Underrated?
I first heard of this during the Ennio Morricone-medley at the Academy Awards, and i LOVED the theme immediatly. But how come it isn't more know for an academy award winner ? Is it bad?
shareTo me, it is one of the most riveting movies I have ever seen. Gian Maria Volontè's tour de force as the mad police inspector is simply beyond description. You have to see it to believe it ! Ennio Morricone's soundtrack fits remarkably well with the pace and spirit of the film. It's a great story. Dialogue by Ugo Pirro shines with sardonic one-liners. And if politically, the satirists evidently have a solid grudge with the Right, with the police, with the establishment, etc, well curiously the leftists also get their share of vitriol. Both an innovative thriller and a brillant, corrosive satire, L'Indagine ranks easily among the greatest highlights of Cinecittà's golden age. Commercially speaking, to sell this DVD (a Criterion thing, maybe?), one should mostly build the pitch around Volontè's powerhouse performance. For the average-chap spectator, I'd say it's the number one attraction of this otherwise multilayered movie.
shareI never cease to be astonished by the number of milestone movies that don't have a wide international DVD release. Some of these escape the radar for inexplicable reasons that I think might occasionally have more to do with complicated rights laws than with the fact that the Criterions of this world haven't set their eyes on them! At least this is what I would like to believe...
I agree with Arca1943 that it's impossible to describe or match Gian Maria Volonté's memorable turn in this movie. This is possibly one of my Top 10 favourite performances by an actor of all time. I was especially blown away by the unbelievably masterful way in which Volonté conveyed the shift in power between his chief police inspector and Antonio Pace, in the interrogation scene where the latter unexpected humbles the former. Volonté's proto-fascist bully suddenly shrinks to the size of a frightened fledgling sparrow just fallen from its nest and confronted by a fierce predator! If that isn't a towering example of thespian genius, I don't know what is! It seems there isn't a role Volonté couldn't have played, sometimes...