Metello

An user wrote it is Bolognini's most critically-acclaimed movie;that's debatable .Actually it would rather be "la Viaccia" or most likely "L'Eredita Ferramonti".

Bolignini is at his best in the costume drama.Just compare "Metello" with its follow-up " Imputazione Di Omicidio Per Uno Studento" and you will know what I mean : the latter could really be virtually any students/bourgeois/cops circa 1968 flick filmed by anyone at all with a screenplay written by anyone at all.

Half of "Metello" depicts a very long strike ,shows rebellion,repression,little victories and big defeats.Whereas the viewer is expecting a harsh treatment,Bolognini uses a refined,polished style ;the form sharply contrasts with the content.Add Ennio Morricone's magnificent score which verges on classical.There's even a scene at the opera.

Although Metello takes a rebel stand ,his military service seems important to him and he does not see the army as the enemy "I'm well fed" he writes to his lover.The Taviani bros have also pointed out that ,for the young Italian of that time,being a soldier was an honor.

It was a pet project for Bolognini who had to wait to make it ,and not with the actors he had initially planned to work with;the two leads were virtually unknown at the time,particularly Ottavia Piccolo who became famous in Europa in the seventies.