The City Stands Trial

Original title: Processo alla città

1952
1h 43m

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Turn-of-the-century Naples. Salvatore Ruotolo and his wife are murdered and their bodies are found in different locations. Since the evidence points to a crime by the Neapolitan crime organi... Read allTurn-of-the-century Naples. Salvatore Ruotolo and his wife are murdered and their bodies are found in different locations. Since the evidence points to a crime by the Neapolitan crime organization, the Camorra, fear and corruption cause serious hindrances to the investigation by ... Read allTurn-of-the-century Naples. Salvatore Ruotolo and his wife are murdered and their bodies are found in different locations. Since the evidence points to a crime by the Neapolitan crime organization, the Camorra, fear and corruption cause serious hindrances to the investigation by police authorities. In charge is a young and courageous judge who, using evidence discover... Read all

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IMDb RATING

7.4/10

164

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 3 wins

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Storyline

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Trivia
Francesco Rosi's story was based on the Cuocolo case in Viterbo in 1911, where a judicial investigation of the deaths of a man and his wife uncovered a group that had met at a restaurant to plot the murders.

Connections
Referenced in Nights of Cabiria (1957)

Soundtracks
Tradimento
Music by Salve D'Esposito
Lyric by O. Resti

User reviews1

Review

Featured review

8/10

Zampa anticipates in some way the Italian political film

It is remarkable the dynamic way Zampa works with themes, style and genres completely different. At same time this movie leads with typical characteristics of the investigative kind and appoints for the societal corruption, something very uncommon at that time. In a certain way it anticipates a political filmography of names as Francesco Rosi (and particularly Le Mani sulla Città) and it is no coincidence that Rosi is one of the the authors of the basic plot. The fact that is a historical drama is less important than a description of a corrupted society, almost inducting the spectator to think it lasting until the days of the film production. Its visual style and narrative plot structure its deep influenced for Welles'"Citizen Kane", something that could be particularly noticed in some sequences as the deep focus use of the restaurant that serves as momentary place for the suspects arrested by the police. Amedeo Nazzari, a lead actor that peak his career under fascist years lives a sophisticated judge with irreproachable ethical values and obsessive desire for justice in opposition to the nervous and violent policeman of Paolo Stoppa. Both are very well casted.Its prologue, with two poor kids running on the beach could be read wrongly as another neo-realist movie, although the way that movie approaches politics is more mature than most of the movies labeled as such.