The Professor

Giuseppe Tornatore's first film, about the organised crime network in Naples. The narrative follows one man's rise: he goes to prison for a small offence, builds his own organisation inside, and starts running the whole region from his cell. His method is structure more than weapons: he builds a hierarchy, sets rules, holds an initiation ceremony and directs every piece of business outside from within. The character rests on a real person. The source is the journalist Giuseppe Marrazzo's 1984 book, a fictional autobiography drawn from the life of Raffaele Cutolo, the leader of the Naples organisation. The film's own story is part of the file. It was pulled from cinemas shortly after opening in 1986; Cutolo's lawyers sued the production companies. Ben Gazzara leads. Leo Gullotta won a David di Donatello for his part, and Tornatore took a Nastro d'Argento for a first-time director. Three years after this Tornatore made Cinema Paradiso, and recognition came with that film. A valuable discovery for anyone curious about Italian crime cinema and directors' first works. For a viewer expecting the register of Cinema Paradiso, there is no softening here; the film is cold and its violence direct.