Der eiserne Präfekt

"Il prefetto di ferro" is a very good political drama, set in Sicily, significantly madre in the 1970s, a decade in which Italy was going through sociopolitical and economic crisis, that affected the national film industry. It tells the story of a prefect sent by the Fascist regime to fight the maffia and corruption. Based on true facts, Giuliano Gemma, who we had previously seen in peplums and European westerns, took the part of Cesare Mori and gave the performance of his life, with strong support from Claudia Cardinale and Stefano Satta Flores. Gemma won the Best Actor award at the Moscow Film Festival and the highly plausible work by director Pasquale Squattieri received the David di Donatello Award for Best Film of the Year.