Directed by Elio Petri
© 1970, 1996, 1998 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.
© 2013 The Criterion Collection
NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT
YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.
INVESTIGATION OF A CITIZEN ABOVE SUSPICION
Restored in 4K by Colorworks in collaboration with Cineteca di Bologna at L'Immagine Ritrovata. Funding provided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, The Film Foundation, and Sony Pictures Entertainment.
DANIELE SENATORE e MARINA CICOGNA presentano
Un film de ELIO PETRI
GIAN MARIA VOLONTE', FLORINDA BOLKAN in
INVESTIGATION OF A CITIZEN ABOVE SUSPICION (INDAGINE SU UN CITTADINO AL DI SOPRA DI OGNI SOSPETTO)
con GIANNI SANTUCIO, ORAZIO ORLANDO
SERGIO TRAONTI, ARTURO DOMINICI
ALDO, RENDINE, MASSIMO FOSCHI, ALEKA PAIZI, VITTORIO DUSE, PINO PATTI
e con SALVO RANDONE
Architetto CARLO EGIDI
Direttore dela fotografia LUIGI KUVEILLER, TECHNICOLOR
Operatore UBALDO TERZANO, Assistente operatore: NINO ANNUNZIATA
Montaggio di RUGGERO MASTROIANNI
Direttore di produzione ROMANO CARDARELLI
Musiche di: ENNIO MORRICONE
Orchestra diretta da BRUNO NICOLAI, Edizioni Musicali BIXIO SAM - MILANO
Several scenes were filmed at the Piazzale del Caravaggio administrative complex of Beni Stabili, S.p.A.
PRODUZIONE VERA FILM
Soggetto e sceneggiatura di ELIO PETRI e di UGO PIRRO
Regia di ELIO PETRI
Any similarity to real persons or actual events is entirely coincidental.
***
JUSTICE, SCIENCE
[Augusta Terzi] How are you going to kill me this time?
[Homicide Division Chief] I'm going to slash your throat.
Hello? Hello. Police department? What took you so long? Are you sleeping or what? There's been a crime.
Yes, a crime. Via del Tempio 1.
Not via del Tempo, idiot. Via del Tempio 1. Augusta Terzi. Apartment number 1. Did you write that down? Repeat it to me.
***
[Antonio Pace] After you.
[Homicide Division Chief] After you.
[Antonio Pace] After you.
***
[POLIZIA]
[Homicide Division Chief] Wait a minute!
[Cops] Congratulations, Chief. Congratulations.
[Cop 2] Congratulations, Chief. We finally did it. We couldn't have kept on without a sense of direction. We needed a man like you.
[Homicide Division Chief] The political situation is favorable. I have lots of ideas.
Don't worry about anything. See you later. Piantone, bring me 15 glasses. [To Biglia] What's wrong?
[Biglia] A murder, Chief.
[Homicide Division Chief] Via del Tempo 1.
[Biglia] Tempio.
[Homicide Division Chief] Mrs. Augusta Terzi. When did the call come in?
[Biglia] Ten or 20 minutes ago.
[Homicide Division Chief] Ten or 20?
[Biglia] They didn't specify.
[CAPO SEZ. OMICIDI, HOMICIDE DIVISION CHIEF]
[Homicide Division Chief] Precise. We must be precise.
[Biglia] We verified the name and address. I'm going there now.
[Homicide Division Chief] Your careless police work gives the suspects time to come up with their alibis. You'll realize that once I'm gone. "Officer Fires Shots." Who was it?
[Drammatico stamane al AGENTE SPARA, OFFICER FIRES SHOTS: WOUNDS FACTORY WORKER]
[Biglia] We don't know him.
[Homicide Division Chief] And, of course, he dropped the gun and it went off.
[Biglia] That's the most likely story.
[Homicide Division Chief] Go to via del Tempio.
[Biglia] Congratulations.
***
[Homicide Division Chief] Come on, cheer up! What's with the sad faces? Don't worry, ma'am. Your son will get off with 10 years. I've got nothing to do with it anymore. I'm done here. Mantiglia, Cascio, Mgiaracine, Del Re, let's go! All of you, let's go! You're finally free of this leech. Come on.
Panunzio! Panunzio! Let's have Panunzio break open a bottle for us. Here he is.
[Panunzi] My deepest congratulations, Chief.
[Homicide Division Chief] Toruzzo! You're coming with me.
[Panunzio] Mangani!
[Homicide Division Chief] You're coming with me, got it?
[Mangani] Congratulations. It won't be easy for me to fill your shoes.
