La corruption

Many of Bolognini's films ought to be re-discovered today. This is one of them.

That's what the precedent user wrote;I second that."La Corruzione" is a great Italian movie which compares favorably with the best of what Antonioni,Visconti or Fellini did in those years.

It begins with a sentence which tells us that " even if God did not exist ,religion (and faith) would be beautiful";then a speech by the high school head teacher ;then a jazzy music which seems out of place ;it actually predates the end of the movie: "La Viaccia" had already a desperate ending ,but Stefano crying in his car over the universal "Corruzione" while reckless boys and girls are dancing to some kinda hypnotic frenetic tune leaves the viewer no hope.Nothing could describe the material world like this last night when Stefano is wandering aimlessly in the streets of a city full of neon and homeless brothers.He wanted to be a priest ,but there's no longer room for purity in a world eager for money,sex and power (that's what Adriana (Rosanna Schiaffino) explains to Stefano on the boat but he does not know the world enough to understand what she means ,or at least he pretends he does not understand) The depiction of the father/son relationship is much better applied on "la Corruzione" than it would be later in "Imputazione Di Omicido Per Uno Studente ";I had seen "La Corruzione " forty years ago,I saw it last night and it has improved with age whereas "Imputazione" is a dated post -68 demagogic movie.

The two actors give superlative performances ,particularly Jacques Perrin I have perhaps never seen better than here.His youthful look works wonders when Bolognini depicts his deceived innocence ;he is deeply moving when tears begin to fall on his cheeks (when there's nothing left to hope ,when words cannot convey what he feels ...) His father (Alain Cuny) is both God and the Devil ;God because he is a wealthy man who selfishly reigns over his fellow men ,because he wants to create a son in his own image (he tells hims so);the Devil because his yacht becomes the garden of Eden where he puts a new Eve .Hints at the Bible abound.First corruption.

The scene of the suicide should be studied ,it's a model of directing ;it could not be more effective if filmed by a thriller specialist.The father pays the victim's father and there won't be any scandal.Second corruption.



A note about the actors: Alain Cuny began his career in "Les Visiteurs Du Soir" (Carné ,1942) and although his career was extremely rich (he was featured in "Fellini-Satyricon" and in "la Dolce Vita" but was deemed too intellectual )he never enjoyed popularity in his native country.

Jacques Perrin is not only a brilliant actor but also a wise producer ("Z","Microcosmos" "Les Choristes" "Ocean" ) .He has made memorable movies both in France ("Peau D'Ane" ) and in Italy ("Cronica Familiare" "Il Deserto Dei Tartari" )

Alain Cuny had recently played a haunting key supporting role in Fellini's 'La Dolce Vita', which had marked the Italian cinema's decisive break with concern for the underdog to charting the dissolution of the wealthy but aimless. Here he presides over an unholy trinity at sea reminiscent of Polanski's 'Knife in the Water', the younger man this time his vulnerable young son planning to take the cloth; a prospect his satanic father Cuny views with utter abhorrence.

Why is it that quite a few Italian masterpieces are forgotten ? Why is ' Il Mare ', ' Fists in the Pocket ' and ' La Corruzione ' all seemingly lost ? And especially why in the UK they are totally forgotten ? I am not even sure that this great film made it to the UK, and there is no reference to it being shown here. And yet we still have the Fellini films, Antonioni and a sparse collection of Pasolini. It makes no sense that ' La Corruzione ' should be unseen. Jacques Perrin gives one of his finest performances and so does Alain Cuny. The story to me is simple. Why do we all finally give in to the right of the strongest, while those of a gentle and caring nature are destroyed ? I do not see this film as being religious, but it does cry out for higher ideals and that society should not depend upon mechanical responses to life. The ending of the film is overwhelming and in its power beyond anything that Antonioni achieved. I will not spoil it but just to say that it says everything about how apart we are from each other. I disagree with one reviewer about the music. It is one of the best uses of sound, music and its addition to a film, and not its subtraction that I have heard. And why is Schiaffino's beauty mentioned and no mention of the beauty of Perrin during this period of his life ? It is the same old story here and I am not ashamed to repeat it; the ' Male gaze ' remains supreme. Perrin was beautiful, and why is that never voiced, and that he gives his all to every good film that he is in. His eyes alone say more than the dialogue and his greatness as an actor should be celebrated. But to all who can find this film please see it and question the materialist beliefs that this world clings on to. And please, please watch Perrin's face in the final scene, and see with him the ultimate futility of motion that we go through and how we accept its solitary state and the near military movements of our physical pleasures.

I really love the cinema of the 1960s, and this film was an interesting find with its cool 1960s Italian vibe and provocative storyline. Stefano, played by Perrin, is a recent graduate who wants to become a priest against his father's wishes. Rosanna Schiaffino is radiantly beautiful and plays temptress, but she is also a pawn, corrupted by the material world. The film portrays the struggle between the idealistic and the virtuous, with the temptations and "corruption" of the materialistic nature of the modern world. Great cinematography by Leonida Barboni, especially in filming on a yacht. It has a very cool soundtrack by Giovanni Fusco, whose rhythmic song accentuates a vague modern ending with a synchronized Madison Dance scene. Surprisingly, this film is not part of the Criterion collection but it is well worth viewing.

This bears all the hallmarks of a film by Mauro Bolognini: stunning visual sense, literate script and of course, beautiful people.

Ruthless businessman Leonardo will stop at nothing to prevent his only son from entering the priesthood and once he has introduced him to the luscious Adriana, the young man's fate is sealed. Another nail in the coffin of his idealism is the realisation that a leftist intellectual writer whose works he admires has become one of his father's paid cronies. His fine ideals are eventually worn down and in the final scene he defiantly declares: 'I will defend my money, just like my father'. As he sobs in the car one is left wondering if he will ever come to terms with the life he is now obliged to lead.

Alain Cuny is tremendous and eminently plausible as Leonardo, the ultimate capitalist who believes that everything and everyone has a price(in which he is not far wrong) His son is played by Jacques Perrin. It is more difficult for an actor to play 'good' than 'bad' and he succeeds admirably in portraying young Stefano's moral and spiritual anguish.

Adriana, as played by Rosanna Schiaffino, lives according to her particular moral code whilst her beauty, energy and 'gioia di vivere' are intoxicating. This sultry, smouldering actress was not used to great effect in Hollywood and her best work by far is on 'home turf'. Isa Miranda impresses in a small but harrowing role as Leonardo's ageing, ailing wife.

The stunning images by Leonarda Barboni typify the perfection of black and white cinematography in Italian films of this period. The score is by Antonioni's favoured composer Giovanni Fusco.

The suicide scene at the office and that of the seduction on the yacht are tastefully handled. 'Style over content' is a criticism often levelled at this director's work but that certainly does not apply here. Based upon the novel by Alberto Moravia its theme of disenchantment is timeless.

The film's comparative commercial failure brought the first and most satisfying phase of Bolognini's career to a close.