La corruzione (1963) User Reviews

a moral choice

[dromasca · 7/10 · 3 October 2020]

In the opening scene of 'La corruzione', the 1963 film by director Mauro Bolognini, the director of an elite Italian high school, he separates from the graduates with a speech in which he exposes a Manichean vision of the world. According to him, the society of the time has two options: the moral one represented by the Catholic faith and the materialist one embodied by the Marxist ideology. For the school graduates, children of the Italian bourgeoisie, the option seems clear. The hero of the film, Stefano Mattoli (Jacques Perrin), heir to an editorial empire in Milan, takes the moral option very seriously and plans to enter a life of priesthood. His father (Alain Cuny) opposes, wishing that his son takes over the business. Can there be a third way? Or perhaps in a crooked world, where principles are violated by everyone, just one, third alternative exists, that of compromise? 'La corruzione' describes a moral drama in simple terms and with a perfect cinematic execution, due to which this apparently minor film, survives very well the almost six decades since it was made.

In the conflict between the father's materialism (not at all Marxist, on the contrary, very capitalist) and the son's idealism there is a third character - Adriana (played by Rosanna Schiaffino), the father's much younger mistress, whom he uses as bait to distract the young Stefano from his priestly thoughts. The woman fascinates with her beauty but is she in control, or is she just another victim of a corrupt world, in which moral integrity and honor have no place? This is not about a love triangle but about an immoral triangle.

Mauro Bolognini's cinematic talent and professionalism manage to prevent this film from being a boring debate of ideas despite its serious substance. What we see on screen is a coming to age and family drama, with credible characters and a psychologically charged atmosphere due to the relationship between father and son, and sexual tension due to the presence of Adriana. At one point I wondered whether the story was moving towards the thriller genre. The story has a very modern open ending. Jacques Perrin intensely plays the role of the teenager whose dreams fall apart in the face of reality. Alain Cuny is distant and cold, as the father's role demands. Rosanna Schiaffino radiates beauty and magnetism. It is also worth mentioning the character of Morandi, the left-wing intellectual and the fallen idol of Stefano, a traitor to the ideals of the anti-fascist resistance. The role is played by Ennio Balbo. Leonida Barboni's cinematography is excellent, both when filming outdoors, at sea or on the streets of the early '60s Milan, but also when he takes us inside the functional headquarters of the editorial corporation or through the lavish but tasteful rooms of the Italian tycoon's villa. Giovanni Fusco's music combines jazz with contemporary classical tones, under the clear and positive influence of the soundtracks of contemporary films produced by the New French Wave. The acting and the cinematic quality make 'La corruzione' a film worth watching or re-watching.

The Rotten Branch

[richardchatten · 7/10 · 25 June 2020]

Alain Cuny had recently played a haunting key supporting role in Fellini's 'La Dolce Vita', which had marked the Italian cinema's decisive break with concern for the underdog to charting the dissolution of the wealthy but aimless. Here he presides over an unholy trinity at sea reminiscent of Polanski's 'Knife in the Water', the younger man this time his vulnerable young son planning to take the cloth; a prospect his satanic father Cuny views with utter abhorrence.

Cool 1960s Italian vibe and provocative storyline

[rsleisk · 8/10 · 10 December 2023]

I really love the cinema of the 1960s, and this film was an interesting find with its cool 1960s Italian vibe and provocative storyline. Stefano, played by Perrin, is a recent graduate who wants to become a priest against his father's wishes. Rosanna Schiaffino is radiantly beautiful and plays temptress, but she is also a pawn, corrupted by the material world. The film portrays the struggle between the idealistic and the virtuous, with the temptations and "corruption" of the materialistic nature of the modern world. Great cinematography by Leonida Barboni, especially in filming on a yacht. It has a very cool soundtrack by Giovanni Fusco, whose rhythmic song accentuates a vague modern ending with a synchronized Madison Dance scene. Surprisingly, this film is not part of the Criterion collection but it is well worth viewing.

Nothing to do but cry

[dbdumonteil · 9/10 · 15 February 2010]

Many of Bolognini's films ought to be re-discovered today. This is one of them.

That's what the precedent user wrote;I second that."La Corruzione" is a great Italian movie which compares favorably with the best of what Antonioni,Visconti or Fellini did in those years.

