La propriété, c'est plus le vol

The only other film by Elio Petri I ever watched was "Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion", but that just happens to be one of the greatest movies in history, and one that promptly catapulted itself in my all-time personal top 10. Also because of that great film, I didn't hesitate for a second to purchase the BluRay of "Property Is No Longer A Theft" - even though it was quite expensive. Based on the IMDb rating, the favorable reviews, and my own previous experience with a Petri film, I was certain this would be great.

And it is great, ... but sadly not my kind of great. I love cult horror, Poliziotesschi, and Gialli from Italy, but "Property..." is none of that. It's a pitch-black comedy, and more particularly a satire on contemporary capitalism. Not my cup of tea. Despite a strong first half hour and spirited performances throughout, I quickly lost interest. The movie begins very strong, with a bank heist going wrong and the persona of a corrupt and arrogant local butcher triumphing as the big hero. Total, a meaningless bank employee, is so frustrated by having nothing despite living an honest and hard-working life, that he quits his job and dedicates his time to stealing from the butcher.

It's a bonkers version of Robin Hood, basically. Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor, whereas Total steals from only one rich guy and strictly to drive him crazy. He steals a butcher's knife (during a powerful sequence illustrating how the already wealthy butcher gets richer from ripping off his customers) and kidnaps his wife (played by Dario Argento's partner Daria). There are a handful of truly great and masterful sequences, but also a lot of tedious ones; - like the (overlong) monologues of nearly every lead character as they talk/yell straight into the camera, as well as every single sequence featuring Total's father. The story is unnecessarily convoluted, and I'm sure I missed out on many of the spoof elements, what with this being socially and contemporarily relevant in Italy of the 1970s, 10 years before I was born and more than 50 years ago by now.

In maestro, Elio Petri's final gripping instalment of his outstanding "trilogy of neurosis", the hugely respected, enviably versatile Italian director's stunning satire 'Property is No Longer a Theft' (1973) is a blackly funny, darkly sensual assault upon bourgeois sensibilities that uncomfortably feels more than a little relevant 40 years on, and is therefore richly deserving of the recently restored, downright essential Arrow Academy Blu-ray, which lavishly presents the exceptionally intelligent, savagely skewed satire, 'Property is No Longer a Theft' in so gloriously a vivid fashion as to highlight the uncommon perspicacity of the film's deliciously caustic script!

Featuring immaculate performances from a remarkable cast of Italian screen icons: Ugo Tognazzi, Flavio Bucci, and a memorably eccentric turn by the incomparable Giallo siren, Daria Nicolodi. Elio Petri's stylish, rewardingly literate, sacred cow slaughtering satire provides a feast of visually stimulating filmmaking from this inventive Italian iconoclast, and, lastly, but by no means beastly, the impeccable, Ennio Morricone score is yet another sublime sonic triumph from the unrivalled musical iconoclast! Deservedly rescued from languishing ignominiously in some forgotten film vault, Petri's immersive, fascinatingly enigmatic agitprop thriller positively scintillates on HD, and resolutely retains all of its considerable power to delight, and enthral those canny cineastes who have the conspicuously good taste to track down Petri's unusually cogent masterpiece!

If you want to know what marxism-madrakism is, don't miss this movie! A great example of smart and politicized Italian cinema of the seventies, a real cult in my opinion. The main character is a sort of modern times psychopathic robin-hood whom works as a clerk in a bank, but is allergic to money! At a certain point he is so exasperated that he decides that he must mine rich people's private property in order to give a shock to their lives. His main target is a rich butcher (Ugo Tognazzi), but he decides not to steal his money, but things that he needs more: his butcher knife, tool of his trade, his hat, his woman... In the meantime, he enters the dark world of delinquency meeting a professional thief which he manages to blackmail so that he can help him in his misdoings. Between the world of marxist idealism and pure delinquency, the whole story is fantastic and unreal, with references to Fromm's "Life between having and being". The character would like to "have" (money and things) but in the same moment he also wants to "be" (save his personality), but he undesrtands that it's impossible ("This is the problem!", he repeats) . The final is also fantastic, with the thief's funeral in which a great Gigi Proietti gives us a monologue on the importance of thiefs in society. A must for lovers of the genre.

