Slap the Monster on Page One


Political films can be challenge to dissect.  Political films from another country, with nearly five decades in-between, even more so.  But Slap the Monster on Page One (1972), despite being steeped in the social chaos of Italy’s “years of lead,” has become in many ways more relevant than it was at the time of release, mixing murder, conspiracy and press bias that not only reports on elections but proudly influences them.

Gian Maria Volonté is cast as the ultimate anti-hero, Bizanti, editor of Il Giornale whose conservative readership the nation counts upon for fair and balanced coverage…or in simpler terms:  Fake News.  With several parties up at arms about the next election, Bizanti uses every opportunity to throw support behind his silent political partner (played with slimy zeal by John Steiner).  Even the unconnected rape and murder of a young student is played up for voter appeal, with a convenient culprit on display to satisfy the call for blood.  So when one reporter uncovers the dirty truth about the deep state even the vaunted “freedom of press” is useless when the press is already corrupt.

 

In post-election America, Slap the Monster on Page One probably hits a little too close to home.  “We must be protagonists, not observers,” Bizanti schools his young reporter, not even bothering to disguise the fact that Il Giornale merely prints propaganda that serves the ruling party’s best interest. His contempt extends even to his own wife who he, in one painful scene, abusively insults for being as stupid and naïve as his readers.  Director Marco Bellocchio strings together an eerily prescient prediction of the Fox News culture and the futile efforts to combat it.  The final image is as nihilistic as they come.  And a tough one to swallow on America’s morning after.

 

Radiance drops this one on a 3000-copy limited edition Blu ray with a 4K restoration supervised by Bellocchio, an archival interview with the same plus critic and author Mario Sesti, video appreciation by Alex Cox and liner notes.

 

 

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tormented

Image
The west coast always struggled to create a creepy atmosphere on screen.  All that southern California sunshine just doesn’t lend itself to ghostly apparitions or gothic castles.  But  Tormented  (1960) gives it a good try, staging its opening scene in an abandoned lighthouse where blackmail turns into murder - and one cover up leads to another.  Director Bert I. Gordon, better known for his giant-sized - but low-budget - monster movies, works well at this level, turning in a film that delivers small scares but perhaps his most  professional finished product. Tom Stewart (played by genre regular Richard Carlson) is a fairly successful jazz pianist whose impending marriage to Meg Hubbard (Susan Gordon) will put him in an entirely new tax bracket.  Trouble is his old flame, Vi (Juli Reding), isn’t taking this lying down.  After  allowing  her to fall to her death in the opening scene, Tom is haunted by disembodied visions of his ex-lover who refuses to go quietly into the afterlife.  And
Read more

All Ladies Do It / Frivolous Lola

Image
Every semi-professional review of erotica probably starts off with the same question:  what’s the difference between porn and art?  The internet age has essentially done away with foreplay; sex is merely the act of completion itself, minus the threat of any malware or suspicious browser activity.  But the work of Italian director Tinto Brass, for all its leering upskirt shots of derrieres and pubic hair, still communicates something that websites like Pornhub never will:  the art of seduction.  All Ladies Do It  (1992), a breezy sexual adventure, follows Diana (Claudia Koll) whose marriage is threatened by her fantasies of dalliances with other men, stories her husband believes are nothing more than exciting role play.  But her loose definition of adultery inspires plenty of promiscuous hook-ups, taking advantage of any (ahem)  loophole  that provides a quick thrill.   Flirting with some hardcore sequences (there is an abundance of fully erect fake penises and female genitalia on displ
Read more

The Cat and the Canary

Image
My favorite directors have always been showoffs:  Hitchcock, DePalma, Spielberg (when he’s feeling frisky) and gonzo auteurs like Sam Raimi.  There’s just something about their cinematic ambition, constantly reminding the audience that, yes, there actually  is  someone behind the camera calling the shots.  And that directorial discontent shines through even in the early days of the medium, such as Paul Leni’s 1927 adaptation of  The Cat and the Canary .  While the rest of the industry was still learning the basics of visual language, Leni fills his frame with tracking shots, POVs and dramatic lighting that set the standard for every spook show to come!  Gathered for the reading of the last will and testament of eccentric recluse Cyrus West,  the potential heirs meet up in his decrepit mansion to discover who will inherit the estate and family jewels.  Predictably there is some petty jealousy when young Annabelle West is named the sole beneficiary…that is, if she can be proved sane afte
Read more