''Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion'' () is a 1970 Italian

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

crime thriller film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as drama or gangster film, but al ...

directed by Elio Petri, starring Gian Maria Volonté and Florinda Bolkan. It is a psychological, black-humored satire on corruption in high office, telling the story of a top police officer who kills his mistress, and then tests whether the police would charge him for this crime. He begins manipulating the investigation by planting obvious clues while the other police officers ignore them, either intentionally or not. The film was released in Italy by Euro International Pictures on 9 February 1970, to widespread acclaim from critics. It won the Jury Prize at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival, and the David di Donatello Awards for Best Film for Best Actor (Gian Maria Volonté). In the United States, it won the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

for Best Foreign Language Film. Petri and his co-writer Ugo Pirro were nominated for

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

. In 2008, the film was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage’s 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978."

Plot summary

A recently promoted police inspector, nicknamed "Il Dottore" ("the Doctor", an Italian honorific) kills his mistress, and then covers up his involvement in the crime. He insinuates himself into the investigation, planting clues to steer his subordinate officers toward a series of other suspects, including the woman's gay husband and a student leftist radical. He then exonerates the other suspects and leads the investigators toward himself to prove that he is "above suspicion" and can get away with anything, even while being investigated. His personal neurosis caused by his extreme position of power, and his firm beliefs in the role of

authority Authority is commonly understood as the legitimate power of a person or group of other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' may be practiced by legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government,''The New Fontana Dictionary of M ...

, eventually drive him to try to accuse himself with every possible evidence. The only witness of his presence at the victim's apartment, the

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

Antonio Pace, refuses to accuse him to be able to prove the inherent criminal nature of power ("A criminal leading the repression, it is perfect!"). The Doctor eventually desperately confesses to the crime in front of his superiors, in an effort to not subvert the essence of authority, but they all refuse to believe him, forcing him to recant his confession, with the approval of the police commissioner. The interrogation at his home is revealed to be a dream sequence, and when he wakes up the commissioner and other colleagues actually arrive at his place; however the outcome of their confrontation is not revealed, and the film ends with a quote by

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

about the

paradoxical A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true or apparently true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictor ...

nature of power.

Cast

Release

''Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion'' was released in Italy on February 9, 1970, where it was distributed by Euro International Films.

Reception

Box office

In Italy, the film had a domestic gross of 1,928,248,000 Italian lire.

Critical response

''Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion'' was well received by critics and is widely considered one of the best international films of the 1970s. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called the film "a suspense melodrama with the moral concerns of angry satire ..When it opened in Italy early this year (and later, when it was shown at

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), ''Investigation'' was hailed for the ways in which it exposed the corrupt, authoritarian practices of the police, who place themselves above their own laws ..The story moves forward with a relentless momentum. It is a political parable, and a stunning movie." The film has a

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approval of 100% based on 15 reviews, with an average score of 8/10. On

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, it has a score of 89 out of 100 based on 10 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". David Fear of ''Time Out'' called it " paranoid

police procedural The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies ...

, a perverse parable about the corrupting elements of power, and a candidate for the greatest predated Patriot Act movie ever ... Kenneth Turan called the film "as troubling today as when it came out in 1970. Maybe more so."

Accolades

The film was highly regarded in its own time, winning the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

, and both the FIPRESCI Prize and the Grand Prize at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival. Also it won the

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for Best Motion Picture from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the E ...

Cancelled remake

The Cannon Group had hoped to remake the original film with

Andrei Konchalovsky Andrei Sergeyevich Konchalovsky (; né Mikhalkov; born 20 August 1937) is a Russian film and theatre director, screenwriter, and producer. His filmmaking career spans over 60 years in Cinema of the Soviet Union, Soviet, Cinema of the United St ...

(of '' Runaway Train'' fame) attached to direct.

Paul Schrader Paul Joseph Schrader (; born July 22, 1946) is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first became known for writing the screenplay of Martin Scorsese's ''Taxi Driver'' (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scor ...

was attached to write, as he wrote both a story treatment and a screenplay. It was going to have either

Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino ( ; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Known for his intense performances on stage and screen, Pacino is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. His career spans more than five decades, duri ...

Christopher Walken Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Christopher Walken on stage and screen, His work on stage and screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Christopher Walken, accolades includin ...

to star. Originally, Cannon released an ad, planning to shoot in October 1987, and premiere it at Cannes in 1988, although it never got made, and it was shelved. It remained shelved until the 90s, when it was resurrected by

Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. Foster started her career as a child actor before establishing herself as leading actress in film. She has received List of awards and nominations re ...

's production company Egg Pictures.

Sidney Lumet Sidney Arthur Lumet ( ; June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American film director. Lumet started his career in theatre before moving to film, where he gained a reputation for making realistic and gritty New York City, New York dramas w ...

was attached to direct, but the film never made it beyond pre-production.

References

Bibliography

External links

*
''Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion: The Long Harm of the Law''
an essay by Evan Calder Williams at the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of arthouse film distributo ...

{{Authority control 1970 films 1970s Italian-language films 1970 crime drama films 1970s political drama films 1970s psychological thriller films Italian satirical films Italian crime drama films Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners Edgar Award–winning works Police detective films Italian political drama films Films about miscarriage of justice Films directed by Elio Petri Films scored by Ennio Morricone Films set in Italy Films with screenplays by Ugo Pirro Films set in Rome Poliziotteschi films Cannes Grand Prix winners 1970s Italian films Years of Lead (Italy) films