You never can have quite enough paranoia when it comes to the subject of bureaucrats. Whether governmental or in terms of law enforcement, those who occupy any position with civil servitude are immersing themselves in a very challenging world, specifically in regards to some of the draconian policies that govern these institutions, supposedly in favour of the general public, who look on these groups with a certain degree of scorn. There has never been a more appropriate time to question the role of the police than now, with many movements being focused on exposing corruption and criminal behaviour amongst those that apparently dedicate their lives to serve and protect, but sometimes take advantage of the power bestowed on them. However, these issues aren’t particularly new, as made abundantly clear by the range of stories that look at these issues, ranging back to the very beginning of literature as a whole, where the mismanagement of power and exploitation of the working class has been a feature in both reality and fiction. We can find one of the best examples of this coming in the form of Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (Italian: Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto), the ambitious dark comedy by Elio Petri, who tells the story of a recently-promoted detective who murders his mistress in an effort to prove that he is “above suspicion”, and can gleefully attest to never having to be confronted by the long arm of the law. It’s a strange and deeply disturbing, and one of the rare instances of a film about getting away with murder that finds the motivations behind the act far more disturbing than the crime itself, leading to it becoming one of the most well-conceived and brilliantly-executed thrillers of its generation, and a film that has only continued to remain sadly resonant as time has progressed.

Petri is one of the great the political filmmakers of his generation, someone whose perspective on post-war Italy could rival any of the neo-realists that inspired the stories that he dedicated his life to telling. Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion is often considered to be his best work, and a film that has transcended its temporal and geographical milieux to become one of the most widely-debated and complex political thrillers of its era. Joining a vast tradition of Italian crime films that made their way to a global audience (often referred to as poliziottesco when it comes from this particular era, which denotes a specific kind of bleak, bare-boned realism, which is often undercut by a deep sense of existential nihilism for good measure), the film has stood the test of time in a way that not many politically-charged films are able to. Part of this is because, while Petri was commenting on a very distinct time and place, the film touches on some universal themes, such as police brutality, corruption within the government and the plight of the working class, which is all filtered through a stunningly cynical lens, almost to the point where it feels like the director is actively mocking everyone represented in the film. Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion takes place in a nightmarish version of the world, one in which someone can legitimately get away with murder based solely on their status – and it becomes even more unsettling when we realize how relevant this is when we look at certain individuals in reality. It’s difficult to watch this film and now draw correlations to real figures (not only the ones mentioned by name here, but every leader or influential person that allowed their standing in society as a tool to excuse deplorable behaviour), which leads to this unsettling parable on corruption and deception within a supposedly transparent institution that acts in the public interest.

When constructing the film, Petri made an excellent decision in casting Gian Maria Volonté as the titular citizen above suspicion. Playing the nameless “Police Inspector Dottore”, who is often simply referred to as “Doctor”, Volonté is extraordinary, but in a way that may be difficult to embrace, precisely because the character is so terrifying. Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion offers a truly disturbing glimpse into bureaucratic corruption, but without a main character to serve as the face for the archetypal crooked politician, the film would not have been nearly as effective. A lot of this film is drawn from the work of Franz Kafka (who is even quoted in the film’s shocking epilogue), and as a result, Petri makes sure that, much like the esteemed writer, that the main character of this film was equally as well-constructed and compelling, which is not an easy achievement at all. Whether in wordless sequences or the shockingly profound monologues he performs throughout the film, its a performance that is delivered with precision and perfection by an actor who is not afraid to show the villainous side of this character, especially when it comes to the smaller and more intricate details – and while other actors may have been inclined to find the humanity in the character, Volonté is more than willing to show him as a pathetic, sycophantic bureaucrat with delusions of grandeur and a deep set of insecurities, which makes Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion such a compelling character study in addition to its more traditional political thriller overtones.

As a result of this wealth of ideas we find simmering beneath the surface, we can look at Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion as a film that is caught between genres, not quite finding a clear sense of what it wants to be, but rather blending together a range of different concepts in its effort to tell this deeply disturbing story. Logically, it’s designed as a police procedural in theory, with a lot of the film’s narrative being about committing the perfect crime, but it adds firm layers of sardonic dark comedy, which highlights the very clear satirical elements of the story, as well as some brief touches of horror, with the film relishing in its ability to evoke genuine terror. This film has a very different method of scaring the viewer – we don’t fear what lurks in the dark, but rather the people who stand in plain sight, preaching one idea, while their actions reflect a complete contradiction. This period brought us many leaders who were charismatic enough to win our trust, but secretly had much darker intentions, and the imagery Petri uses to evoke certain notorious dictators is both clever and shocking, adding a level of nuance to an otherwise very straightforward film that uses a relatively simple crime procedural structure as the entry-point into an unsettling portrait of a much broader kind of corruption, one that is not restricted to a particular time and place, but rather can be applicable to any scenario where someone in power allows their influence to give them enormous delusions of grandeur, with Petri capturing this descent into power-mediated madness with fervent detail and a cunning eye for the inherent humour in these situations, plumbing every scenario for all potential meaning.

Petri certainly had a firm grasp on the collective pulse when it came to making Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, a film that simply simmers with the kind of harsh complexity we rarely find in more conventional stories. We never know whether we should be laughing at some of these scenarios, but considering how it is framed as a darkly comedic thriller, it’s not surprising to find viewers who will see the humour in some of these situations, which emphasizes the bleak reality that they represent, which are subsequently exploited in a careful but revolutionary manner. Petri makes use of some exceptionally strong ideas, which he weaves together with a genuinely thrilling execution to create a film that doesn’t challenge social conventions, but eviscerates them entirely, providing us with a deeply disquieting glimpse into a different side of a society of which we are all a part, even over half a century later. A continuous stream of the most haunting but outrageous satirical jabs that have enormous real-world implications, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion is an astonishing work of socially-charged fiction that provides us exactly what it promises, while still delivering some genuinely shocking content that will leave even the most seasoned viewer shaken – and what is cinema if it isn’t inciting some passionate response in the audience? This film has never been more relevant than it is today, and while we often see works of art that age well as a positive sign, having a film like this that continues to resonate and remind us of some of the most disturbing issues that still plague our world can be a disturbing experience, albeit one that is rendered as absolutely invigorating by a director who seems to genuinely want to provoke some deep discussion, all under the guise of a brilliantly subversive dark comedy.