Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion

Original title: Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto

1970
R
1h 55m

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

14K

YOUR RATING

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)

A chief of detectives, homicide section, kills his mistress and deliberately leaves clues to prove his own responsibility for the crime.

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Cop Drama Police Procedural Political Drama Psychological Drama Crime Drama

A high-ranking police inspector murders his mistress and - in a sardonic test to prove that he is above suspicion - deliberately plants clues that indicate his responsibility for the crime.A high-ranking police inspector murders his mistress and - in a sardonic test to prove that he is above suspicion - deliberately plants clues that indicate his responsibility for the crime.A high-ranking police inspector murders his mistress and - in a sardonic test to prove that he is above suspicion - deliberately plants clues that indicate his responsibility for the crime.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

14K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 16 wins & 6 nominations total

Trivia
The main character's name is never revealed.

Quotes
Il Dottore - Former head of homicide squad: The people are underage, the city is sick. Others are tasked with educating and curing this. Our duty is to repress it! The repression is our vaccine! Repression and civilization!

Alternate versions
The subtitled American version distributed by Columbia has slight differences in the credits. The Italian version opens with blank white-on-black credits (as many other Petri films do). The American version projects the credits onto the opening scene with the Dottore walking around the street. Both the opening and the closing credits (including the film's title and the Kafka quotation) are translated to English as well.

Connections
Edited into Colpiti al cuore (2019)

User reviews50

Review

Featured review

Interestingly timely, even 30+ years later

Saw this film in New York at a revival. The tale of power and of right-wing/fascist politics corrupting is shockingly timely even today, in this time of global conflict, with enemies branded "unpatriotic."

The movie portrays the moral corruption of Italian police and politics in the 1970's, with totalitarian tactics wrapped in patriotism. The movie's lead policeman is swept up in the power of position. Sadly, it's only too easy for me to believe his ability to use his position and power to manipulate people and place himself above "the law".

The movie "looks" Italian and 1970's, with stark concrete and flat colors, which appealed to me. The story builds well, jumping backwards to fill in details, to climax in an alternate possible ending, very believable. I highly recommend it.