Main basse sur la ville

I don't recollect giving many 10s. This film has to get the gong: it has it all, great acting, great scenario, brilliant direction, it's one of those films that feels like a slice of life rather than a drama. It could have been made yesterday, although not in the USA, I hasten to add, which is a shame because it really describes the post-WW2 dispensation imposed on Italy by the USA, with the aid of the Comorra, the criminal tribal system of greater Naples. The quintessential American figure, the property developer, played by US icon Rod Steiger, stands at the centre of this maelstrom of a movie, denounced daily on all fronts by the leader of the Left forces, De Vita (Carlo Fermariello), and catered to by the assortment of running dogs and capos on the Right. This movie performs nothing less than open-heart surgery on a great city at a turning point in its history: the eloquence, the in-fighting, the soul-searching. It also contains some great film-making, particularly the initial fatal building collapse that triggers the narrative. This film gets to the heart of what went wrong with the modern city, and it has attained the status of universality. In my opinion, every American high-school student should be obliged to view it in order to graduate from High school.

In the early sixties Vittorio de Sica and Dino Risi were to show the darker side of Italy's economic miracle known as 'Il Boom' but there can be no fiercer denunciation of the corruption and speculation of the time than this early film of Francesco Rosi.

Shot in Naples by Gianni di Venanzo in a semi-documentary style with a cast comprising mainly non-professionals and a suitably dissonant score by Piero Piccioni, it is an immensely powerful and indeed courageous film.

For the role of Nottola, a thoroughly obnoxious and unscrupulous property developer, city councillor and all round wheeler-dealer, Rosi has acquired the services of Rod Steiger. This fine actor has at times a tendency to 'overcook it' but is far more effective in his quieter moments than when emoting and the director here has kept him on a tight rein. He is adequately 'dubbed' by Aldo Giuffré. It is however Salvo Randone's performance as a glib and oily politician who has evidently studied his Machiavelli that lingers longest.

The collapse of the building and the subsequent evictions in the working class area are brilliantly handled as are the angry exchanges in the courtroom and council chamber. The editing by Mario Serandrei is, as always, exemplary and one is hardly surprised that his expertise was used by Pontecorvo on 'Battle of Algiers'.

Although considered by some to be a minor work in the Rosi canon this film deservedly won a Golden Lion at Venice and has achieved the distinction of being one of Italy's '100 films to be saved'. Rosi himself makes it abundantly clear that although the characters and facts in this narration are imaginary, 'the social and environmental reality that produces them is authentic'.

Set in 1963 Naples, Hands Over the City is a serious depiction of the corruption, nepotism and social issues of post war reconstruction.

Italy in the early 1960s was barely a developed nation. Like most European participants of World War Two, Italy was left devastated by six years of conflict ending in 1945.

The movie's plot revolves around an investigation of a building collapse resulting in several fatalities. The story plays out in the backdrop of local elections which may affect vested political interests dole out land development contracts to cronies.

By shedding light on back room political dealings, the film exposes the shortcomings of democracy in developing states. Additionally, the raw power of wealth in (literally) buying votes amongst a poor electorate (think India, etc.) is laid bare during the movie.

In such a corrupt environment geared to enhancing the wealth and influence of existing power brokers it is not surprising ordinary people turned to Socialist and even Communist politics. Indeed, Italy's Communist and Socialist parties regularly won 33% or more of the popular vote until the 1980s. (Both parties were independent of policies emanating from Moscow.)

Though one may criticize the movie's pace, the story unfolds well enough to watch. The characters are realistic with the black and white filming adding to the effect of watching a sordid drama unfolding in seedy, smoky backrooms. The cinematography, especially in the opening scenes of Naples cityscape, is excellent. Hands Over the City is a social statement film more than an entertainment piece.

Francesco Rosi's movie "Le mani sulla città" ("Hands Over the City" in English) is about a developer (Rod Steiger) whose building collapses, leading to political fallout. While it looks like a simple story of corruption in Naples, it could be anywhere on earth. Any time that someone skimps on something, the people are going to suffer. People who insist that there should be no government involvement in anything don't realize (or refuse to realize) that they might be the ones suffering.

If the movie has any downside, it's that we don't get to hear much from the people who suffered from the collapsed building. After the collapse, there are some scenes of protests, but most of the movie looks at the inner workings of the city government and how accusations fly in all directions.

Rod Steiger (speaking perfect Italian) is particularly interesting as the developer-turned-city councilman. The guy looks like he could be any working stiff, but he has all sorts of Machiavellian plans. The last scene shows the various buildings throughout Naples, forcing the viewer to wonder if the whole thing will soon start over. All in all, it's a really good movie.

PS: One scene inadvertently portends political crises to come in Italy. Towards the end of the movie, a character walks by a poster of Aldo Moro. Moro later got kidnapped and executed by the Red Brigades.

Rod Steiger as a local city politician in an Italian film by Francesco Rosi makes a virtuoso performance as usual in his younger days and is convincing enough in fluent Italian in one of Francesco Rosi's usual almost documentary panoramic exposures of social life especially in relation with power. Everything appears absolutely natural here, as if you were yourself present at all those turbulernt political meetings with votations and intrigues around the mayor, and the crisis is brought on by a collapsing building of many storeys and flats owned by local leaders of the city government, who choose to fight it out against allegations of corruption, and the council scenes with dramatic quarrels Italian style pounding on in heated passion are the best of the film. It happens in Naples, but the situation could be anywhere in any great city in the world planning to exploit and make money on new suburb constructions of horrible inhuman skyscrapers all looking the same - with new prospects of coming tumbling down.