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In a time of internal political disturbance, Roman police inspector Gian Maria Volonte (one of the gang members of Le Cercle Rouge; the bad guy in Fistful of Dollars and A Few Dollars More; and star of Christ Stopped at Eboli) gets that plum assignment: crack down on political dissidents; then proceeds to slash the throat of his married mistress Florinda Bolkan (“a beautiful, kinky masochist” – Vincent Canby). But as homicide cops swarm over the murder scene, guess who gets tapped to head the investigation? And, as every clue unearthed — most perversely planted by Volonte himself — leads right back to . . . is anybody going to do anything about it? As director Elio Petri’s splitsecond edits rocket back and forth between flashback and detection, Investigation becomes a biting critique of Italian police methods and authoritarian repression, a psychological study of a budding crypto-fascist (but is the arrogantly grim-faced Volonte building a case against himself to be punished, or to prove his invincibility?), a probing why-dunnit, and a buildup to a question-stamped finale. “A stunning movie. . . From the start, one is fascinated by the methods of the Inspector’s madness, by the terrible logic of his paranoia and by the brilliance with which he constructs his apotheosis. . . Dominating the film, which moves forward with the relentless momentum of a good, solid policier, is the performance of Mr. Volonte. He has the cruel upper lip and the heavily lidded eye of the young Olivier and the manic energy of the early Cagney. . . It’s a fine performance, full of stylized detail, like the movie it helps to define.” – Vincent Canby, New York Times.
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