''Illustrious Corpses'' (, ) is a 1976 Italian-French

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by

Francesco Rosi Francesco Rosi (; 15 November 1922 – 10 January 2015) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. His film '' The Mattei Affair'' won the Palme d'Or at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival. Rosi's films, especially those of the 1960s and 1970s, of ...

and starring

Lino Ventura Angiolino Giuseppe Pasquale Ventura (14 July 1919 – 22 October 1987), known as Lino Ventura, was an Italian-born actor and philanthropist, who lived and worked for most of his life in France. He was considered one of the greatest leading men ...

, based on the novel '' Equal Danger'' by

Leonardo Sciascia Leonardo Sciascia (; 8 January 1921 – 20 November 1989) was an Italian writer, novelist, essayist, playwright, and politician. Some of his works have been made into films, including '' Porte Aperte'' (1990; ''Open Doors''), '' Cadaveri Eccellen ...

(1971). In 2008, the film was included in 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

The film starts with the murder of Investigating Judge Vargas in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, amongst a climate of demonstrations, strikes and political tension between the Left and the

Christian Democratic Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

government. The police assign Inspector Rogas to solve the case. While he is starting his investigation, two more judges are killed. All victims turn out to have worked together on several cases. After Rogas discovers evidence of corruption surrounding the three government officials, his superiors advise him "not to forage after gossip," but to trail the "crazy lunatic who for no reason whatever is going about murdering judges." Rogas seeks out three men wrongfully convicted by the murdered judges, and finds his likely suspect in Cres, a pharmacist who was convicted of attempting to poison his wife. Rogas concludes that he was probably framed by his wife. During a search of his house Rogas learns that Cres has not only disappeared but that all pictures of him have his face cut out. Meanwhile, a fourth investigating judge is killed. Upon leaving the site of the murder, Rogas runs into his friend from schooldays, Cusan, who writes for a far-left newspaper. Although the two men have diverging political views, Cusan expresses his respect for the sincerity and strictness of Rogas' investigations. After a fifth killing in front of the Justice Building, the two main eyewitnesses, a policeman and a prostitute, report having seen two young revolutionaries run away from the scene and a car speeding off afterwards. Other than the policeman's recount, who states that the young men fled in the car, the prostitute insists that the men and the car left in different directions. Rogas is demoted and told to work with the political division to pin the crimes on the revolutionary Leftist terrorist groups. Rogas seeks out the Supreme Court's president Riches in order to warn him that he is most likely the next victim. On his first visit, he spots several high-ranking government officials in their cars, including the car which the prostitute had described. Riches details to Rogas a philosophy of justice wherein the court is incapable of error by definition. At a party in the same building, held by shipping tycoon and prominent Christian Democracy member Pattos, Rogas discovers the Minister of Justice with many prominent representatives of the political Left, amongst them the editor of the revolutionary paper Cusan is working for, Galano. He and the Minister have a discussion where the latter reveals that sooner or later, his party will have to form a coalition with the Communist Party, and that it will be their task to prosecute the far-leftist groups. Rogas spots a man whom he believes to be his suspect Cres, but when he wants to approach him, the man has disappeared. After leaving, Rogas is being followed. Rogas asks his friend, a police commissary and surveillance expert, to place a bug in the office of the Chief of Police. On one of the phone recordings, the Chief of Police advises his anonymous listener to "take it easy on the judges" for the time being because of Rogas' investigations. Rogas concludes that the first murders of the judges were carried out by Cres and that the subsequent murders were ordered to justify the prosecution of the far-left groups. He explains his theory to Cusan who, after initial doubts, proposes to Rogas to speak to Amar, the Secretary-General of the Communist Party. Without their knowledge, their conversation has been followed by Riches with a hidden microphone. After listening to the conversation, Riches is shot like the other judges. Rogas discovers that his phone is tapped. He meets with Amar, the Secretary-General of the Communist Party, in a museum, where both of them are killed. Amongst rising tensions between revolutionaries and the government, which mobilizes the army, the Chief of Police reads a statement which blames the killing of Amar on the mentally unstable Rogas, who committed suicide after the murder. The film ends with a discussion between Cusan and the vice-secretary of the Communist Party. The latter declares that the party will accept the government's official version of the murders to prevent an open confrontation which could be carried out into the streets. "But then the people must never know the truth?", asks Cusan. The vice-secretary answers: "Truth is not always revolutionary."