[Homicide Division Chief] Don't be ridiculous. What are you talking about? And Panunzi? Where is he?
[Panunzio] Here.
[Homicide Division Chief] There he is! Panunzio, eh?
Mangani] Should we go in?
[Homicide Division Chief] So, did you get a confession out of Proietti yet?
[Mangani] He still insists it was suicide.
***
[Homicide Division Chief] Have a drink. The champagne will help clear your mind.
[Proetti] My mind is already clear! I'm innocent.
[Cop] We understand.
[Proetti] She killed herself just to get me in trouble. Yes!
[Cop] Yes.
[Proetti] Or maybe she lost her balance. She must have been dizzy. I don't know!
[Mangani] You pushed her.
[Proetti] No, I was asleep, just like I was when you found me. I was asleep. And besides, I'm a violent type. I would've strangled the bitch!
[Homicide Division Chief] Drink up, Mr. Innocent. Drink. Everybody's innocent here.
There's only one guilty party ... and that's me.
[Cops] [Laugh]
[Mangani] Quiet, please. I'm not saying this to ingratiate myself with a superior officer, who is also a dear friend, but nobody deserves this promotion more than you. In all these years, we've investigated 102 murder cases, and only 10 have gone unsolved. I'm sure that, in this difficult time, the Political Division will become as efficient as Homicide was under your command. I wish you as much success there as you had here.
I raise my glass to your health and to your extraordinary career.
Cheers.
[Homicide Division Chief] Enough ass-kissing. The carnival is over. Let's go.
[Cop] Via del Tempio 1 is a go!
[Homicide Division Chief] Via del Tempio 1 is a go!
Mangani, Panunzio, let's go! I'll meet you there.
[Patane, Reporter] Do you have statement?
[Homicide Division Chief] It was her husband.
[Patane, Reporter] Great!
***
[Homicide Division Chief] What have you got?
[Mangani] Newspaper clippings of crime stories. There's a photo of you too. Look.
[Homicide Division Chief] Where is she?
[Biglia] Over here.
[Homicide Division Chief] Uncover her.
[Biglia] Her jewelry box is empty.
[Homicide Division Chief] And that?
[Biglia] 300,000 lire in cash. She was a real libertine, like D'Annunzio. We haven't found any undergarments in the house.
Not even underwear.
[Homicide Division Chief] What a mess.
[Biglia] They were in bed, making love.
[Homicide Division Chief] Any evidence of an orgasm?
[Doctor] Not from my initial examination.
[Homicide Division Chief] Cover her up. Collect that bottle and that glass. Did any of the tenants see or hear anything?
[Biglia] We're getting their names.
Are you feeling okay?
[Homicide Division Chief] Who lives next door?
[Biglia] A well-known surgeon. An individual above suspicion.
[Homicide Division Chief] Whose name is the apartment in?
[Biglia] The victim's.
[Homicide Division Chief] Who inherits everything? The husband?
[Biglia] They've been separated for three years.
[Homicide Division Chief] Find him. Question him.
[Mangani] Look at this. The victim was posing for fake crime scene photos. There's a whole collection of them. I think it's the work of an amateur, and quite a childish one. What do you think?
***
[Homicide Division Chief] [To Augusta Terzi] Lie down on the bed and turn over. I'll show you how we found that whore on Viale Coccia di Morto.
[Augusta Terzi] Where?
[Homicide Division Chief] That's good. Now come with me.
[Augusta Terzi] Where?
[Homicide Division Chief] A German stewardess had sex with a Turk during an intercontinental flight. We found her strangled to death in the bathroom at Fiumicino airport. Stay still! What do you want to do now?
[Homicide Division Chief] Let's do the young singer, the rising star.
[Homicide Division Chief] Yes. Parioli 1967. A young rock-and-roll singer's throat was cut. Her body was covered up with albums of polyphonic religious music. An erotic and mystical crime. The killer, a former seminary student, was found some minutes later, complacently listening to the voice of his victim in front of a jukebox.
[Augusta Terzi] Not a seminary student, stupid. He was an organist.
[Homicide Division Chief] Don't move.
[Augusta Terzi] Let's do the young revolutionary.
[Homicide Division Chief] Yes. Young student protester. Trento. She was suffocated by a tenured sociology professor with 10,000-lire bills. She was raped after she was killed. Hold still. Spread your legs. That's it. Don't move.
There.
[Augusta Terzi] Doesn't it excite you to find them like this?
[Homicide Division Chief] Sometimes. Once a particular detail excited me. A tool.
[Augusta Terzi] What kind?
[Homicide Division Chief] No, I'm too embarrassed.
