A police inspector investigates a brutal murder (which he himself committed) in this provocative, surreal and Kafkaesque tale from one of Italy’s major political filmmakers. Elio Petri’s visually striking film deftly walks the line between gritty realism and absurdity as it paints a compelling portrait of an unhinged man in a position of authority testing the limits of his power. The film also takes aim at the repressive methods of the Italian police, and darkly skewers the creeping authoritarianism of Italian society in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Part of the retrospective States of Danger and Deceit: European Thrillers in the 1970s (presented by HOME / supported by the BFI). The full list of titles in the retrospective at LIFF 2017 is as follows: The Day of the Jackal, The Deputy, Don't Torture a Duckling, The Flight, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum, The Man on the Roof, The Mattei Affair, Seven Days in January, State of Siege, Z.
Ticket offers: the LIFF 2017 Pass is incredible value or see 6 films for the price of 5 (available by phone or in person only)
