Confessions of a Police Captain

Damiano Damiani's 1971 Italian film belongs to the political wing of the poliziottesco. A police captain arranges the release of a prisoner from a psychiatric institution, and the man is soon found dead. The young district attorney who takes the case uncovers corruption inside the department and swears to bring down the man responsible. As the film proceeds, the question of who is responsible blurs. What Damiani does is tie genre cinema directly to Italian politics: the links between the mafia, the construction industry, the municipality and the police are at the centre. The captain played by Martin Balsam is a man convinced that breaking the law is the only route; Franco Nero's prosecutor believes in the law and can therefore do nothing. Its pessimism runs deeper than most genre films of the period. Who it's for: viewers interested in Italian political thrillers and 1970s genre cinema. Who it's not for: anyone wanting an ending in which justice is served, or who will find the tone of violence and hopelessness heavy.