***
[Homicide Division Chief] Let me through.
[Biglia] Chief.
[Homicide Division Chief] What is it?
[Biglia] I think he's a complete idiot.
[Homicide Division Chief] Who?
[Biglia] The killer.
[Homicide Division Chief] Why do you think that?
[Biglia] Not just stupid, but also superficial and conceited. He fakes a robbery by taking her jewelry but leaves 300,000 lire in the dresser. Then he gets dressed, has a shower. He dolls himself up, uses the victim's French soap.
[Homicide Division Chief] And?
[Biglia] He puts his shoes on. Then he tramps through her blood leaving footprints everywhere. Helpful for us, but what an idiot. No?
[Homicide Division Chief] He's an idiot. Let's hope it was the husband. You can wrap it up quickly.
***
[Patane, Reporter] Well?
[Homicide Division Chief] Naked.
[Patane, Reporter] Was she raped?
[Homicide Division Chief] No, she had consensual sex. She was killed afterwards. No signs of struggle in the apartment. Write this down. You breathe in an atmosphere of sex, pleasure.
It's morbid. It reeks of DAnnunzio. There's blood everywhere.
[To Cop] Get out. I'm driving.
[Patane, Reporter] Did she have a nice body?
[Homicide Division Chief] Skin like satin, like a true courtesan of the Roman Empire. Here's something for your left-wing readers.
No undergarments were found in the apartment.
[Patane, Reporter] A fetish?
[Homicide Division Chief] No. She just didn't wear them.
[Patane, Reporter] I have my headline.
[Homicide Division Chief] Do me a favor, Patane, focus on the husband. Do me a favor.
***
[Augusta Terzi] Commissioner. You don't know me. Am I speaking to the famous and powerful Chief of Homicide? No, you don't know me. You've never seen me before. I don't hang out with cops.
Who am I? I could be a thief, a maniac, a murderer, one of the 30 murderers still wandering free in this city.
What's my name? You figure it out. You're so smart. You pose for photos and give interviews. By the way, try losing some weight.
Chief, help! Someone's breaking into my house. I can hear his footsteps. They've been threatening me for months: letters, anonymous calls. It's someone who wants to possess me, rape me. He's here! He has no pants on! How awful. I'm all alone, naked. I'll be raped and killed. That's my fate. Help!
Always wearing black, always in mourning. Don't kid yourself. You don't interest me physically. You're an average Italian. You're too hairy.
You probably sweat lot. I'm sure you smell like shoe polish, don't you? All policemen do. Admit it.
A policeman is full of secrets, like a priest. It's your mind that excites me. I really admire the police. I'd love to be a snitch. What I wouldn't give to be interrogated by you.
Ask your fucking sister to do that!
Who is it?
[Homicide Division Chief] Police.
[Augusta Terzi] Who else could it have been? A thief or a cop.
[Homicide Division Chief] Who does this belong to?
[Augusta Terzi] A man.
[Homicide Division Chief] Who are you? What do you want? Why did you call me? Let's get one thing clear.
I don't pay for my women.
[Augusta Terzi] Nice.
[Homicide Division Chief] You should have called the vice squad, not Homicide.
[Augusta Terzi] Who do you think I am?
[Homicide Division Chief] What's your game?
[Augusta Terzi] Just having some fun.
[Homicide Division Chief] How did you meet all these millionaires? Did you call them too?
[Augusta Terzi] You're good. Wow, you're quite a cop. But there's a mistake here.
In '66, I was all alone, like a dog.
***
[Homicide Division Chief] On your feet! Toruzzo. How are you? How are you?
[Cop] Good.
[Homicide Division Chief] Gentlemen, I hope you appreciate the novelty of this meeting. It's American-style!
We don't have enough men for all the work in front of us.
[Cop] That's right!
[Homicide Division Chief] We need many more! Have a seat. As of today, I've been made Chief of the Political Division. You all know that up until yesterday I was catching murderers, and with a certain amount of success. There's a reason why they chose a man like me, at a time like this, to direct the Political Division. The decision was made for the following reason:
The difference between common and political felonies is dwindling more and more each day. It has almost disappeared. Memorize this rule: Inside every criminal, a subversive may be hiding, and inside every subversive, a criminal may be hiding. In this city that has been entrusted to our care, subversives and criminals have already spun their invisible web. It's up to us to tear it down. What's the difference between a gang of robbers assaulting a bank and organized, institutionalized, legal subversion? There isn't any. They both have the same objective. They just use different methods. Their objective is to overthrow the current social order.
