Il giorno della civetta (THE DAY OF THE OWL)

From Damiano Damianin

With Claudia Cardinale, Franco Nero, Lee J. Cobb, Tano Cimarosa, Nehemiah Persoff

Year 1968

Duration 109 min.

Language Italian

A building contractor is shot dead in the street; shortly thereafter, the only eyewitness vanishes. While investigating, Capitano Bellodi—recently transferred to Sicily from the North—encounters a telling silence and misleading leads that even cast suspicion on the missing man’s wife. Her courage ultimately provides a crucial breakthrough, though it also pits him against far more powerful adversaries... Damiani’s adaptation of the famous Sciascia novel is one of the first films to openly address the nexus of politics, business, and crime. As a woman surrounded by men, Cardinale—through a performance that is both tense and vulnerable—encapsulates the tragedy of all those living and suffering under the Mafia’s rule.
(Florian Widegger)