It begins with a sentence which tells us that " even if God did not exist ,religion (and faith) would be beautiful";then a speech by the high school head teacher ;then a jazzy music which seems out of place ;it actually predates the end of the movie: "La Viaccia" had already a desperate ending ,but Stefano crying in his car over the universal "Corruzione" while reckless boys and girls are dancing to some kinda hypnotic frenetic tune leaves the viewer no hope.Nothing could describe the material world like this last night when Stefano is wandering aimlessly in the streets of a city full of neon and homeless brothers.He wanted to be a priest ,but there's no longer room for purity in a world eager for money,sex and power (that's what Adriana (Rosanna Schiaffino) explains to Stefano on the boat but he does not know the world enough to understand what she means ,or at least he pretends he does not understand) The depiction of the father/son relationship is much better applied on "la Corruzione" than it would be later in "Imputazione Di Omicido Per Uno Studente ";I had seen "La Corruzione " forty years ago,I saw it last night and it has improved with age whereas "Imputazione" is a dated post -68 demagogic movie.

The two actors give superlative performances ,particularly Jacques Perrin I have perhaps never seen better than here.His youthful look works wonders when Bolognini depicts his deceived innocence ;he is deeply moving when tears begin to fall on his cheeks (when there's nothing left to hope ,when words cannot convey what he feels ...) His father (Alain Cuny) is both God and the Devil ;God because he is a wealthy man who selfishly reigns over his fellow men ,because he wants to create a son in his own image (he tells hims so);the Devil because his yacht becomes the garden of Eden where he puts a new Eve .Hints at the Bible abound.First corruption.

The scene of the suicide should be studied ,it's a model of directing ;it could not be more effective if filmed by a thriller specialist.The father pays the victim's father and there won't be any scandal.Second corruption.

The five or six last minutes have no lines at all;silence speaks louder than words sometimes (or tears) .

A note about the actors: Alain Cuny began his career in "Les Visiteurs Du Soir" (Carné ,1942) and although his career was extremely rich (he was featured in "Fellini-Satyricon" and in "la Dolce Vita" but was deemed too intellectual )he never enjoyed popularity in his native country.

Jacques Perrin is not only a brilliant actor but also a wise producer ("Z","Microcosmos" "Les Choristes" "Ocean" ) .He has made memorable movies both in France ("Peau D'Ane" ) and in Italy ("Cronica Familiare" "Il Deserto Dei Tartari" )

God is dead

[dbdumonteil · 9/10 · 21 April 2019]

Many of Bolognini's films ought to be re-discovered today. This is one of them.

That's what the precedent user wrote;I second that."La Corruzione" is a great Italian movie which compares favorably with the best of what Antonioni,Visconti or Fellini did in those years.

It begins with a sentence which tells us that " even if God did not exist ,religion (and faith) would be beautiful";then a speech by the high school head teacher ;then a jazzy music which seems out of place ;it actually predates the end of the movie: "La Viaccia" had already a desperate ending ,but Stefano crying in his car over the universal "Corruzione" while reckless boys and girls are dancing to some kinda hypnotic frenetic tune leaves the viewer no hope.Nothing could describe the material world like this last night when Stefano is wandering aimlessly in the streets of a city full of neon and homeless brothers.He wanted to be a priest ,but there's no longer room for purity in a world eager for money,sex and power (that's what Adriana (Rosanna Schiaffino) explains to Stefano on the boat but he does not know the world enough to understand what she means ,or at least he pretends he does not understand) The depiction of the father/son relationship is much better applied on "la Corruzione" than it would be later in "Imputazione Di Omicido Per Uno Studente ";I had seen "La Corruzione " forty years ago,I saw it last night and it has improved with age whereas "Imputazione" is a dated post -68 demagogic movie.

The two actors give superlative performances ,particularly Jacques Perrin I have perhaps never seen better than here.His youthful look works wonders when Bolognini depicts his deceived innocence ;he is deeply moving when tears begin to fall on his cheeks (when there's nothing left to hope ,when words cannot convey what he feels ...) His father (Alain Cuny) is both God and the Devil ;God because he is a wealthy man who selfishly reigns over his fellow men ,because he wants to create a son in his own image (he tells hims so);the Devil because his yacht becomes the garden of Eden where he puts a new Eve .Hints at the Bible abound.First corruption.

The scene of the suicide should be studied ,it's a model of directing ;it could not be more effective if filmed by a thriller specialist.The father pays the victim's father and there won't be any scandal.Second corruption.



A note about the actors: Alain Cuny began his career in "Les Visiteurs Du Soir" (Carné ,1942) and although his career was extremely rich (he was featured in "Fellini-Satyricon" and in "la Dolce Vita" but was deemed too intellectual )he never enjoyed popularity in his native country.

