We Still Kill the Old Way

Goodish blend of Mafia movie (still pretty much uncharted territory at the time) and political thriller, with a hesitant romance thrown in for good measure; the result is generally absorbing, thanks largely to uniformly excellent performances, gleaming location photography (Sicily, of course) and a wonderful score by the ever-reliable Luis Enrique Bacalov. Heading the cast is Gian Maria Volonte': the film launched the political/social conscience phase of his career after a stint doing Spaghetti Westerns. His character is that of an intellectual loner who finds himself in over his head when he starts probing into the assassination of two friends – including philanderer Luigi Pistilli – which leads to his falling for the other's wife (Irene Papas). Though the identity of the villain (as ever, an eminent member of the community and far closer to the hero than he envisaged) comes as no real surprise, the investigation – involving, among other things, the hushed participation of cleric and senator alike – and the disquieting revelations that emerge from it, lends the whole a deeply cynical tone (culminating in the downbeat climax depicting Volonte''s own extreme fate) while cementing the Mafia's reputation as strictly a 'family business'. The Italian DVD includes an interesting half-hour featurette detailing the making and reception of the award-winning film (including the fact that the author of the source novel, Leonardo Sciascia, was dissatisfied with how the script turned out); the interviewees are co-scriptwriter Ugo Pirro, the wife of the late Elio Petri, and composer Bacalov (who is regretful that, given his felicitous working relationship with the director here, the opportunity never arose for another collaboration).

"A Ciascuno il suo" is based on the homonymous book by Leonardo Sciascia, and just like many of the author's books is an unconventional detective story aimed at unveiling the hypocrisy and immorality of Sicilian society. The story begins with a man showing his friends a few threat letters. A few days later he gets shot together with one of his friends, a chemist. The murder is filed under "honour crime" (delitto d'onore) a murder committed out of passion and jealousy, and a peasant is convicted for it. Gian Maria Volonté is an awkward school professor who believes in the peasant's innocence, and decides to investigate the crime. His infatuation with the beautiful wife of the victim also plays a part in his decision to solve the mystery. As the story unveils, he will discover unpleasant truths, but will continue with the investigation despite all dangers. Volonté is as formidable as always, changing his accent and posture to fit the part. But the real protagonist is the Sicilian landscape in all its harsh brightness. The cinematography is such that we can almost feel the wind, the sun and the dryness of the air. When I first watched this film I wondered whether anyone who was not Sicilian or familiar with Sciascia's writing would understand all its complexity, but Elio Petri does a masterful job in transposing the book.

Gian Marie Volonte's got himself into some hot water this time! Doesn't he know that in Sicily, if someone gets murdered, you just keep your trap shut and let whoever the police randomly arrest go to jail?

Luigi Pistilli keeps getting letters telling him he's a dead man, and its making him a bit paranoid. Nevertheless, one morning he says goodbye to his wife, then his lover, and sets off with his friend to go hunting, only to find himself the prey. Two corpses later, we've got a bit Sicilian funeral to go to while the police chat about the people attending, including a well-respected lawyer (Gabriele Ferzetti) who's cousin (Irene Papas) was married to one of the victims, and Gian Marie Volonte, a professor friend of the two who starts poking in places that should not be poked.

Pistilli is generally thought to be the target as he was a bit of a fanny rat and some family members are arrested, but they are all illiterate so how could they cobble together those threatening letters. Volonte also finds that the words in the letter were from a Vatican-based newspaper, which leads him to the priesthood. Oh, and a lot of people are related in this film, so one of the priests is the uncle of Papas and Ferzetti.

It's a formula you'll see a lot of in these films, so it's just as well the lead actors are good! Volonte has the hots for the widow Papas and has to basically restrain himself every times he meets her, while Papas kind of has the hots for him too, leading to all kinds of awkward moments. Volonte is very good at the bookish professor who is just too smart and curious for his own good, while Papas just smoulders as the widow.

It looks absolutely scorching hot in Sicily in this film, and just like Damiano Damiani's Day of the Owl, the island itself is a character, with all the strange culture that lives on its land.

The only let down of the film is that the plot is a bit predictable, but it's by no means a bad film.

This marks the first collaboration between director Elio Petri, writer Ugo Pirro and actor Gian Maria Volonte which was to bear fruit in the extraordinary 'Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto' and is loosely adapted from the novel by Leonardo Scascia who was again to provide the source material for Rosi's stupendous 'Cadaveri Eccellenti'.

Scascia's novel was inspired by the assassination of a policeman by the Mafia and here Petri and his cinematographer Luigi Kuveiiller have created a striking contrast between the ravishing Sicilian scenery and the all-pervading corruption although there is perhaps a little too much use made of the 'zoom'.

Excellent script and taut editing with strong performances from Volonte, Gabriele Ferzetti, both of whom were awarded Silver Ribbons, the striking Irene Papas whose role does not really do justice to her talents and a marvellous cameo by Petri regular Salvo Randone as a blind oculist!

Petri's customary Left-leaning social criticism is in evidence here but what should have been a top class film is alas, for this viewer at any rate, weakened by imperfect post-synchronisation and some distinctly dodgy dubbing. The genius of Ennio Morricone is conspicuous by its absence here as the score by Luis Bacalov is intrusive, badly integrated and undermines rather than underlines the film's effectiveness.

Although drawn from a powerful novel by Leonardo Sciascia, this results in an oversimplified, well-meaning social mystery set in 1965 Sicily, where two men are killed during a hunting party. A leftist professor (Gian Maria Volonté, a much better actor in the later Petri offering "Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto") decides to investigate the murders, only to find himself entangled in a spiderweb of corrupt politicians, "mafiosi" killers and sinister Church connections: the anonymous letters received by the victims - and, in due time, by the professor himself - were made with clippings from the Vatican newspaper "L'Osservatore Romano". There is also a fascinating dark lady character, a victim's widow, played by the splendid Irene Papas, whose black-stockinged legs wink through the whole film to the shy, undecided professor. When he resolves to take the woman, in a love scene near the end of the movie, it is unfortunately too late... The film can still be seen with some fun, but it's far from a serious rendition of the novel and it's not perhaps among the best Mafia movies made in Italy at the time. It's curious to note how so-called "spaghetti westerns", for instance, were often much more effective in describing corrupt politicians and Mafia-governed southern towns than their "mainstream" counterpart, like this typically engagé movie. I found also irritating the use of Cinemascope combined with low angles, continuous camera movements and extremely close shots, so that the narrative pace is fragmented and, more often than not, disturbed.