First film of Elio Petri and it is very well made. Bit confusing at first as we seem to be seeing two Marcello Mastroianni until we realise that we are. Flashbacks are well to the fore in this noir like, Kafka-esque tale of a antique dealer, man about town played by Mastroianni. He has an older than he, lover and benefactor and a younger girl as well although his older lover seems to encourage this. Unfortunately she gets killed, he gets called in and the police reckon they have an open and shut case. Terrible scenes in a bare prison cell where he awaits his fate and he's joined by a couple of guys to keep him company, or rough him up, or incriminate him or something not too good. We are constantly having to try and determine whether this guy is the killer or not and just how wretched a person he is with his healing and dealing and his womanising and cadging of money. Petri engages us throughout and also encourages us to attempt to evaluate goodness and to sample police justice in action.
Review of The Assassin
