Indagine Su Un Cittadino Al Di Sopra Di Ogni Sospetto

Director: Elio Petri Elio Petri

Overview

Better known as Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, this Oscar-winning political drama stars Gian Maria Volonte as the citizen of the title, an unnamed police inspector. The story finds the inspector calmly cutting his mistress' throat, then planting evidence that will clear him of accusation -- and attempting to evade arrest by virtue of his "clean" public image. Elio Petri's own anti-establishment stance was never more pronounced than in this film, where the truth is whatever the ruling class chooses to acknowledge. The original Italian title of Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion was Indagine su un Cittadino al di Sopra di Ogna Sospetto.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/08/2021
UPC:	0715515252119
Original Release:	1970
Rating:	NR
Source:	Criterion Collection
Presentation:	[Color]
Time:	1:55:00
Sales rank:	22,580

Special Features

New 4k digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack; Archival interview with Director Elio Petri, conducted by critic and filmmaker Alexandre Astruc; Elio Petri: Notes About a Filmmaker (2005), a ninety-minute documentary on the Director's career, featuring interviews with friends, collaborators, and filmmakers; New interview with film scholar Camilla Zamboni; Investigation of a Citizen Named Volonte (2008, a sixty-minute documentary about actor Gian Maria Volonte; Music in His Blood, an interview with composer Ennio Morricone from 2010, conducted by film critic Fabio Ferzetti; Trailers; New English Subtitle translation; Plus: An essay by film scholar Evan Calder Williams and excerpts from a 2001 book by Screenwriter Ugo Pirro

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

John Wells	Police Inspector
Florinda Bolkan	Augusta
Salvo Randone	Plumber
Gianni Santuccio	Police Commissioner
Arturo Dominici	Mangani
Orazio Orlando	Biglia
Sergio Tramonti	Antonio Pace
Vittorio Duse	Actor
Ugo Adinolfi	Actor
Massimo Foschi	Augusta's Husband
Aldo Rendine	Homicide Functionary

Technical Credits

Elio Petri

Ugo Pirro

Elio Petri	Director,Screenwriter
Romano Cardarelli	Production Designer
Franco Corridoni	Makeup
Carlo Egidi	Art Director
Sonya Mays Friedman	Makeup
Luigi Kuveiller	Cinematographer
Ruggero Mastroianni	Editor
Mayer	Costumes/Costume Designer
Ennio Morricone	Score Composer
Bruno Nicolai	Musical Direction/Supervision
Ugo Pirro	Screenwriter
Angela Sammaciccia	Costumes/Costume Designer
Daniele Senatore	Producer

Editorial Reviews

This 1971 winner of the Best Foreign Film award at the Oscars is a controversial, memorable piece of work. The twisty-turny narrative of Indagine su un Cittadino al di Sopra di Ogni Sospetto goes over the top with its political content (comparing police authority and fascism in ways that will make conservative viewers squirm) but its thriller elements work like a charm, creating an almost suffocating atmosphere of paranoia that becomes more intense as it reaches its end. Elio Petri's directorial approach rises up to meet the demands of the narrative, making effective use of lush photography from Luigi Kuveiller and a quirky score from Ennio Morricone to create a setting for the tale that is alluring, horrifying and blackly comedic by turns. However, the most important elements to selling the world of Indagine su un Cittadino al di Sopra di Ogni Sospetto is the performances. Thankfully, they deliver the necessary flesh-and-blood intensity: Gian Maria Volonte is frightfully convincing as the anti-hero, a man whose inner turmoil expresses itself through a desire to twist and control the lives of others, and Florinda Bolkan is seductive and chilly by turns as the free-thinking object of his romantic obsession. In short, Indagine su un Cittadino al di Sopra di Ogni Sospetto remains a disorienting and effective piece of agit-prop, even if one doesn't agree with its messages.

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