User Reviews

Elio Petri made a string of good and interesting movies from the '60s to the '70s. He tackled the Mafia, fascist cops, union strikes, and deranged artists. Todo Modo, although not his best and most entertaining movie, may be the sum of all his socio-political interests. A dark satire about Italian politics, based on Leonardo Sciascia's novel, Todo Modo is a very bizarre movie that may not make a lot of sense unless the viewer knows a bit of what was going on in Italy in the 1970s.

Gian Maria Volontè plays a prime-minister who enrolls in spiritual resort, together with his cabinet of ministers and the opposition, where, under the guidance of Don Gaetano (Marcello Mastroianni), they attend lectures against sin, vices, money and the thirst for power. They're there to become better men, while outside the city is being ravaged by an epidemic. But instead they use the spiritual retreat to scheme, conspire and plan the future, in order to maintain their tight grip on power, which they've held for decades, while the people suffer under their indifferent, predatory rule.

Then there's a murder, and another, and all hell breaks loose. The murder, however, doesn't turn into a classic police investigation, especially because inspector Scalambri (Renato Salvatori) is out of his league investigating the government members. Sciascia's previous novel, which was turned into 'Cadaveri Eccellenti' (directed by Francesco Rosi), treads similar ground with the same level of ambiguity and meditations on the structures of power. After watching Todo Modo, everyone should give it a try. Instead of a police investigation, Todo Modo shows ruthless, treacherous men trying to back-stab each other for survival. It's like a political version of Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None'. In one of the best scenes, Scalambri attempts a reenactment of the first murder; he tries to ascertain where each person was at the time of the murder, which occurred in the middle of a crowd. But this appeal to justice is marred by the politicians' instincts never to be compromised in an investigation. As each man denies that he was to the right or left of someone else, it becomes obvious left and right stop being directions and become political tendencies, ending with the hilarious accusation, "Come off it! You've always been on the right! You were even to the right of Mussolini!" The movie has a slow start, but once the first murder occurs, it picks up a gripping pace until culminating in an hecatomb in the end. Everyone's very good in this movie, including Volontè and Mastroianni. The cinematography of Luigi Kuveiller is at the peak of his talent. Even if it's not a masterpiece, the talent concentrated in this movie makes it worth watching.

One Way or Another is a film that those of us who grew up in America may struggle to understand. By 1976, Italy felt as much in crisis as our country feels at times, but it went way beyond the issues we've been dealing with. During gli anni di piombo (the years of lead), political turmoil went beyond protest to become outright terrorism, with bomb attacks and left and right groups that went from idealogy to being paramilitary groups prepped for combat.

A fascist takeover felt like it may happen any day, just as the Communists taking over could also be possible. Then there was the Italian secret service infiltrating groups, creating their own and the ruling Christian Democrats infighting and falling apart. Then their leader Aldo Moro was kidnapped and executed by the Red Brigade. We never had anything like that happen lately, right?

So yeah, this movie may have a disclaimer about the fact that it's not based in reality, but it totally is.

It's also about a country dealing with an epidemic that no one understands or can control, so maybe it still hits a bit too close to home.

So into this strange world that is definitely our own, we find the Christian Democrats hiding out at Zafer, which could be a retreat or a hotel or a prison, a place where they go through Bohemian Grove-style exercises that are much like the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, which help followers to "discern the will of God in their lives, leading to a personal commitment to follow Jesus whatever the cost."

These exercises are to help them atone for their corruption and lack of ethics, but perhaps the most lawless of all of them is the man guiding them, Don Gaetano (Marcello Mastroianni). But as the supposed religious activities continue, a series of murders also begin.

Director Ello Petri lived the life to be able to tell this story. He was expelled for political reasons from religious school San Giuseppe di Merode and joined the youth chapter of the Italian Communist Party, which he left after the 1956 Hungarian uprising. His films, like We Still Kill the Old Way, A Quiet Place in the Country, The 10th Victim and Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion may flirt with the genres of crime, giallo and science fiction, but they also have something to say about the direction of Italy and its future. Sadly, he died at just 53 years old from cancer and we were robbed of more works that have so much to say.