When two men are killed in a small Sicilian town, the police file the case as a murder for honor. Only professor Laurana (the great Gian Maria Volontè), a lonely and restless intellectual who lives surrounded by copies of Moby Dick, photographs of Marilyn, and a portrait of Gramsci, questions the official account and, mistrusting the state, embarks on his own private investigation. As the camera obsessively follows a handful of disquieting characters and focuses on apparently insignificant details, Laurana loses himself in a labyrinth of passion and death. He is taken by the hand by a somber and maternal dark lady (Irene Papas), widow of one of the victims. Adapted from Leonardo Sciascia's detective novel, which exposed the Mafia's secret alliances and introduced impunity into the world of Marlowe and Sam Spade, We Still Kill the Old Way stands out for its melancholic beauty and political commitment.