Jacques Perrin is not only a brilliant actor but also a wise producer ("Z","Microcosmos" "Les Choristes" "Ocean" ) .He has made memorable movies both in France ("Peau D'Ane" ) and in Italy ("Cronica Familiare" "Il Deserto Dei Tartari" )

Corruption of the innocent.

[ItalianGerry · 27 April 2004]

(Some spoilers) Mauro Bolognini's film is a very forceful work about an idealistic son's rejection of his father's materialistic values. The son is Stefano, played by the then young-and-angelic French actor Jacques Perrin, who was Mastroianni's younger brother in Zurlini's moving FAMILY DIARY. Decades later he would be very widely known as the adult Toto' in Giuseppe Tornatore's (NUOVO) CINEMA PARADISO. The father is a pragmatic and ruthless industrialist, Leonardo, (played by Alain Cuny). The son wants to become a priest. The lad's decision is not accepted by the father, who uses every means at his disposal to get the boy to change his mind and follow in his footsteps in business. This includes an arranged sexual assignation with his own lover, the sensual Adriana, (played by the magnificent Rosanna Schiaffino) and his innocent son. The thesis of the film is that the pressure brought to bear upon the son are too much to withstand, that "corruption" will take hold, given time and persistence. The last scene of the movie shows the boy weakening, succumbing to those values he had so strenuously rejected…a cherub in the clutches of Satan. One of the more moving bits in the movie revolves around an accountant employee of Leonardo whose job is threatened when the books are short, through no culpability of his own. He winds up committing suicide by jumping out of an office window, an event the Leonardo covers up, although the son, compassionate by nature, reacts to it with complete repugnance, because of his father's utter callousness and cruelty to the man. I found the film fascinating and quite effective, although a bit too choreographed as a morality play at times. Isa Miranda does a nice turn as the hospital –confined mother, who had rejected her husband years before, no doubt for the best of reasons. Many of Bolognini's films ought to be re-discovered today. This is one of them.

'There are those who command and those who obey'

[brogmiller · 9/10 · 20 January 2020]

This bears all the hallmarks of a film by Mauro Bolognini: stunning visual sense, literate script and of course, beautiful people.

Ruthless businessman Leonardo will stop at nothing to prevent his only son from entering the priesthood and once he has introduced him to the luscious Adriana, the young man's fate is sealed. Another nail in the coffin of his idealism is the realisation that a leftist intellectual writer whose works he admires has become one of his father's paid cronies. His fine ideals are eventually worn down and in the final scene he defiantly declares: 'I will defend my money, just like my father'. As he sobs in the car one is left wondering if he will ever come to terms with the life he is now obliged to lead.

Alain Cuny is tremendous and eminently plausible as Leonardo, the ultimate capitalist who believes that everything and everyone has a price(in which he is not far wrong) His son is played by Jacques Perrin. It is more difficult for an actor to play 'good' than 'bad' and he succeeds admirably in portraying young Stefano's moral and spiritual anguish.

Adriana, as played by Rosanna Schiaffino, lives according to her particular moral code whilst her beauty, energy and 'gioia di vivere' are intoxicating. This sultry, smouldering actress was not used to great effect in Hollywood and her best work by far is on 'home turf'. Isa Miranda impresses in a small but harrowing role as Leonardo's ageing, ailing wife.

The stunning images by Leonarda Barboni typify the perfection of black and white cinematography in Italian films of this period. The score is by Antonioni's favoured composer Giovanni Fusco.

The suicide scene at the office and that of the seduction on the yacht are tastefully handled. 'Style over content' is a criticism often levelled at this director's work but that certainly does not apply here. Based upon the novel by Alberto Moravia its theme of disenchantment is timeless.

The film's comparative commercial failure brought the first and most satisfying phase of Bolognini's career to a close.

A Forgotten Masterpiece

[jromanbaker · 10/10 · 2 April 2020]