Absolutely fabulous film from director, Elio Petri, this is Italian crime without a car chase or punch up (well almost). More than a hint of the politics in the title and this is such a well told tale of corruption and theft. Or to put it another way, the rich person's crimes versus those of the poor. What is worse creaming off the cash on a building project or stealing someone's jewellery? When I first heard the film was political and comedic, I was very wary but how well this is done and the comic moments are funny and are not slapstick silliness. All the performances are great including a wonderful one from Daria Nicolodi (she of many early Argento movies) as she hobble about in heels and hot pants. The main storyline follows a humble young bank cashier who takes offence at the crimes of the local butcher (who has fingers in many pies) and decides to try and teach him a lesson. I had never heard of this film before but am stunned at the quality of the film and can unreservedly recommend this for I sat smiling throughout, constantly being stimulated by the arguments around the notion of theft. Major discovery and now for the rest of the trilogy.

A young bank worker Total (Flavio Bucci) witnesses a robbery, in which one of the thieves gets caught and beaten by an avaricious, rich butcher (Ugo Tognazzi). He can't come to terms with the fact that in spite of being always a righteous man, he has never managed to gather as much money as all other people including the above-mentioned man. He vows to prosecute him and drive him insane by stealing everything that belongs to him, along with his lover Anita (Daria Nicolodi).

In this third part of "the neurosis' trilogy", Petri tackles inequality in society, the issue of property and last but not least money itself. None of Petri's movies is straightforward and this one is no exception. While among Petri's works are more and less demanding ones, this one must be together with A Quiet Place In The Country (1968) and Todo Modo (1976) his weirdest creation. Therefore, there is nothing strange about the fact that the film wasn't acclaimed in its premiere. It's a bold, remarkably modern satire which is bound to leave you confused and make you think about it long after it's over. Apart from his usual collaboration with A-grade cinematographer Luigi Kuveiller (Argento's Deep Red, 1975), the director utilizes a really grotesque plot and a perfect illustration of this is our protagonist who is allergic to… money. In addition to this, there is a frequent use of stagey scenes, therefore the ensemble looks everything but ordinary. A soundtrack is composed by Ennio Morricone. It is very "avant-garde" and owing to some creepy whispers included (Io ho – I have, tu hai - you have, egli ha – he has, essi hanno – they have) already comments the events that are occurring on the screen.

The cast isn't too bad, unfortunately Flavio Bucci, who is surely a good actor, appears to be a bit inexperienced in comparison to Volonte for example, thus the film lacks a strong leading actor. Daria Nicolodi and Ugo Tognazzi give strong performances. One can spot Salvo Randone as well, who as always plays his role very well.

With this flick, Petri shows that human takes part in the rat race in order to become more powerful, socially accepted and approved, irrespective of all hidden necessary, immoral ways. The character of the butcher represents the rich and Petri points out that all those people who want to dominate, are unscrupulous and pitiless, as the poor who often are honest ones will never achieve better life conditions, since either they are limited by religious as well as state laws or on breaching overtly all those moral boundaries they are banished from the society. The only way to render their life acceptable is to obey the rules and submit to opulent people, who are protected on account of their wealth and power. Another interesting aspect of the movie is comparing a bank, which is heart of consumerism, to the church. To make this allusion even more visible, the bank is full of images depicting the Holy Trinity. Also, just like in the "Holy Church", in the rat race, which is called here a "religion of property", there is a certain hierarchy and blasphemies (when the clerk Total sets a banknote on fire, the director is disgusted and almost throws a tantrum).

However, it's more fascinating to analyze it than to behold it, as the plot seems to flow quite slowly, there isn't enough black humor to keep the climax amusing. The script with its full resonance overwhelms the viewer to the extension that one feels a bit tired and the twisted Marxism - Madrakism message appears to be slightly too radical. Nonetheless it does have plenty of splendid ideas, electrifying score of Morricone, erotically-tinged atmosphere, strong direction, and hence this is a good piece of political cinema. Although it isn't as marvelous as his previous films, it certainly encapsulates the political situation of those times in Italy perfectly.