Cast

as Inspector Amerigo Rogas * Tino Carraro as Chief of Police * Marcel Bozzuffi as The lazy *

Paolo Bonacelli Paolo Bonacelli (born 28 February 1937) is an Italian stage and film actor. Bonacelli graduated from the National Academy of Dramatic Arts in Rome. After debuting on stage in Vittorio Gassman's ''Questa sera si recita a soggetto'', he had his fi ...

as Dr. Maxia *

Alain Cuny René Xavier Marie Alain Cuny (12 July 1908 – 16 May 1994) was a French actor of stage and screen. He was closely linked with the works of Paul Claudel and Antonin Artaud, and for his performances for the Théâtre national populaire and ...

as Judge Rasto *

Maria Carta Maria Carta (24 June 1934 – 22 September 1994) was a Sardinian folk music singer-songwriter. She also performed in film and theatre. In 1975 she wrote a book of poetry, ''Canto rituale'' (Ritual Song). Throughout her 25-year career she cove ...

as Madame Cres *

Luigi Pistilli Luigi Pistilli (19 July 192921 April 1996) was an Italian actor of stage, screen, and television. At one time Pistilli was one of Italy's most respected actors of stage, screen, and television. In theater, he was considered one of the country's ...

as Cusan *

Tina Aumont Maria Christina "Tina" Aumont (February 14, 1946 – October 28, 2006) was a French and American actress. She was the daughter of French actor Jean-Pierre Aumont and Dominican actress Maria Montez. She made her acting debut in the British film ...

as The prostitute *

Renato Salvatori Renato Salvatori (20 March 1933 – 27 March 1988) was an Italian actor. Born in Seravezza, Province of Lucca, Salvatori began his career in his teens playing juvenile, romantic roles. After working with directors such as Luchino Visconti, Rob ...

as Police Commissary *

Paolo Graziosi Paolo Graziosi (25 January 1940 – 1 February 2022) was an Italian stage and film actor. Biography Born in Rimini, Graziosi was rejected for the admission exams at the Academy of Dramatic Arts Silvio D'Amico in 1961. He then enrolled at the C ...

as Galano *

Anna Proclemer Anna Proclemer (; 30 May 1923 – 25 April 2013), sometimes credited Anna Vivaldi, was an Italian stage, film and television actress and voice actress. Born in Trento, Italy, Proclemer was the daughter of an engineer and a housewife. She debute ...

as Nocio's wife *

Fernando Rey Fernando Casado Arambillet (20 September 1917 – 9 March 1994), best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and television actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States. A suave, international actor best known for hi ...

as Security Minister *

Max von Sydow Max von Sydow (; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish and French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...

as Riches, Supreme Court president *

Charles Vanel Charles-Marie Vanel (21 August 1892 – 15 April 1989) was a French actor and director. During his 65-year film career, which began in 1923, he appeared in more than 200 films and worked with many prominent directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, ...

as Varga

Background

The film's title refers to the surrealist game Cadavre Exquis invented by

André Breton André Robert Breton (; ; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...

, in which two or more participants contribute words or images to a collective piece of art without seeing the contributions made by the other party or parties. In the words of film critic Roberto Curti, the title describes "the meandering nature of the film with its unpredictable foray into the world of political manipulations, as well as the 'illustrous' corpses of the murdered judges".

Release

''Illustrious Corpses'' was released on 12 February 1976 in Italy and on 26 May the same year in France. It was screened out of competition at the

1976 Cannes Film Festival The 29th Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 to 28 May 1976. American author Tennessee Williams served as jury president for the main competition. American filmmaker Martin Scorsese won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for the drama ...

and at the

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF i ...

in October the same year.

Reception

While Claudio Sorgi of ''La Rivista del Cinematografo'' called ''Illustrious Corpses'' an "important film",

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who was the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in 2000. ...

of 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 ...

'' titled it "disappointing", "predictable" and "trivial" despite all the talents involved. The film triggered a lot of controversy at the time of its release for the film's last sentence, spoken by the communist party vice-secretary: "Truth is not always revolutionary".

Awards

* David di Donatello Award for Best Film and Best Director Francesco Rosi

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Illustrious Corpses 1976 films 1970s psychological thriller films 1970s Italian-language films Italian political thriller films Police detective films 1970s political thriller films Films directed by Francesco Rosi Films based on works by Leonardo Sciascia Films about the Sicilian Mafia Films set in Rome United Artists films Films based on Italian novels Films with screenplays by Tonino Guerra Films produced by Alberto Grimaldi Films scored by Piero Piccioni 1970s Italian films Years of Lead (Italy) films