Elio Petri made a string of good and interesting movies from the '60s to the '70s. He tackled the Mafia, fascist cops, union strikes, and deranged artists. Todo Modo, although not his best and most entertaining movie, may be the sum of all his socio-political interests. A dark satire about Italian politics, based on Leonardo Sciascia's novel, Todo Modo is a very bizarre movie that may not make a lot of sense unless the viewer knows a bit of what was going on in Italy in the 1970s.
Gian Maria Volontè plays a prime-minister who enrolls in spiritual resort, together with his cabinet of ministers and the opposition, where, under the guidance of Don Gaetano (Marcello Mastroianni), they attend lectures against sin, vices, money and the thirst for power. They're there to become better men, while outside the city is being ravaged by an epidemic. But instead they use the spiritual retreat to scheme, conspire and plan the future, in order to maintain their tight grip on power, which they've held for decades, while the people suffer under their indifferent, predatory rule.
Then there's a murder, and another, and all hell breaks loose. The murder, however, doesn't turn into a classic police investigation, especially because inspector Scalambri (Renato Salvatori) is out of his league investigating the government members. Sciascia's previous novel, which was turned into 'Cadaveri Eccellenti' (directed by Francesco Rosi), treads similar ground with the same level of ambiguity and meditations on the structures of power. After watching Todo Modo, everyone should give it a try. Instead of a police investigation, Todo Modo shows ruthless, treacherous men trying to back-stab each other for survival. It's like a political version of Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None'. In one of the best scenes, Scalambri attempts a reenactment of the first murder; he tries to ascertain where each person was at the time of the murder, which occurred in the middle of a crowd. But this appeal to justice is marred by the politicians' instincts never to be compromised in an investigation. As each man denies that he was to the right or left of someone else, it becomes obvious left and right stop being directions and become political tendencies, ending with the hilarious accusation, "Come off it! You've always been on the right! You were even to the right of Mussolini!" The movie has a slow start, but once the first murder occurs, it picks up a gripping pace until culminating in an hecatomb in the end. Everyone's very good in this movie, including Volontè and Mastroianni. The cinematography of Luigi Kuveiller is at the peak of his talent. Even if it's not a masterpiece, the talent concentrated in this movie makes it worth watching.
Gian Maria Volontè plays a prime-minister who enrolls in spiritual resort, together with his cabinet of ministers and the opposition, where, under the guidance of Don Gaetano (Marcello Mastroianni), they attend lectures against sin, vices, money and the thirst for power. They're there to become better men, while outside the city is being ravaged by an epidemic. But instead they use the spiritual retreat to scheme, conspire and plan the future, in order to maintain their tight grip on power, which they've held for decades, while the people suffer under their indifferent, predatory rule.
Then there's a murder, and another, and all hell breaks loose. The murder, however, doesn't turn into a classic police investigation, especially because inspector Scalambri (Renato Salvatori) is out of his league investigating the government members. Sciascia's previous novel, which was turned into 'Cadaveri Eccellenti' (directed by Francesco Rosi), treads similar ground with the same level of ambiguity and meditations on the structures of power. After watching Todo Modo, everyone should give it a try. Instead of a police investigation, Todo Modo shows ruthless, treacherous men trying to back-stab each other for survival. It's like a political version of Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None'. In one of the best scenes, Scalambri attempts a reenactment of the first murder; he tries to ascertain where each person was at the time of the murder, which occurred in the middle of a crowd. But this appeal to justice is marred by the politicians' instincts never to be compromised in an investigation. As each man denies that he was to the right or left of someone else, it becomes obvious left and right stop being directions and become political tendencies, ending with the hilarious accusation, "Come off it! You've always been on the right! You were even to the right of Mussolini!" The movie has a slow start, but once the first murder occurs, it picks up a gripping pace until culminating in an hecatomb in the end. Everyone's very good in this movie, including Volontè and Mastroianni. The cinematography of Luigi Kuveiller is at the peak of his talent. Even if it's not a masterpiece, the talent concentrated in this movie makes it worth watching.