Elio Petri (1929–1982) has always seemed to be an outcast in the history of Italian cinema. Being labeled "the Political Director" in a country where film and politics go hand in hand may hint at one reason why his career has been shuttered away for decades: rough, coarse, embracing the uncomfortable and the disorderly, his works often found themselves on the wrong side of Italian critics, who preferred their political cinematic discourse a bit more subtle. For Petri cinema was a tool to critique power and the structures that wield it, whether it be the police, the factory, religion, politicians, or, at times, the entire concept of capitalism and the modern Italian state. He didn't let his message overwhelm the medium, however; baroque, often grotesque, dipping into the rich traditions of Italian physical comedy and not above embracing a sensualism more befitting an exploitation drive–in than a Marxist teach–in, Petri reminded viewers that cinema was outside reality, and thus able to critique and attack it. Roughly twenty years after Petri's untimely death due to cancer, Cinecittà has struck new prints of his works, enabling a new generation to see and argue over his work, his ideas, and his legacy.
-Jason Sanders
