Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion

Gian Maria Volonte

Elio Petri's Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, from 1970, is a Kafkaesque tale of a police official who murders his mistress and is then tasked with finding the murderer. The protagonist is a psychopath who ambivalently generates clues for his minions. His relationships are sado-masochistic with the official reveling in his dominance and power. Petri wants Gian Maria Volonte's power monger to represent the institutional corruption of Italy under the Christian Democrats, but overplays his hand. 

The film stays afloat because of vivid cinematography, incisive editing, and a bravura performance by Volonte. Volonte, best known as a hapless villain in Sergio Leone's Dollar films, gives a fleshy, vivid spin to his portrayal of a man who seems affable on the surface, but is a monster underneath. Petri seems to enjoy letting his thesps take their rips, to varying effect. Florinda Bolkan, as the victim, flails about without establishing a character as she and Volonte's character engage in S&M role playing in flashback.

What prevents this chestnut from reaching classic status is not Petri's theme, Lord knows the perfidy of Italy's powers that be was and is irrefutable (check out Peter Robb's Midnight in Sicily), but Petri is unable to express this visually. He is able to express his disgust at the candy colored decadence of late 60s Italy, but bogs down his narrative with close-ups of his cast mugging in an attempt at a black comic effect. The final half hour is especially belabored as the denouement is telegraphed by Petri's Marxist sympathies. Volonte memorably embodies the titular character, but Petri undermines his film's impact with blasé camera set-ups and thematic overkill.