Mauro Bolognaini, Student and System Mauro Bolognini in the seventies usually shot historical sketches. But this time he took on a modern and political theme. The focus was on student protests.
Massimo Ranieri was invited to the main role. After the successful "Metello" and "Bubou" it was the third consecutive collaboration of Bologna with the famous singer. This time Massimo got the role of an implacable fighter against the system.
The essence of the film is that on the basis of one protest that led to the accidental deaths of a rebel and a police officer, an investigation takes place. And it leads to a family clash. A rebellious son challenges his law enforcement father.
In the depiction of events, Mauro is deliberately biased. He pays more attention to his son. And the elderly father, who is forced to simultaneously cover for a relative and ask uncomfortable questions from himself, obviously hesitates. Martin Bolsam showed this confusion perfectly.
In the tape, his hero will be reproached for distrust of the system. And that's fair. In any legal system, possible conflicts of interest between relatives are described in detail. Professionalism is just to adhere to the rules to refrain from scandalous situations. And our hero from the generation of fathers did not seem to adhere to these norms.
Bolognaini, meanwhile, conducts meaningful scenes hinting at the unfairness of the system. The father saw the faithfulness of his son’s arguments and supported him. . .
This approach, as I see it, has simplified this picture, limiting it only to rebellious revolutionary theses. Lost in this monosyllable character Massimo Ranieri. He seems not to notice that for opposition cronies he is nothing more than the son of an influential man. And it is thanks to the will of his comrades that he creates tension in the opposite camp.
In my opinion, the shortcomings of this tape were realized by Bolognaini himself. Not for nothing after that, in the 70s he did not address modern topics (some exceptions were no longer associated with sharp political rhetoric).
However, despite all the shortcomings of the tape, it is impossible to deny it the presence of a sharp plot and bright intrigue, as well as an expressive acting duo Bolsam - Ranieri.
5 out of 10