Why is it that quite a few Italian masterpieces are forgotten ? Why is ' Il Mare ', ' Fists in the Pocket ' and ' La Corruzione ' all seemingly lost ? And especially why in the UK they are totally forgotten ? I am not even sure that this great film made it to the UK, and there is no reference to it being shown here. And yet we still have the Fellini films, Antonioni and a sparse collection of Pasolini. It makes no sense that ' La Corruzione ' should be unseen. Jacques Perrin gives one of his finest performances and so does Alain Cuny. The story to me is simple. Why do we all finally give in to the right of the strongest, while those of a gentle and caring nature are destroyed ? I do not see this film as being religious, but it does cry out for higher ideals and that society should not depend upon mechanical responses to life. The ending of the film is overwhelming and in its power beyond anything that Antonioni achieved. I will not spoil it but just to say that it says everything about how apart we are from each other. I disagree with one reviewer about the music. It is one of the best uses of sound, music and its addition to a film, and not its subtraction that I have heard. And why is Schiaffino's beauty mentioned and no mention of the beauty of Perrin during this period of his life ? It is the same old story here and I am not ashamed to repeat it; the ' Male gaze ' remains supreme. Perrin was beautiful, and why is that never voiced, and that he gives his all to every good film that he is in. His eyes alone say more than the dialogue and his greatness as an actor should be celebrated. But to all who can find this film please see it and question the materialist beliefs that this world clings on to. And please, please watch Perrin's face in the final scene, and see with him the ultimate futility of motion that we go through and how we accept its solitary state and the near military movements of our physical pleasures.

Which Deadly Sin Are We talking About Here?

[boblipton · 5/10 · 5 March 2024]

Jacques Perrin has just graduated from high school and has determined to go into the priesthood. His father, Isa Miranda, is a rich industrialist who wants his son to follow in his footsteps. So he takes the youngster on a cruise on his yacht and invites Rosanna Schiaffino along, figuring that nature will take its course.

Mauro Bolognini directs the movie for beautiful images, both at sea and when looking at Signorina Schiaffino. If he is attempting to expose the corruption of the rich, I'd say that he has done so in a simple and obvious manner. What he has done for me is expose the essential black-and-white thinking of his young protagonist, in which everything is either all good or all bad, including himself. Except for that point about naivete -- and if he wants to become a priest, there's still confession -- the only thing stopping him is his own pride.

A Bolognini masterpiece

[tony-70-667920 · 10/10 · 31 January 2022]

Bolognini was a great director, shamefully under-valued both now and in his lifetime. I've seen many of his films, but this is the best I've seen so far. Apart from the obvious quality of the direction, photography and music, each part is perfectly cast: I think it was Hitchcock who said casting is half the battle. I've never been a fan of Alain Cuny, but as the manipulative, heartless father he makes a seductive Devil, and puts his arguments in favour of capitalist greed, paternalism and selfishness convincingly. Jacques Perrin had a remarkable ability to make young, naïve idealists very sympathetic rather than dull or wet, and had already done so in two films by Valerio Zurlini, another neglected master, while Rosanna Schiaffino would make any would-be priest fall from grace, unless he was gay. It was a little sad to see Isa Miranda, Italy's great female star during the Fascist period, playing the unflattering role of Perrin's neurotic, insomniac mother, but the state she's in tells us how toxic her husband is.

Bolognini was, like several of Italy's best directors, a Marxist, but the film is never dogmatic or schematic. Just as Cuny subtly engineers his son's seduction and corruption on the yacht, Bolognini subtly exposes the corruption of Italian society. Pace the headmaster's speech in the opening scene, when Perrin and his school year graduate, it isn't a straight choice between Marxism and Catholicism (Bolognini treats the latter with respect.) There's also materialism, consumerism and conformity. The latter is summed up in the brilliant, dialogue-free final scene, with a host of blank-faced young people robotically performing the same dance steps. A perfect film.

The anatomy of corruption - the unpleasantness of reality

[clanciai · 8/10 · 21 November 2023]

Stefano is a young man leaving school with a regular diploma, the only son and heir of a wealthy publishing business in Milan, but he has no mother. She is chronically ill lying in hospital, and his father doesn't want to see her. He confesses he started hating her when they married. Stefano decides for a different course of life than the father's wealth and success, and decides to become a priest. The father doesn't object, but brings his son out on a yachting tour to the islands without telling him that his mistress is following them on board. We soon understand that the father's intention is to let his mistress seduce his son, to make him enter another state of mind, which she does. He tries to escape but fails, the father brings him back to Milan where he has a traumatic experience at the father's business, which leaves him devastated. We never learn if Stefano really entered the monastery or if he continued the relationship with the mistress, but we do learn that he saw through all the hollowness of his father's career and was thoroughly disgusted, as if another opportunity for him could be to throw himself out of the window of his father's office.

The acting is splendid, the psychological battle over the son's soul between father and son is brilliantly exposed, while the mistress' character totally void of morals is more plain and superficial. It's a rather morose film of a fine son being totally disillusioned about his own father, and no women can help him, least of all his hypochondriac mother, so maybe he really should enter that monastery and have done with it all.