A ninety-minute documentary on the directors career, featuring interviews with friends, collaborators, and filmmakers.

Interview

With film scholar Camilla Zamboni.

Investigation of a Citizen Named Volonté (2008)

A sixty-minute documentary about actor Gian Maria Volonté.

Music in his Blood

An interview with composer Ennio Morricone from 2010, conducted by film critic Fabio Ferzetti.

Trailers

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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