6,000 prostitutes on file. A 20% rise in strikes and sit-ins in both public and private buildings. 2,000 known whorehouses. In one year, 30 attempts to destroy state property as an act of protest. 200 rapes in one year. 50,000 high school students demonstrating in the streets. A 30% rise in bank robberies. 10,000 new subversives on file. 600 homosexuals on file. More than 70 subversive groups operating outside the bounds of the law. A 50% rise in fraudulent bankruptcy and protests of bills of exchange.
An indescribable number of political magazines urging revolution. The exercise of freedom is threatening our traditional power structure from all sides, our established authorities. The exercise of freedom makes every citizen think he's a judge and prevents us from executing our sacrosanct duties freely! We are the protectors of the law, and it should be immutable, carved in stone. The populace lacks maturity. The city is sick. Let others take up the task of healing and educating. Our duty is to repress them! Repression is our vaccine!
Repression is civilization!
[Cops] Well said, Chief! Bravo, Chief!
[Homicide Division Chief] No applause, please. I barely did anything. A little restraint, please. Let's get back to work.
***
[Canes] The Communists are in this section. Then come the partisans, Trotskyites, Maoists and anarchists.
[Homicide Division Chief] And the political parties?
[Canes] Over here. Here we have the various Catholic movements. In the back, the Social Democrats up through the right-wing opposition parties.
With progress, obviously, all of this will be destroyed, and we'll gather everything into two small rooms. This way please.
[Homicide Division Chief] Canes, come here. I'd like to take a peek at my Homicide colleagues' files, as a joke.
[Canes] For the past two weeks, we've been entering the data from the archive's files in here. That's progress for you.
[Homicide Division Chief] Let's do a test.
[Canes] Let's.
[Homicide Division Chief] Imagine that the Terzi murder was political in nature.
[Canes] What's the address, exactly?
[Homicide Division Chief] Via del Tempio 1.
[Cop] What zone?
[Homicide Division Chief] Downtown.
[Canes] We'll ask the computer if via del Tempio is home to any socially or politically dangerous individuals.
[Homicide Division Chief] How does it work?
[Canes] Like this.
[Homicide Division Chief] What's this? America has arrived! It's revolutionary!
[Canes] One of our old acquaintances lives at via del Tempio 1. A socially and politically dangerous individual.
[Homicide Division Chief] Pace, Antonio.
[Canes] Yes.
[Homicide Division Chief] Born in Ravenna, March 24, 1946. Chemistry student, student council member. Subversive, hot-blooded, fanatical, dangerous. Is his line tapped?
[Canes] Of course, Chief. Since May 1968.
[Homicide Division Chief] The face of a criminal. I'll put him away.
***
[Cop] Chief. Please come in.
[His Eminence] Until next time.
[Homicide Division Chief] Your Eminence.
[Homicide Division Chief] No, my son, better not.
[Commander] Ciao! Would you like a cigar?
[Homicide Division Chief] Thank you.
[Commander] Here. Have a seat. So, are you satisfied?
[Homicide Division Chief] Well, you know, satisfied -- In 1917, the responsibility for Caporetto's defeat fell on General Cadorna. This year's center-left party could become another Caporetto for those in charge. The country is tense. I'd feel better if I had a larger team to work with. I need 100 more men and more funding to pay my informants better.
[Commander] I'll discuss it with the minister.
[Homicide Division Chief] I would like --
[Commander] Go on.
[Homicide Division Chief] I would really like to --
[Commander] Tell me.
[Homicide Division Chief] Listen.
[Commander] Tell me.
[Homicide Division Chief] To rent one -- three apartments in a nice, quiet neighborhood like Prati for my informants so I can establish a relationship with them that's more --
[Commander] More?
[Homicide Division Chief] Informative.
[Commander] All right. But officially, I don't know anything about it.
[Homicide Division Chief] My office has prepared a new list of 630 numbers to be tapped. I don't know if you think we should request authorization.
I don't know.
[Commander] You decide. Is that all?
[Homicide Division Chief] Oh, yes. That woman who was killed three days ago --
[Commander] Who? Mrs. Terzi?
[Homicide Division Chief] Exactly. Augusta Terzi.
[Commander] Beautiful woman. I saw the photos.
[Homicide Division Chief] I knew her. Yes. I had an affair with her.
[Commander] How was it? Good? How was it?
[Homicide Division Chief] Well, you know. I wanted to ask you if you think it's necessary to inform the investigators about the situation? I really don't know. What do you think?
[Commander] Bye.
[Homicide Division Chief] Bye.
[Commander] Bye.
[Homicide Division Chief] I really don't know.
[Commander] I think it was the husband.