Todo Modo

Todo Modo is part of a disturbing, socially critical film wave of the 70s that reacted to the prolonged political crisis in Italy, where governments changed at a frantic pace and terrorism and the threat of a coup were constant risks. The economy became suffocating, inflation reached terrifying levels, and the first half of the 70s was particularly hard-hit by oil shocks. The left, which clearly dominated in culture, had clear culprits: capitalism and the church (for several decades after the war, the Christian Democratic Party dominated Italian politics, and the church long retained significant formal and informal influence over society, the kind that is hard to imagine in secularized Europe today). Without knowledge of this context, the film's depressing dystopian mood is hardly understandable. Petri's film is exceptional in creating an oppressive atmosphere using the architecture of an underground complex, suggestive camera work, emotive organ music, and captivating performances by the present stars, led by Mastroianni and Volonté. Both of them, with their intelligence and cunning surpassing those around them, take pleasure in their intrigues and are literally one with their characters. Petri remains reserved for a long time, working with suggestions and only unsettling his characters and the audience. At that point, the film deserves five stars, but in the last third, the director wants to toughen up and with the increasing number of dead bodies and the uncovering of cards, the magic largely disappears. Nevertheless, I have no problem giving Todo Modo an overall impression of 75%, as this film is an original that significantly deviates from the usual contemporary productions. (14/10/2021)

A psychologically elusive film, characterized by an engaging atmosphere supported by appropriately dark music. There's no disputing that the film is graced by the evocative performances of Volonté and Mastroianni. What I find hard to swallow, however, is the somewhat absurd outcome of the whole power drama. (65%) (24/06/2021)