The Context
Cadaveri Eccelenti
Francesco Rosi
The aged judge Vargas is assassinated moments after coming out of the catacombs where he had been meditating. The case is given to inspector Rogas, who attends Vargas' grandiose funeral ceremony that is interrupted by protestors denouncing the city's corrupt administration. In less than one week, two other magistrates, also considered to be corrupt, are killed under similar circumstances...
With : Lino Ventura, Fernando Rey, Max Von Sydow, Charles Vanel
Screenplay : Francesco Rosi, Tonino Guerra, Lino Jannuzzi, d'après le roman de Leonardo Sciascia
Image : Pasqualinc De Santis
Decors : Andrea Crisanti
Music : Piero Puccioni
Editing : Ruggero Mastroianni
Screenplay : Francesco Rosi, Tonino Guerra, Lino Jannuzzi, d'après le roman de Leonardo Sciascia
Image : Pasqualinc De Santis
Decors : Andrea Crisanti
Music : Piero Puccioni
Editing : Ruggero Mastroianni
Production : PEA (Rome), Les Artistes Associés
" I make films to think about - and make others think about - what power permits us to know" (F. Rosi). After Hands Over the City, Many Wars Ago and The Mattei Affair, Rosi continues his reflections about political and institutional mechanisms, historical compromise and revolutionary ideals, about a certain kind of governance that oppresses and punishes the individual. "The Context is a many-layered nihilistic story and charade, whose title is an allusion to the surrealistic game of exquisite corpses – those of the dead judges. The film constructs a labyrinth where identity itself is called into question, all the way up to a finale saved from pessimism only by the film's fantasy-like treatment.