It is easier than easy, with an instant effort of imagination, to push the figure of Conrad into a newspaper photograph of the defendants in the Turin trial "BR". Of course, he will just as casually look directly into the camera lens, and when we see his handsome face through the bars, we gasp: so young, so well—mannered, dressed to the nines and in fashion, so graceful - is this a killer?!
But if Visconti, shortly before his death, in one of his last films, managed to show with strict accuracy the human material from which the current Attila, animals, at first glance, do not look like animals at all, then maybe it's worth putting off the claims that Western, Italian in particular, cinema is so far behind the nightmarish the realities of current Italian life?
From this point of view, Francesco Rosi's film "Illustrious Corpses", which appeared at the Soviet box office, is particularly noteworthy. For in Rosie's film, the tragic collision that arose in the days of the sensational kidnapping and subsequent murder of Aldo Moro was, in fact, predicted. Of course, not literally, not in detail and not on such a huge scale, but in the main thing — in the elusiveness of criminals, behind whom is the mystery of the crushing power of terror, causing panic and completely escaping without a trace from pursuit and punishment.
If we decided to rely on external, formal genre features, we would have to say that "Illustrious Corpses" is a political detective story. The picture, as befits a detective, begins with a murder. Almost immediately, the detective — police inspector Amerigo Rogas, played by Lino Ventura, appears in the frame. While Rogas is trying to get on the trail of the criminal, a second murder is committed, then a third, a fourth. The political background of the mysterious events is quite obvious: the shots of a mysterious criminal cause death only to representatives of justice. Judges are dying, prosecutors are dying. Rogas, an experienced, intelligent, insightful investigator, compares meaningless evidence in vain. But the puzzle he is trying to solve cannot be solved. Whatever thread he grabs, the thread immediately breaks. Rogas feels: a murderer (or murderers?) somewhere nearby. But where?
So, a political detective. However, very soon we become convinced that Rosie does not have the dynamics required by the seemingly elementary rules of the chosen genre. The most amazing feature of "Illustrious Corpses" is the imperturbable smoothness and slowness of the film's development. No shootings, no chases, no sirens, no police cars rushing, ignoring all traffic rules. In a smooth and calm flow, beautifully, even with laziness, life moves slowly in the frame. And yet, not for a minute does the agonizing feeling of growing anxiety leave us, and all the time we try to hear the soundless footsteps of death approaching, creeping behind the scenes. Even the shots in this movie are completely silent. The dead fall, crouching, without having time to gasp or scream. Death takes place in utter silence. She is silent, but, strangely, her premonition does not leave us. https://mines-aposta.com/
